How to Optimise WordPress Site Speed for Better Performance

1. Choose a Fast Hosting Provider

Your choice of hosting provider can have a significant impact on your website’s speed. Choose a fast and reliable hosting provider that can handle your website’s traffic and load quickly. As an agency, we always choose WP Engine for our hosting needs. We have found WP Engine to be incredibly reliable with superior up-time, specialised hosting for WordPress websites and fantastic customer service. All of the websites we build, including our own website, are hosted with WP Engine.

2. Use a Fast WordPress Theme

Your WordPress theme can also affect your website’s speed. Choose a lightweight and fast theme that is optimized for speed and performance. To help you, our team of experts have written a helpful guide on the top 10 fastest WordPress themes.

3. Minimise HTTP Requests

HTTP requests are made every time a user loads a page on your website, and each request adds to the load time. Minimise the number of HTTP requests by reducing the number of images, scripts, and stylesheets on your website.

4. Optimise Images

Images are one of the biggest culprits of slow website speed. Optimise your images by compressing them and reducing their file size. Use image optimisation plugins like Smush to easily optimise your website’s images.

5. Use a Caching Plugin

Caching plugins can help improve your website’s speed by caching frequently accessed content and serving it to users more quickly. Most servers will automatically cache your websites, but you may find better caching solutions with a plugin like Nitropack.

6. Minimise JavaScript and CSS

Minimising JavaScript and CSS can also help improve your website’s speed. Use minification tools to reduce the size of your website’s scripts and stylesheets, and remove any unnecessary code. Nitropack offers options to do this automatically.

7. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A content delivery network (CDN) can help improve your website’s speed by caching your website’s content on servers around the world, and serving it from the server closest to the user. Cloudflare is probably one of the most popular choices of CDN, but there are many others out there. Your server might offer its own CDN like WP Engine does, or you may find CDN options with a speed plugin like Nitropack.

8. Disable Unnecessary Plugins and Features

Unnecessary plugins and features can add bloat to your website and slow down its performance. Disable any plugins or features that you don’t need, and regularly review your website for any unnecessary code or content.

9. Regularly Update Your WordPress Site and Plugins

Regularly updating your WordPress site and plugins can help ensure that your website is running on the latest and most secure versions. Updates can also include performance and speed improvements.

In conclusion, optimising your WordPress site speed requires a combination of hosting, design, and development strategies. By following these tips, you can improve your website’s speed and performance for better user experience and search engine rankings.