How to Make Your Website Faster (and Why You Should)

Faster websites have a host of benefits – and it’s easier than you think to improve your site speed, so there’s no excuse not to do it.
The Benefits of a Faster Website

These are some of the most important benefits of a faster website:

· Lower bounce rates. Have you ever tried to access a website, but bailed when it took more than a few seconds to load? Most of us are impatient this way, and for good reason. But if you have a faster site loading speed, you’ll have much lower bounce rates.

· Customer dwell and satisfaction. In line with this, people will be much more likely to stay on your site for a longer period of time. Assuming you have good offerings, that means you’ll end up with more purchases – and much more satisfied customers.

· Higher SEO rankings. Site speed is also beneficial for search engine optimization (SEO). With a faster site (and ample good onsite content), you’ll be in a much better position to earn higher rankings.

How to Make a Website Faster

Now let’s take a look at some of the most important strategies for making your website faster:

· Test your site speed. Before you delve into the tactics that can make your site faster, you should understand how fast your site really is. Using a testing tool like Google’s PageSpeed Insights, you can easily figure out where your website stands, along with a number of different metrics. This is helpful for directing your actions; do you need to undergo a major change, or are a handful of minor tweaks going to be enough? It’s also a great starting metric for you to evaluate how effective your changes have been; do you notice your site speed significantly improving?

· Upgrade your hosting plan. Consider upgrading your hosting plan. In some ways, you get what you pay for here. If you’re working with the cheapest possible hosting plan, you’ll end up with worse server response times – not to mention other hindrances.

· Optimize your images. Images are some of the most data-intensive components of your website. If they’re not optimized for speed, it’s going to hold your website back. You can easily optimize images with a number of different methods; for example, you can save images as the proper file type, you can crop the image, you can compress the file, or you can change the resolution.

· Get rid of unnecessary plugins. Plugins make WordPress an attractive option; with a simple download, you can add functionality to your site or make it more robust. But each plugin you add could be decreasing your site speed. If there are plugins you don’t use actively, or if they aren’t as useful as they originally seemed, get rid of them.

· Minimize external scripts. Some areas of your stie will rely on JavaScript code that makes external HTTP requests whenever a user tries to load a new page; for example, external fonts and popup boxes are notorious for this. Minimize these external requests as much as possible.

· Optimize your JS and CSS files. While you’re at it, try to optimize your JS and CSS files for site speed. Minifying these components allows you to get rid of unnecessary clutter and fluff in your code, while Gzipping allows you to compress your code. Use both together for the best possible results.

· Use a caching plugin. Remember when we told you to get rid of unnecessary plugins? A caching plugin should be considered a “necessary” one. With a good caching plugin, you’ll allow repeat visitors to enjoy a much faster loading speed when they come back to your site.

· Delete unused and unnecessary content. There are many things you can probably delete from your site entirely, such as unused content drafts, accumulated code, massive databases, and excessive backups. Get rid of these and you’ll almost certainly see an increase in your site speed.

· Rely on a content delivery network (CDN). If you really want to supercharge your site loading speed, try using a CDN. CDN services rely on optimized servers around the world to deliver content to local populations, leading to much faster speeds if you typically serve people from around the world.

With a faster website on your side, you’ll rank higher in search engines, your customers will be happier, and you’ll stand to make even more money. Just make sure you test your site speed on a regular basis to make sure you remain within acceptable parameters.