My Best Tips to optimize WordPress site speed

In this day and age of the Internet people want speed, and that includes how fast your website loads. The average attention span for a human used to be 12 seconds in 2000, but by 2016 it has dropped to seven seconds. If your site takes too long to load due to scripts, large images or other causes, people will find information elsewhere, decrease satisfaction in your site and lead to profit loss if you rely on conversions. Keep these tips in mind when creating your site to optimize WordPress site speed.  

Optimize your Images

Images can range in size from a small thumbnail to a large and detailed picture that is a few megabytes in size. This can be a problem for people on slower connections or who have limited data available on their mobile device. Compress and optimize your images for WordPress before you upload them to save space and speed instead of relying on WordPress’s built in option, which isn’t as effective as doing it on your own beforehand.  

Reduce your Code Spacing 

White space in your code such as spaces and tabs make it easier to read and edit for the human eye, but servers and browsers don’t like it. It takes longer to read and display the content. Utilize a plug-in designed to reduce this space and improve load speed for visitors.  

Hosting

A good host is crucial to have for your site. The lowest priced plan might not suit your needs if you have a lot of traffic. You might not max out your bandwidth, but things can go very slow on unlimited hosts with extremely low prices. Check out the details of your plan including speed, and ensure that the support is accessible and helpful in case you have problems. Downtime is definitely something you don’t want.  

Organize the Top and Bottom

Stylesheets belong at the top of the page to make the HTML load more effectively. Visitors don’t need to see this content and load it. The bottom of the page should have your scripts because they don’t need to load until after the rest of the site has.  

Disable Hotlinking 

Hotlinking is when links go directly to your content such as images. This uses your bandwidth and costs you money overall. Use code to block people from hotlinking. You can also save your bandwidth by using another network or site designed for storage to store your pictures or videos.  

Get Rid of Pingbacks and Trackbacks

Whenever another site links to you, the database gets larger when the trackback is added. This utilizes limited resources and is a waste of space in both your database and on your server. Unless you absolutely need this feature, disable it under the “Discussion Settings” on your WordPress dashboard.    Don’t let speed be your site’s downfall. Utilize these tips optimize WordPress site speed to ensure your visitors have a positive experience with speedy access to the content they want.