A Significant WordPress Website Performance Issue
Today, numerous WordPress website owners seek to optimize the loading speeds of their web pages in order to rank higher during Google searches. Website Slow Load Speed detracts from the rankings of many websites, in fact. Fortunately, using some helpful design strategies helps reduce this problem for many Atlanta Area businesses.
Web Page Loading Speeds Impact Site Traffic From Google
Why should page loading speeds concern WordPress website developers? To appreciate the importance of this issue, just consider one important trend. Since Google revised its search algorithm to prioritize page loading in mobile devices more highly, web page loading speeds in general have increased markedly. WordPress site owners need to ensure their web pages remain competitive in this changing commercial landscape.
Google gives a website designed for display on mobile screens a higher value for SEO ranking purposes than the same version of the website intended for other devices. Pages that load very slowly on small screens potentially drag down your SEO rank during Google searches as a result of “mobile-first” indexing practices. This result may decrease the volume of website traffic you receive from this source, and ultimately detract from business revenue.
Three Helpful Tips to Decrease WordPress Page Loading Speeds
How can you ensure your WordPress website loads and displays faster? A number of tools offer assistance to site owners:
One: Test Your Web Page Loading Speeds Periodically
Establish a baseline by testing the page loading speeds for all your web pages for Google Search purposes. The search engine offers a helpful testing tool to allow developers to evaluate the loading speed issue, for example.
Two: Compress Images
Whenever possible without violating trademark or copyright laws, consider compressing images used on your website with programs such as PhotoShop. Moz reports Google recommends the use of CSS sprites to assist this process. Images tend to consume space and extend loading times. Compressing them helps reduce file sizes, thus expediting web page loading. Check guidelines concerning WordPress compatibility with any compression software program before implementing this change to avoid potential glitches, of course. The development team responsible for creating specific software may offer helpful input to WordPress website developers concerning the use of plugins for compression.
Three: Use File Compression on Non-Image Files Larger Than 150 Bytes
Reportedly, some file compression programs help decrease page loading times for archived files in excess of 150 bytes. The GNU-licensed GZip application performs this operation for bulky non-image HTML and CSS files. It also compresses some JavaScript files. Once again, check compatibility issues before implementing permanent changes. You’ll also want to ensure you perform regular data backups.
Choose an Efficient Website Hosting Company
The first appearance of content on a web page (known at the “time to first byte”) constitutes an important milestone for assessing web page loading speeds. When they can begin reviewing some content on a page, visitors may remain during full page loading. In this respect, the speed of a hosting server matters in a WordPress web page loading speed analysis.
Experts recommend searching for a hosting firm capable of providing fast server performance and WordPress help. Busy servers hosting multiple sites may experience delays due to high traffic volumes in peak periods. Today, a growing number of hosting companies employ networks of servers to help optimize content delivery. By preventing the development of traffic bottlenecks, they help their customers enjoy seamless page loading!
