Originally posted on https://www.samsonwebdesign.co.uk/lightning-fast-page-speed-10-website-performance-hacks-worth-doing/

 

You know that goldfish you have at home?

Swimming endlessly round and round its little fish bowl?

Well, it probably has a better attention span than you. Seriously.

Science tells us that our attention spans have dropped 4 seconds in the last 20 years. We’re now able to attend to something for a whole 8 seconds on average! A goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds.

This seemingly random piece of trivia has a whole host of implications. One of them is for your website and business. For instance, did you know that 53% of people abandon a page on mobile if it takes over 3 seconds for it to load? People don’t, or can’t, wait these days.

You can’t afford to have a slow-loading site. Think about it. You’ve earned a click, then lost it (and the chance of conversion), for the sake of a mere 3 seconds!

Clearly, there are major incentives to speed up your website. But how do you do it? What steps can you take to improve the load times on your site?

Keep reading to learn 10 secrets to lightning fast page speed.

10 Website Performance Hacks for Faster Page Speed

Speeding up your website should be a priority. Your users will be happy, which means Google is happy. And that helps your rankings. Oh, and your bottom line profits stay healthy too.

The industry standard that’s recommended is a loading time of 3 seconds or less. Here are 10 hacks that’ll make it happen.

1. Analyze Current Page Speed

You need to know how fast your site currently loads. The results might show you’re already nailing your load times.

However, you might find a nasty surprise. Either way, the first step to reducing your page speed is to know your current level.

You can use this free tool to test your speed.

2. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A CDN is a server network that stores your website in multiple places at the same time.

When someone visits your site, the content is taken from the closest server to where they are. The load time is reduced as a result.

3. Get Better Hosting

We’re often unwilling to pay a lot of money for a new site.

It’s a bit of an experiment. We don’t know where it’ll lead. We scrimp and save where possible. Often, the cheapest hosting is the most appealing option.

That decision can come back to bite over time though. As your site grows your load times will increase. Pay for better hosting services to improve your times.

4. Compress Images

Images can be a major burden on your load times.

Optimizing them can make a big difference. Be sure to compress or reduce the file sizes before uploading them to blog posts and site pages. Think about the number of images on your site. There can be hundreds or even thousands of them to load.

Ensure the file sizes are small enough to limit the impact on speed.

5. Limit and Remove WP Plugins

Websites use plugins to perform various functions.

They’re often essential parts of its daily operations. However, more plugins take longer to load. Likewise, lower quality plugins increase load times too.

Try to only install high-quality plugins that you actually need. Remove the rest.

6. Reduce Number of Files

Javascript and CSS files will be commonplace on your site.

They are responsible for how it looks!

However, the more you have, the more HTTP requests your website is forced to make. Reducing the number of these files will limit the requests that need to be made. This will speed things up no end!

7. Cache Away the Time

In French, the word ‘cacher’ means to hide.

This is pretty much what happens with website caching. A cached site is one that’s been stored in a cache when it’s first visited.

It means the page is drawn from the cache when it’s visited again. They don’t have to load from scratch like the first time. Page speed is boosted as a result.

8. Use a Different Theme

Your website’s theme can also add unnecessary seconds to your load time.

It’s to do with the code involved. Some themes have a particularly complex code. Finding a simpler theme will help speed things up. This simple change can have a significant effect, especially in WordPress themes.

9. Limit Your Redirects

Have you ever changed the structure of your site?

It’s often unavoidable. However, it can change your page URLs in the process. And with it can go all the link juice you’ve built up to them. 301 redirects provide a solution, by redirecting a click from an old URL to the new one. The old URL still works, even though it technically doesn’t exist.

However, redirects slow your site down. It creates links in a chain that your browser must pass through. Use them sparingly.

10. Use Gzip Compression

You know ZIP files, right?

It compresses your files and massively reduces their size in the process. Gzip compression is similar. But it’s specifically for the pages of your website. Your page speed improves thanks to quicker server response time and fewer HTTP requests.

Enable it on your site using simple code.

Time to Wrap Up

There you have it: 10 top tips to improve the page speed of your website.

Having a fast website is crucial for its success these days. There’s no place for slow sites in a world of goldfish-like attention spans! Your bounce rate increases, conversion drops, and your bottom line is affected.

It’s in your interest to improve load times.

Do this by first analysing your current speed. With that knowledge under your belt, set about using CDNs, getting better hosting, optimizing your images, and removing unnecessary plugins. Next, reduce your files, enable caching, upgrade your theme, limit your redirects, and enable Gzip compression.

With these hacks behind you, your pages will be loading swiftly in no time at all.

Looking for support with your website and marketing? Be sure to contact us today to find out how we can help.