Do you need tips to improve the loading speed of your website? Or, on the contrary, you have already taken the appropriate measures so that your website works perfectly. Although it is not the most important part when it comes to optimizing a website, the loading speed is an aspect to take into account if you want the user to stay and not leave the page.
Do you want to get the most out of your website and obtain the highest profitability? For this, you need your website to be correctly generated. And facilitate the user experience of visitors. For which it will be great to incorporate these tips to improve loading speed in your web development process. Only then will you lay the foundations to increase conversions.
Tips to improve the loading speed
1.- Choose a professional platform
When deciding the platform to work with, it is better that you select a professional tool. Bet on your own developments only if you have an experienced team that knows the keys to improve website performance.
However, to avoid problems, one of the main tips to improve the loading speed that you can receive is to use professional platforms. Among them are WordPress, Joomla, or Prestashop, if it is about creating an eCommerce.
2.- The plugins and applications that do not work for you, uninstall them!
It’s basic. Eliminating all the plugins that do not contribute anything and are not going to be used will make your website go faster. It is recommended not to use more than 10 plugins for each wordpress installation. And try to make their plugins with simple and clear codes. Therefore, analyze how many you have installed on your website, even if they are not in use. And which are they. And investigate if there are others that help improve the performance of your website.
As you can see, the main professional platforms have applications and plugins that will help you know if the website is optimized or not. Some of the plugins that it is recommended that you install are:
a.- WP Optimize
The documents that are created on platforms such as WordPress, whether they are drafts, publications, etc. they are weighing down the database. To prevent this from happening, it is advisable to install this plugin whose task is to clean precisely that database.
b.- W3 Total Cache
At this point, the issue of cache memory has its place. To ensure that there is a good user experience if you return a second time, W3 Total Cache allows you to have a copy of the web store so that repeat visitors do not have to always load it from scratch. In addition, with this plugin, you will have a copy of your website ready and optimized.
c.- Autoptomize
As you can see in the video above, Autoptomize is used to reduce files and files of type CSS, Javascript, and HTML.
3.- Optimize the images
This is another of the tips to improve the loading speed that is not usually taken into account but it is essential. To do this, first of all, it is advisable to export the images using some web optimization tools. You must choose a good file format, the most advisable is JPEG and optimize your HTML code.
On the other hand, the weight of the images is a very important factor for fast loading. There are image compression and optimization plugins like Smush that will help you in this task.
However, the logical thing is that you upload the images with normal dimensions, which is something that changes according to technical advances. The normal thing nowadays is that they do not exceed 1000 pixels and that they allow the page to be kept below 400kb. Slow connections and browsing from mobile devices will thank you.
4.- More HTML and CSS codes and fewer CMS platforms
It is better to use HTML and CSS codes for faster page loading speed. To do this, write only the absolutely necessary lines of code. It is something that will not only improve this aspect but Google will also appreciate it. And it will affect an improvement in positioning.
However, a huge percentage of web pages are currently generated with content managers, CMS, such as wordpress. If this is your case, again, you should pay attention to eliminate, if possible, the superfluous code that is generated with these platforms. The CMS you use must guarantee that your website is optimal.
5.- Hire a good server
Choosing a good dedicated wordpress hosting is another significant factor if you want to quickly access a website. A server does not offer good service when the hosting that has been contracted is not of quality. It must be well configured and the server must be where you want to position your website.
6.- Place the CSS and JavaScript correctly
When a user accesses a web page, the first thing that can be found is that it is blank. Here the CSS style sheets come into play, which is responsible for drawing the document and giving it a design.
If you put the CSS at the top of the page and the JavaScript at the bottom, what you will achieve is that the browser prohibits progressive processing. Which will cause browsers to block rendering to avoid having to redraw elements on the page.
Similarly, if you do not take care of the organization of the web codes according to the W3 standards, the website will not work correctly.
7.- Enable GZIP for code compression
Enabling GZIP compresses the HTML and CSS codes. This compression method allows Google to read the code on your page faster. This type of compression is normally done only for codes. That is, for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The audiovisual content is separate.
Therefore, having GZIP compression enabled can decrease response time by a high percentage. In this way, you reduce the weight of the page. Which leads to increased loading speed.
8.- Make use of a CDN
A CDN (Content Delivery Network) or content delivery network consists, as explained in its Wikipedia entry, of “ an overlapping network of computers containing copies of data, placed at various points on a network in order to maximize the bandwidth for accessing customer data over the network. A client accesses a copy of the information close to the client, as opposed to all clients that access the same central server, in order to avoid funnels near that server ”.
What a CDN does is improve the loading of different text and image content. In addition, it minimizes redirects to be able to directly access a page.
9.- Choose a suitable template
In many cases, the aesthetic decision of a website is left in the hands of designers who do not take into account the speed of page loading. Hence, decisions are made only for an aesthetic component. Beyond the importance of having a site that follows the most modern trends in web design, it is essential that the design is accompanied by functionality.
Therefore, before choosing a specific template, make sure that it is well worked and, in addition to being displayed properly on all types of devices, it makes the page load not excessive.
10.- Control the number of posts per page
It is important that the home page of the corporate blog takes care of the number of posts that are displayed. If too many are shown the page will take a long time to load. Therefore, it is important to take care of this page and show only the 5 to 10 most important ones. Something that, in many cases, also depends on the choice of the previously mentioned template.
