Enabling gzip compression improves the speed of your WordPress site by compressing the code and text.
It accomplishes this by locating and replacing comparable chunks of text in files (temporarily, everything will appear exactly as you typed it lol), which, because HTML and CSS files include so many repeating pieces of text, can lower the size of a WordPress page by 50-75 percent.
There is a technical technique to enable gzip compression via your site’s.htaccess file that is less likely to cause problems… You can do it if you know what you’re doing.
So, in the interim, we’ll make use of plugins such as:
- WP Rocket
- W3 Total Cache
- WP Super Cache
Yep, the caching plugins we recommend above all have gzip compression built-in!
Defer parsing of JavaScript in WordPress
To make fancy stuff like sliders and smooth scrolling work, most WordPress themes and plugins employ a lot of JavaScript code.
By default, browsers load that JS code first, which delays the appearance of HTML and pictures, making the site feel slow.
The solution is to load visual elements first, so that visitors to your site see something, and then JavaScript after that, so that your page’s complete functionality is available.
Plugins that can help you with that:
- WP Rocket (yeah, this one’s a go-to for WordPress speed)
- Autoptimize
- Async JavaScript
Use a WordPress CDN
By caching (storing copies of your site’s files) in numerous data centers around the world, a Content Delivery Network (aka “CDN”) speeds up your WordPress site.
Consider the following scenario: your website is hosted on a server in Los Angeles, and someone tries to access it from London (UK).
It will take some time for your website’s files to go from Los Angeles to jolly old England (milliseconds, but it makes a difference).
It would be significantly faster if those files were already on a London server; they could be with a CDN.
You’ll need a plugin to enable the CDN for your site, as well as a CDN service to distribute and host those files, to receive these quick speed boosts.
Plugins:
- WP Rocket (yeah it does this too!)
- W3 Total Cache
- WP Super Cache
WordPress CDNs:
WordPress lazy loading plugins
When someone views a page on your website, all of the content is loaded at the same time.
This is referred to as “eager loading.”
However, some content, such as photos near the bottom of your page, does not need to be loaded when a visitor first arrives.
Instead, they may be loaded when a visitor has scrolled down 75 percent of your page, allowing the top of the page to load faster.
Table of Contents
- The first step is to obtain a domain name and web hosting.
- Step 2: Installing WordPress
- Step 3: Using WordPress to Login
- Step 4: How to Use the WordPress Admin Panel
- Step 5: Putting WordPress Themes Into Place
- Step 6: How to Install WordPress Plugins
- Step 7: How to Change the Look and Feel of Your WordPress Theme
- Step 8: Adding Pages to WordPress
- Step 9: How to make a WordPress blog post
- Step 10: Creating WordPress Menus
- Step 11: Putting Your WordPress Site Online
- Step 12: How to speed up WordPress
- Step 13: Enable gzip compression for WordPress
- Step 14: How to Make Your WordPress Site More Secure
- Step 15: How to update your WordPress site
- Step 16: How do you backup your WordPress site
- Website tips and tricks for WordPress
- Now that you can build your own personal website
