This literally kills conversion, as statistics show that pages that loaded 5.7 seconds had a conversion rate less than 0.6%, while pages with 2.4 seconds of load speed had almost 2% conversion rate. In May 2020, Google disclosed an algorithm update that will be focused on website performance measurement, where pages and site speed will be the main factor of ranking. The update will be set up in May 2021 that gives entrepreneurs plenty of time to check their website speed and take immediate actions on its optimization. Here we will give some helpful tips on how to increase site load speed effectively. If you checked your website speed and the results were not satisfying you have two options. The first one is to turn to professionals so that they build a perfectly optimized site for you. And the second option is to improve the situation on your own using 9 advantageous tips on how to optimize website speed that we prepared for you. At any rate, here are the tips.
1. Keep your website compressed and optimized
Make sure that all your images are of the same size, not too big, and of the right for your site format. PNG format is better for graphs and diagrams, but for pictures, JPG is better. Additionally, utilize CSS sprites that will collect all your frequently used images in one image, which will speed up the page load noticeably. As for the videos, use MP4 format that is easy to compress.
2. Optimize TTFB (Time to First Byte)
3. Cache it “till you make it”
Caching is about producing stationary HTML files and storing them for later utilization, and this reduces server loading speed greatly. Market proposes a wide range of caching plugins such as W3Total Cache, WP Rocket or WP Super Cache for you to install and use. No matter what plugin you choose – all of them will help your site decrease loading time and, as a result, improve your customers’ experience.
4. Reduce DNS lookups
In plain English, Domain Name System lookup is a process of deciding which IP correlates with this particular domain. This process might take from 20 to 120 ms, but sometimes it’s much longer. To reduce DNS lookup, we should cut the number of hostnames, store third-party files, diminish the quantity of CNAME records and, as mentioned above, utilize swift DNS providers.
5. Use CDN (Content Delivery Network)
6. Reduce the number of HTTP requests
Logically, the fewer HTTP requests, the more rapidly the site loads. Here is how we can scale down the quantity of HTTP requests on your site: get rid of unnecessary media files, optimize media files in size and format, lessen the number of the external HTTP requests and combine similar files in one file, for example, JavaScript files in one JS file or image files in one CSS file, so on.
7. Check mobile page speed
More and more people use mobile devices, and with that in mind, it would be critical to pay attention to the mobile page speed. But first, let us remind ourselves what speed is good enough. According to Global CDN provider Akamai, 53% of consumers give up on the website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Google claims that under 2.5 seconds is a fine speed. Therefore, you’ll need special tools such as Page Speed Insights, WebPageTest or GTmetrix to measure your website speed. If the results are not satisfying, you can compress media files, combine JavaScript and CSS files, cache pages in time and adopt AMP (Accelerate Mobile Pages) plugins such as AMP, or weebrAMP.
8. Use Lazy Loading option
Lazy loading is the technique when media files are loaded while visitors scroll down the page, but not all at once. This noticeably speeds up the page load. Be careful with background images though, lazy loading will not work for them, tag is important. Use a3 Lazy Load or Autoptimize WP plugins to implement lazy loading for your site.
9. Opt for a lighter theme
The theme of your website is the foundation for everything and the “heavy” theme will slow down even a perfectly optimized site. Having that in mind, we propose you to choose one of these “lightweight” WP theme options: Astra, Generate Press, Neve, Zaka or Ocean WP. All of these pre-built platforms will allow you to create a well-designed website with “lightweight” themes that will help load the pages fast and not lose visitors.
Final thoughts
In May 2021, Google will implement the algorithm update we mentioned above, and those sites that have page load speed of more than 3 seconds will have trouble with ranking and conversion. With that in mind, we strongly recommend business owners to pay much of their attention to the website load speed and undertake immediate steps on improving the situation, if necessary. We hope our tips have been helpful, but in any case, entrepreneurs can always turn to professionals to build a well-optimized site with fast page load speed. DDI Development company brings a unique combination of e-business experience and solid technical proficiency to provide high-quality web and mobile digital solutions in a friendly and creative way. We help businesses achieve their goals by offering professional services. Our expertise spans several industries including e-commerce, CRMs, e-learning platforms, recruitment, and financial systems, etc. Our experienced team has delivered 150+ completed projects.
