What is the first name that comes in your mind when you hear the term ‘WordPress’?
Well, it might be a blog or website. WordPress has opened opportunities for many people. It is very simple and people can use it easily. Many people have accomplished their aim of becoming a website developer or blogger. They could do so only because of the popular platform called ‘WordPress’.
It is a platform that is used by people to develop a website or a blog. It allows the user to manage the content of his blog or website. It is accessible to everyone and even beginners or people belonging to the non-technical field can use it.
WordPress was initially developed to support people in creating their blogs. With time, it has been updated by the makers. Now it can develop varied websites.
- People can use it for commercial purpose. They can create business websites.
- People who own an e-commerce site can create a website for their e-commerce stores.
- People can write blogs via it.
- People can create their online portfolios, resumes, forums, and other documents.
The History of WordPress:
It was in 2003 when WordPress was launched. It has been launched as open-source software that contributes to bloggers and website developers. It was developed by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little.
Presently, this open source software is being used by many people. Some people use it for commercial purpose whereas some other people use it because of their passion.
Many technical experts suggest people use WordPress because it is not paid service. One can use it without paying anything. And it is open for all. It allows users to modify their blogs and websites as per their wish. It is very flexible. It is known to be user-friendly.
What is the need to Speed up WordPress?
- The websites get good rankings when they take less loading time. So, it becomes obvious to increase the speed of WordPress.
- The sites that take very less loading time experience more visitors. They also succeed in converting their visitors to potential readers.
- Buyers get irritated when they have to wait for too long. Their impatience can make them leave the website soon.
There are so many factors that are considered while checking the speed of the website. Every website owner should know the loading speed of the website. He can consider the following factors:
He should know the answers to the following questions:
- What is the size of each page on his website?
- What is the number of requests as generated by the website?
- What kind of content is posted on the website?
Tips to reduce the loading speed of the WordPress site:
Every website owner needs to know about various methods to improve the loading speed of the website. It is because a page with good loading speed gets a good amount of traffic. A website that takes too much loading time loses its visitors. Online users lack patience, so they don’t like waiting for too long. Speed matters a lot while the person is busy converting visitors into customers.
For a website, to get a good ranking, it is very important to have a good loading speed. Speed factor cannot directly affect the rank of the website. It affects the bounce rates and conversion rates of the website. And it is a known fact that the bounce rates and the conversion rates are studied while ranking any website. A website that does not have a good loading speed can never manage the traffic. It will not be possible for it because it will take too much time to get loaded.
Have a look at some tips:
1. Pay attention to quality:
This is a very basic step in the whole process. You should choose a host that is highly qualitative. Beware of all the cheap offers that you will come across.
What you should do is to get rid of the shared hosting. It will eliminate the negative effects of the neighbor server. It slows down the speed of the website. You should use a dedicated server. It will not only serve you in a good way but will also help you in maintaining the budget.
You can also use WordPress hosting. It will save a lot of time, cost and energy. You need not worry about technical issues.
2. Constantly update your website:
You should have an open eye on the latest changes in technology. Your website should be up-to-date. It is because the latest versions are the improved versions. They will contain some additional features. And it is obvious that its speed will be higher.
You can trust your quality host for this. It will keep on notifying about the changes that took place. Though it notifies positively, you should also be very active in it. You should constantly check the various updates. It will be suggested to be careful while updating your website. It will help you to accept and adopt changes. And yes, you should use the latest versions.
3. Maintain your database:
You should maintain your database on a regular basis. It is important to get rid of unused data. When you clear up the temporary disc space of your data, you make your database user effective. There are so many tools that are available nowadays. You can use any of them to get benefitted.
You should constantly measure your website. Only then you will be able to maintain its website speed. When you measure your website, you come across a few problems with it. When you correct all the deviations in your website, the speed of your website automatically gets improved.
Follow these steps. You will be amazed to see the results. These steps have been followed by many people. And all of them were surprised to see the results.
Factors Affecting the Loading Speed of the Website:
Unless you know about various factors that are affecting your website, how will you correct them? That’s why it is very important to know about various determinants of the loading speed.
Website speed is of a very complex nature. It is dependent on various factors. Have a look:
1. Server:
The hosting plays a major role in managing the speed of the website. It can be classified into three categories:
Shared hosting:
It refers to the situation when the server is shared by various websites. It harms the loading speed because of too much load.
Virtual private server:
It refers to the situation when the server is shared by very fewer websites.
Dedicated server:
It refers to the situation when the server is not shared at all. There is just one website that uses any particular server.
2. The components of WordPress:
It includes the software that gives the power to the website. It’s content management system also affects the loading speed.
3. The device used by the user:
Not always the website is responsible. Sometimes the user himself uses the device that does not support the website. Yes, the hardware also affects the loading speed.
Plugins To Speed Up WordPress as suggested by experts:
There are a few plugins that are suggested by experts. They allow the user to get increased website speed.
1. WP Rocket:
This plugin is very impressive. It has all the interesting features in it. It comes with a user-friendly interface. It is known to give speedy improvements. It works best in HTML and Javascript. Its amazing features include improvements related to image loading, page caching, import, export and Google analytics.
2. Perfmatters:
Its working is different than that of other plugins. It is possible for it to disable all the unwanted options from the website that slow down its performance. It can disable scripts, unwanted WordPress options and unnecessary elements from the website.
3. WP Fastest Cache:
It feels great to use this plugin. It comes with amazing features. It has a combination of both basic and advanced features. It stays somewhere in the middle. It is quite easy to use. One has to just install it before using it. Its set-up is easy and also comes in a premium version.
4. Cache Enabler:
It is not at all heavy and is very light weighted. Its set up is also very easy, simple and flexible. It is known to be best for the beginners.
5. WP Super Cache:
Yes, it can be said that it is the most popular plugin. It believes in being to-the-point. It is best for advanced users. It has multiple benefits.
6. W3 Total Cache:
It is not a simple plugin. It is more of a complex nature. There are so many options available for the user. And that’s what makes it popular.
Mistakes to Avoid to Speed up WordPress:
Many people commit mistakes while working on WordPress. It should not happen because it generates negative results. Some of the mistakes are given below.
1. Wrong platform:
WordPress.com differs from WordPress.org. Unfortunately, many people don’t know this. As a result, they always end up choosing the wrong platform. One should know which platform suits them. Then, he will definitely use an apt platform.
2. Default username:
Many people forget to change their username as ‘admin’. This username is quite known to hackers. So, it is obvious that they will misuse it. You should definitely change your username. Also, keep your password in an alpha-numeric way.
3. Theme selection:
The theme of the website is never paid attention by the user. And it creates so many problems. The structure plays a major role while the search engine ranking is decided. So, it should not be avoided.
4. Absence of contact details:
It is one of the common mistakes committed by users. They forget to mention their contact details in their blog. Absence of contact details can act as a hindrance to interact with them directly.
5. Caching plug-in:
This mistake is committed by beginners. They either forget to install such plugin or they simply ignore them. And that’s where they lose their ranking. One should know that the website should be capable enough to manage the traffic. For this purpose, they should go for caching.
6. Back-up
Many people don’t create a backup of their website. Later on, they realize that they have done something wrong. That’s why it is suggested to people to have a back-up of their website. The best advantage is that the information will not get lost.
7. Updating the website:
Many people use WordPress but without updating it. They should know that the developers of WordPress keep on updating its version. And so, it is very important to constantly update the site.
8. Google Analytics:
Not using Google analytics is not just a mistake but a blunder. Google analytics are known to provide many services. One should definitely use it to have a check on the website.
If people start avoiding such mistakes, they will experience increased efficiency. Their website will take very less loading time and they will succeed in managing the traffic.
The bottom line:
The present-day website owner needs to be more cautious about its website’s speed. The users will not wait for a single minute. They want the website to get loaded soon. The loading speed of the website is a major issue now. But it is not a big problem. It is because there are so many tools that help the owner to increase the speed of the website. Now the website owners can help from expert suggestions too.