Are you wondering how to increase website speed for a better experience without long loading times? If yes, then stay right here!
In today’s fast-paced digital world, website speed is crucial. Slow-loading websites can frustrate users, negatively impact search engine rankings, and lead to higher bounce rates.
Whether you’re a blogger, eCommerce store owner, or a developer, optimizing your website’s performance is essential. Using simple tips and a bit of technical know-how, you can significantly speed up your website.
This guide covers everything you need to know about website speed. Including why a faster website is beneficial and 21 effective ways to achieve it.
No technical expertise is required to follow this guide – we’ve made it easy for everyone!
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s dive in and learn how to increase website speed more than ever.
Understanding Website Speed Optimization
To start with, let’s clarify the concept of website speed.
Essentially, website speed refers to the rate at which a website’s pages can load their content.
Considering that a website is a collection of web pages, the speed of a website is directly dependent on how quickly its individual web pages load. The loading time of a webpage impacts the overall speed of the website.
Every element that you encounter on a web page, such as images, text, and videos, constitutes content.
You may have noticed that some websites respond more swiftly than others regardless of the stability of your internet connection. This indicates how rapidly the content appears on the web pages, serving as a crucial indicator of a website’s speed.
Naturally, nobody expects a website to take minutes or hours to load. Hence, website speed is typically quantified in seconds.
There are two main methods by which you can measure a website’s speed.
- Page Load Time: By measuring how long it takes for all of the content to appear on a website.
- Time to First Byte: Measuring the time until the first byte of data appears on the website.
It really doesn’t matter which method you use, as long as it’s constant throughout the measuring process. So don’t be too worried about these terms!
The process by which you increase website speed, using various techniques, is called website speed optimization.
We’ll get into all the techniques later on how to increase website speed in this article, so be patient!
Why is Site Speed Optimization Important? (5 Reasons)
Website speed is crucial for both companies and individuals alike. Slow websites frustrate users, and nobody wants to risk losing visitors because of a slow site.
Here are the top reasons why you should optimize your website’s speed:
1. User Experience
The first thing that comes to everyone’s mind is user experience. No one wants their website to annoy or irritate their user, no matter what kind of website it may be.
And the users don’t want to be annoyed either. Research has shown that over 53% of users will click away if the website takes more than 3 seconds to load. They’ll look for another website to fulfill their needs.
2. Increased Sales
For companies that rely on online business, slow website speed can lead to significant sales loss, reducing overall profitability. This mainly affects online stores and blogs.
Therefore, a decent speed of your website helps you save your sales further increasing your income.
3. Improved Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Google prefers fast websites, as slow-loading websites can significantly impact user satisfaction. Google wants to avoid poor user experiences at all costs.
If your website is slow-loading, Google will push it down the search ranking list, and your website won’t get many visits from people searching for similar content. This implies that a good and quick website leads to improved SEO of your site.
4. Improved Credibility
Like calling a slow-responding clinic, a slow website can negatively impact how customers view your business’s credibility. For companies that operate entirely online, this can be a major issue, with visitors choosing to abandon a slow website for one with a better reputation.
Therefore, it’s extremely crucial for your website to load quickly to improve its credibility.
5. First Impression
When users visit your website, it’s usually to learn about your company or services offered. If they can’t access your website’s content quickly and easily, they may lose hope in your company and choose a competitor instead.
Therefore, a fast-loading website will help you have a positive first impression on your visitors. This can lead them as your future prospects and customers.
How to Test Website Speed? – Best Speed Testing Tools & Techniques
Before improving your site’s speed, it’s important to know your current website speed.
Measure your website’s speed before and after implementing the techniques in this article. This way, you can see if the changes have made your website faster.
You’ll also know if your website is as fast as you’d like or if it still needs improvement. Even a few milliseconds can make a big difference in website performance.
To measure your website’s speed, using a third-party tool is common. However, ensure a few things before testing:
- Cache: Enable caching to store data temporarily on a user’s computer, making the website load faster.
- Complete Content: Make sure all files, including images, videos, and audio, are uploaded. Testing an incomplete website is like racing an unfinished car—it won’t give accurate results.
By following these steps, you can accurately measure and improve your website’s speed.
Best Speed Testing Tools & Techniques
First of all, you’ll want to open up any sort of website speed checker online. You can simply search for one using a search engine, but we would like to recommend a few certain ones:
- Google’s PageSpeed Insights: Provides comprehensive website statistics and suggests ways to enhance website speed.
- Pingdom: This tool provides a simplified view of all website operations and speed from different regions.
- GTmetrix: It offers a detailed analysis of website speed from various geographical locations and provides recommendations to improve speed.
- WebPageTest: This website speed-checking tool is the most comprehensive on the list, offering extensive details. By prioritizing your needs, you can maximize its benefits for your site.
- Uptrends Website Speed Test: Offers a top site speed-checking tool with resources like videos, tutorials, and blogs to improve your website.
- Think with Google Test My Site: This site checker is probably the most simplistic and easy to read. It presents data in a clean and plain way, and won’t overload you with too much information.
Now that you’ve got a site where you can measure website speed, simply enter your website’s URL, and get started! The measuring sites will give you time, and they’ll tell your site’s speed! Congratulations, you did it!
But that’s not all! Imagine if that one measurement was a fluke. Then what?
Well, to avoid that, try measuring website speed multiple times, and using various settings. Then, take the data you’ve collected, and find the average value.
Now, you’ve got yourself a much, much more accurate reading that if you had just taken the first number you got! You can record that number and compare it to the number you get after you implement all of the methods in order to see your improvements.
Additionally, you can also see which method works better, so that in case you decide to make another website, you’ll know exactly what to do. This is especially true for corporations that require a large number of websites.
What is a Good Website Speed?
Well then, what would be a good website speed? As mentioned earlier, for starters, studies show that 53% of users would rather just click away than wait 3 seconds for a website to load. So it must be better than that.
For reference, the average website speed is 2.9 seconds. That means if your website is faster than that, you’re above average. The fastest websites might load in around 0.8 seconds. Usually, these websites are very minimal and optimized.
How to Increase Website Speed? (21 Ways to Make Your Website Faster)
Now we’ve covered everything ranging from definitions of site speed, and reasons to improve your site speed. We’ve also told you and given you tips and tools to measure your site’s speed yourself.
Now, what else could be left?
That’s right! The most important bit on ways to make your website faster! Be sure to follow along, and don’t be worried if it sounds too technical. We’ll explain everything as we go along.
Now without further ado, let’s get to it!
1. Use the Best Web Hosting
The first step to having a faster website is to simply get a better hosting service.
A lot of hosting companies offer plans based on things like how much bandwidth you have. Bandwidth is the rate of data transfer, so if you have better bandwidth, your website will load faster. Thus, getting a better plan is a surefire way of getting a faster website with minimal work.
Of course, it does cost quite a bit more. That’s why it’s not exactly suitable for those of you on a budget. Try checking your web hosting service’s website, and check if a better plan is within your budget.
Before picking a hosting provider, it’s essential to do a bit of research.
Some good web hosts are Cloudways and Bluehost. If you’re using WordPress, then you can also try managed hosting services like Kinsta and WP Engine.
Nevertheless, consider these factors when choosing a hosting platform:
- Server Location: The closer the server is to your target audience, the faster your website will load for them.
- Storage and Bandwidth: Make sure the hosting plan offers enough storage and bandwidth to meet your website’s needs.
- Type of Hosting: Decide which type of hosting matches your website requirements. There are different types like shared hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS hosting, and cloud hosting.
While it may be tempting to opt for cheaper hosting plans initially, they may not be sufficient as your website grows. In such cases, upgrading your hosting service becomes necessary.
You can check our article on what to look for in a web hosting company for more detailed guidance.
2. Take Advantage of Caching
Caching is a powerful technique to improve your website’s speed by storing data locally on your user’s computer, allowing for faster loading times.
So, what exactly is caching?
Caching involves creating a temporary copy of a web page and storing it either on the user’s device or on the server. When a user revisits a cached page, the browser can load it from local storage instead of requesting it from the server, significantly reducing load times.
How to Implement Caching:
- Using .htaccess File: Add caching rules to your .htaccess file to specify how long browsers should cache different types of content.
- WordPress Caching Plugins: If you use WordPress, leverage caching plugins like WP Rocket, WP Super Cache, etc. These plugins make it easy to manage and optimize your caching settings.
- Server-Side Caching: Some hosting providers offer built-in caching solutions. Check with your host to see if they provide this service and how to enable it.
- Browser Caching: Modern browsers often cache frequently visited websites automatically. Ensure your server sends appropriate headers to maximize browser caching effectiveness.
By implementing caching, you can significantly increase the speed of your website, reduce server load, and provide a better user experience. This optimization is essential for maintaining a fast, efficient, and user-friendly website.
3. Optimized Images
Images are a big part of a website’s design and overall aesthetic. They usually provide references and context that simple words can’t, and they are used a lot while creating a website.
And so, websites normally have a lot of images. These images, if not properly optimized and compressed, can take a really long time to load. And that will make your website much slower.
To prevent this, you can optimize your images. How, you might ask? Well, there are various methods and tools you can use for this, but first, let’s understand the types of optimization.
When you reduce the file size of a file, it’s called compression.
There are two types of compression, which are lossy compression and lossless compression.
- In the first, the quality is drastically reduced due to the compression, but the size is also reduced a lot.
- In the second one, the size is reduced a bit less, but the quality of it remains the same.
Usually, compression tools will let you pick methods, but it’s good to know what they mean, so you can choose how much you want to compromise on quality.
You can pick between the many tools available online for this very purpose, like TinyPNG and Compressor.io.
Here, all you’ve to do is upload your images, and in a short time, you’ll get your optimized images.
Or you can use a WordPress plugin for your WordPress site. Image optimization plugins like Imagify can automatically optimize your pics to your liking, balancing speed and quality.
4. Serve Images in Next-gen Formats
Using next-gen image formats like WebP, JPEG 2000, and JPEG XR is an effective way to increase your website speed. These formats offer better compression and quality compared to traditional formats like JPEG and PNG. Further, resulting in smaller file sizes and faster loading times.
How to Convert Images:
- Online Tools: Use converters like EZGif, Online Image Converter, and Convertio.
- WordPress Plugins: For WordPress sites, plugins like WebP Express and Imagify make conversion easy.
- Photo Editing Software: You can also save images as WebP directly in software like Photoshop.
By adopting next-gen image formats, you can drastically reduce image sizes while maintaining high quality. This simple yet effective change can enhance your website’s speed and user experience, making it a crucial optimization strategy.
5. Optimize JavaScript and CSS files
JavaScript and CSS are essential for making websites dynamic and visually appealing, but they can slow down your site if not optimized. To improve your website’s speed, you should minimize these files, which reduces their size and load time.
- For WordPress users, plugins like LiteSpeed Cache and Hummingbird can automatically minimize your JavaScript and CSS files.
- For non-WordPress users, tools like CSS Minifier by Toptal are easy to use and effective.
By optimizing these files, you can significantly enhance your website’s performance, ensuring a smoother and faster user experience.
6. Get Rid of Useless Plugins
A plugin is basically additional software that’s used to provide extra features. These features can range from providing customization options to something really specific, like providing a live chat option.
Either way, they take up space on your website. And anything that takes up space will increase a website’s loading time.
Therefore, if you don’t think a plugin will be used, simply, just get rid of it. To decide if it’ll be used is up to you. Take some time to balance the speed and functionality of your website. It’ll be worth it in the end!
7. Implement Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a form of content delivery, similar to web hosting. Although it can’t take the job of web hosting, it nonetheless makes for a faster and more efficient website. How might you ask?
Well, imagine a website like any other product. Let’s also say the product is stored in many different warehouses across the world. Of course, if the company decides to ship you the product from the warehouse closest to you, you’re going to receive it faster.
It’s similar to a CDN. A CDN consists of multiple databases around the world connected to the main server. When a user tries to access a website, the website files are transferred to the database closest to them. Then, it can be quickly and easily accessed!
Many web hosting providers provide CDN services too. You should check their website and configure yours accordingly. They might charge extra for it, so think hard about whether you actually need it or not.
If you don’t have a web host that provides CDN, you can get it from another company. Cloudflare CDN is a very good CDN company.
For more information, check our article on what is CDN and how it works and best CDN providers out there in the market.
8. Cutdown External Scripts
JavaScript lets you add cool features like pop-up dialogs, fancy slideshows, and social media buttons. These features often come from external scripts hosted elsewhere. While this allows reuse across websites, it can slow yours down because your site needs to download them each time.
Here’s how to strike a balance:
- Focus on core features: Keep external scripts essential for user experience. Ruthlessly cut anything non-critical that might slow things down.
- Minimize downloads: Browsers have download limits. Combine small scripts into one file to reduce these requests and speed up loading.
- Smart script loading: Don’t stall main content for external scripts. Use
asyncordeferto load them in the background, or place them at the webpage’s bottom.
This approach lets you leverage the benefits of external scripts without sacrificing website speed.
9. Clean Up Server Space by Removing Unused Files
Whenever you launch a website, you’ll have to upload certain files to the server’s computer. Sometimes, you might make the mistake of uploading one too many useless files. These files don’t change anything on the website except for taking up space and making the website slower overall.
You should open up your server, and check for any of these files. Be careful though! You don’t want to delete an important file by accident!
We advise that you back up the website first, whether it be locally, or on your web hosting provider’s server. This will ensure that even if you accidentally delete an important file, you can still recover it later.
10. Minimize HTTP requests
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is a set of rules laid down for transferring data from a server to a client and vice versa. It basically is the framework for how a client and server interact.
Every time your website downloads a file (image, script, stylesheet), it makes an HTTP request. Too many requests can slow down your website.
Here’s how to minimize them:
- Identify bottlenecks: Use tools like Pingdom to see how many HTTP requests your site makes.
- Reduce file quantity: The fewer files, the fewer requests. Consider combining small images or scripts, or removing unnecessary elements.
- Prioritize content: Ensure critical resources like your main content load first. Defer downloads of non-essential scripts or styles.
This approach keeps your website lean and fast-loading for a better user experience.
11. Lazy Loading of Images
Have you ever tried to get an assignment done as soon as you get it? If you have, you know it’s pretty hard to do. Instead, taking your time and doing tasks when the time calls for it sounds much easier.
Similarly, lazy loading is a method that allows your website to load while the user is browsing through it. You’ve probably seen this before while browsing a website. It’s when the text has loaded, but the images haven’t.
In that case, the most important part (the text) is prioritized, and the images are shown only if you scroll down to them.
You can use a lazy load in different ways. If you’re using WordPress, you can simply download one of many plugins. Among those, Lazy Load by Smush is the most popular.
12. Defer JavaScript Loading
As we’ve discussed, JavaScript files are usually very heavy on a website and can lead to a slower website if you use it too much. That’s why you can defer the. JavaScript easily.
Deferring refers to checking if the base website has loaded yet, before loading up the JavaScript. Essentially, the JavaScript is loaded last. This ensures that all the necessary features are present, without the user having to wait for the JavaScript to load.
Although the user might not get the full features of the website immediately, they can still interact with it until the JavaScript loads up.
Still feeling confused to understand it? Imagine it like waiting to serve dessert until after everyone has finished their main course.
By delaying the loading of less important elements like special effects and animations, your website’s essential content can load faster, giving users a smoother experience.
13. Reduce Redirects
You’ve probably seen page redirects. It happens when a web page sends you to another web page. This can usually take up to 5 seconds, which is a pretty long time in terms of website speed.
Why would anyone choose to do this, you might ask? Well, imagine someone else’s puts a link to your website on their website. Sometime later, you might choose to switch to another website. For the sake of convenience, you could just redirect people from your old website to the new one.
Of course, this is really undesirable in the case of website speed.
To get rid of this,
- Avoid Linking to Redirected URLs: Ensure that links on your website do not point to URLs that redirect to other pages.
- Check Plugins for Redirects: Some plugins like Redirection add redirects. Regularly check and remove unnecessary redirects.
- Use Redirect Management Tools: Tools like Screaming Frog can help you identify broken links and redirects, allowing you to evaluate and minimize them.
By reducing the number of redirects, you can significantly improve your website’s speed and user experience. Regularly audit your site for redirects and use appropriate tools to manage them efficiently.
14. Optimize Your Site for Mobile
Today, the global smartphone market is larger than ever. And a lot of the traffic coming on to websites is also from mobile.
As such, if a mobile user tries to access a website made with only computers in mind, they’re going to run into a lot of problems. They might experience bad displays, dead links, and an overall poor website. They might even have trouble simply reading the text. And of course, the website might load slowly, or not at all.
That’s why mobile optimization is so important. Not only does it provide inclusiveness, but they make a website’s design better overall, even on a computer.
You can use AMP(Accelerated Mobile Pages.). This is an HTML framework that lets you create web pages that work especially well on mobile. It’s open-source, so you can alter it as you please. With WordPress, you can use any number of plugins for this task as well.
15. Try Plugins that Speed Up Websites
If you’ve had any experience with plugins, you’d know that there are plugins for any and every reason. From easy SSL to buying recommendations, it’s all there.
So similarly, there are a lot of speed optimization plugins that use different methods to speed up your website. These methods can include caching and overall website optimization. And a lot of the time, these plugins are absolutely free as well!
16. Enable Gzip Compression
We’ve discussed file compression and optimization extensively because of its critical role in speeding up your website. One effective method is enabling gzip compression.
So, what exactly is it?
Gzip compression reduces the size of your files for network transfer. It works by locating similar text blocks within your files and temporarily replacing them with shorter text, significantly reducing file sizes – sometimes by up to 70%.
How Gzip Compression Works:
- Server-Side Compression: Files are compressed on the server before being sent over the network.
- Network Transfer: The smaller, compressed files are transmitted more quickly to the client’s browser.
- Client-Side Decompression: The browser decompresses the files upon arrival, restoring them to their original form.
How to Enable Gzip Compression:
- Check if Gzip is Enabled: Use tools like Gift of Speed Gzip Test to see if your site already has gzip enabled.
- For WordPress Sites: Use a plugin like WP Rocket to enable gzip compression easily. WP Rocket is highly recommended for its simplicity and effectiveness in compressing files.
By enabling gzip compression, you can significantly reduce file sizes and improve your website’s speed, providing a better experience for your users. This simple yet powerful optimization technique ensures that your site runs efficiently and loads quickly.
17. Don’t Upload Audio/Video Files Directly to the Website
Uploading audio and video files directly to your website can significantly slow down its loading time, which you want to avoid if you’re looking to make a website faster.
However, you don’t have to eliminate audio and video content altogether.
- Instead of hosting these large files on your server, use online video-sharing platforms like YouTube or Vimeo.
- And for audio, consider podcast hosting platforms such as PodBean, SoundCloud, etc.
Since these platforms are optimized for various devices and connection speeds, ensuring smooth playback.
For example, if you’ve a WordPress site, then you can simply use the YouTube block in WordPress. All you’ve to do is copy the YouTube video URL. And paste it into the YouTube block on your WordPress editor.
By hosting audio and video files externally and embedding them on your site, you can maintain engaging content without compromising on speed and performance. This approach ensures your website remains fast and responsive, providing a better experience for your users.
18. Enable HTTP Keep-Alive
Enabling HTTP keep-alive is a powerful way to improve your website’s performance and increase website speed.
Now, are you wondering what exactly is HTTP keep-alive?
Well, it’s a command that allows a single connection to stay open for multiple requests between a client and a server. So, instead of opening a new connection for each request, the client can use the existing connection to request multiple files. This saves time and bandwidth.
Why is HTTP Keep-Alive Important? Without keep-alive, each request from a client to the server requires establishing a new connection. This process involves multiple steps:
- Creating a connection.
- Requesting the file.
- Closing the connection.
This can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, particularly for websites with many elements.
You can easily enable HTTP Keep-Alive by adjusting the settings in your server configuration files. For Apache, you can enable keep-alive in the .htaccess file or the main configuration file by adding:
KeepAlive On
MaxKeepAliveRequests 100
KeepAliveTimeout 5
This way, you can significantly enhance your website’s performance and increase website speed, ensuring a better experience for your users.
19. Disable Hotlinking of Images
Hotlinking occurs when another website directly links to your site’s media files (images, audio, videos), using your server’s resources to display them. This can significantly slow down your site, especially if the other site has high traffic or more bandwidth.
Preventing hotlinking is an effective strategy when considering how to increase website speed. On top of that, hotlinking not only strains your server but can also be illegal if the media used is copyrighted.
How to Increase Website Speed by Preventing Hotlinking:
- Use a WordPress Plugin: If you use WordPress, download a plugin like All In One WP Security to easily disable hotlinking.
- Consult Your CDN Provider: Many CDN providers offer security features to prevent hotlinking. Check your provider’s settings or support documentation.
- Work with Your Web Host: Some web hosts also provide tools and options to block hotlinking. Reach out to your host for assistance.
By disabling hotlinking, you can protect your server’s resources, and ensure your website runs smoothly. And effectively increase website speed, even if other sites try to misuse your media files.
20. Replace PHP with Static HTML Wherever Possible
While PHP offers dynamic capabilities, it can add processing overhead on the server, potentially slowing down page loads, especially for users with slower connections.
Here’s the break down:
- Static HTML: Loads faster for users with any internet speed. Ideal for content that rarely changes.
- PHP: Enables dynamic features but requires server processing. Great for interactive elements or frequently updated content.
To optimize your website’s performance, it’s crucial to find the right balance between static and dynamic content.
- Use static HTML for content that doesn’t require frequent updates. And for elements that remain constant, such as images or text that rarely change.
- Use PHP for essential interactive elements or frequently changing information.
For example, if your website has a cover picture that rarely changes, embed the image directly in your HTML code instead of importing it via PHP. This reduces the need for database queries and improves load times. This approach ensures a balance between functionality and speed for your website.
21. Turn Off Pingbacks & Trackbacks in WordPress
If you manage a WordPress site, you’ve likely encountered pingbacks and trackbacks. These features notify you when another site links to your content. While this sounds useful, it can slow down your site, especially if numerous sites are linking to you.
Understanding Pingbacks and Trackbacks:
- Pingbacks: When another website links to your content, you receive a notification in your admin area. This may also appear as a comment.
- Trackbacks: Similar to pingbacks, but generally just a notification without appearing as a comment.
While these notifications can foster community interaction, they often become a tool for spammers, creating excessive notifications that slow down your site. Trackback comments, in particular, can consume server space and clutter your admin dashboard.
To maintain your site’s speed and performance, it’s best to disable these features. Here’s how:
First, navigate to your WordPress dashboard, then go to Settings > Discussion. Next, uncheck the box that says “Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks) on new articles.”
By disabling pingbacks and trackbacks, you can prevent spam and ensure your site remains fast and efficient.
Conclusion
Well, here we come to the end of our article on how to increase website speed.
We hope this article helped you to learn all about website speed, how to check it, why it’s important, and most importantly, what you need to do to increase website speed.
We’ve even given you a few resources you can check out! We hope you’ve had a blast reading this article, and that your website is now as fast as ever!
If you’ve any further queries about how to increase website speed, then please leave a comment below. We’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible.
Also, check our definitive guide on website SEO to learn how to optimize your website for free organic traffic from search engines.
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