Website Performance Matters
WordPress can be either a slow CMS to use for your website, or it can be blazing fast when properly configured. While there are many factors at play when determining the performance of a WordPress Powered Website, some complex strategies that require server tweaks, deep analysis of your analytics and the use of onsite and offsite tools and services. There are a few very easy to setup plugins that can make a dramatic difference in the performance of your website.
In this article and the video above, I showcase one free WordPress Plugin called Autoptimize. It can be found on the official WordPress Website and it literally just takes a few minutes to set up.
Why is Website Performance Important?
Page load time is one of the many ranking factors that Google uses when determining how to rank a website in the search results. The higher your website ranks, the more traffic your site will get. The more traffic your website gets, the more likely you’ll reach your goals and purpose of your website.
Website visitors are also very time sensitive. Seconds can seem like an eternity and once you pass 2 seconds, most website visitors will abandon the attempt to reach your website. They’ll move on to the next site on their list or in the search results. Google tracks this also.
What Does The Autoptimize WordPress Plugin Do?
It does a few things that have a major impact on the overall performance of your website performance. It aggregates files into one, it minifies files and caches scripts and styles. By doing this, it reduces the amount of HTTP Requests being made to your website and this reduces page load time. It also saves on bandwidth which also improves the performance of your website.
This helps to conserve your server’s resources and makes for a faster trip back and forth from request to delivery.
The best way to explain this is by trying to compare it to carrying grocery bags. If you go to the local market and buy just a loaf of bread and milk, you’ll have just one bag, easy to carry. If you go to Costco’s or BJ’s and buy lot’s of items for a BBQ, you will probably have to make multiple trips to the car. This will take more time and will likely exhaust you. The same thing happens to your website and server.
How To Set Up The Autoptimize Plugin
It’s really easy to get it set up. Just log into your admin dashboard of your WordPress Website. Then go to the Plugins link and then click add new. From there, search for Autoptimize and it will be the first option. Here’s a direct link to the plugin so you can make sure you’re getting the right one. https://wordpress.org/plugins/autoptimize/
From there, go to the main settings link in your admin sidebar and click the submenu item titled Autoptimize. Then you can optimize your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This will literally take just a few minutes and will significantly improve your website’s performance. This will help with your SEO Efforts and your website visitors will continue visiting your website.
In the video above, I do a live demonstration of how to set up the Autoptimize WordPress Plugin and also show you how it improves the load time of the test website. Here’s the link to the video if you want to watch it on YouTube. https://youtu.be/OIcvoyW1MVw
I will be creating more tutorials, videos, and demonstrations on how to make your WordPress Powered Website go blazing fast.
As always, thanks for taking the time to read this post. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel and share this article with those who might benefit from it.