How I got a Near Perfect Score on my WordPress Website
Test Your Website -> Pingdom Tools
WordPress Optimization is talked about all over the place. But with all the chatter out there how can you tell what’s real and what’s fluff? Read along and I will share with you the facts on Optimizing WordPress.
WordPress Theme
When you choose how your website will look, you don’t always think about your themes impact on your website load time and score. Ideally, you want a clean theme that provides enough styling to make an impact but not the extreme that it impacts your page load time or overall score. You also want a theme that is efficient, the way it is coded matters. That is why for our theme we spent a considerable amount of time in developing the code and then testing again and again to make sure we got it just right.
Even the best themes won’t get you a perfect score by themselves so read on.
Professional WordPress Setup & Hosting
What makes WordPress so awesome is that it is easy to get started with. All you need is a Domain Name, Hosting Plan and then you can download WordPress and install any of the Free or Premium WordPress Themes out there. But if you look at the score above, it is taking into consideration things that are not theme or even WordPress specific. It’s all in the setup.
Your server needs to be setup and configured to process Dynamic Content Efficiently. WordPress is a CMS (Content Management System). This is what makes it so easy for you to add blog posts, pages, images, video etc to your website without actually knowing how to code. Someone has already written the code for you. For my theme that I’ve created specifically for Realtors ( Agent IDX ) I spent several thousand hours writing the code.
When I setup a new clients website, I optimize everything
- First, I host them on my server which is configured to work with WordPress
- Second, I use my theme that is highly optimized out of the box
- Third, I optimize the images using various techniques
- Fourth, I make sure the site is being properly cached
- Fifth, I put the site on optimization auto pilot
WordPress Optimization Tools
- First I recommend a good hosting plan, preferably a Managed Hosting Plan or VPS. If you’re on a shared hosting plan then make sure it’s with a reputable company that doesn’t install more websites than the server can handle.
- Then I recommend getting a premium theme.
- Cache Plugins will help you reduce server load and generate static pages. W3 Total Cache is one of the best.
- CDN is a content delivery network. What this does is ensure that your website files are being delivered from a server located near where the webvisitor is from. Note: Not always needed for local websites.
- Image optimization plugins like EWWW Image Optimizer, WP Smush.it and Imsanity are some of the best. I also use jPegmini on my mac which does an awesome job.
Why does all this Matter?
If you have a website, you want your web visitors to enjoy their experience on your site. Page load time matters for them and also for the search engines like Google. Your website should follow the proper coding standards and ensure that no corners are being cut. It is also important because if a website is poorly coded, there is also a chance that there can be a security issue in the code. Getting hacked is not something you want to deal with.
DIY / Do it Yourself
I’m a big promoter of the DIY community. It is important to understand how stuff works. WordPress is so popular that you can google almost any aspect of it and find an answer. If you need to get jump started and want to have your website receive a near perfect score then I am here to help.
Note: I offer an affordable Premium WordPress Setup and I provide WordPress Managed Hosting.