How To Speed Up Your WordPress Site - And Increase Organic Traffic By 39.1%

Why WordPress Website Speed Matters

If your site is not loading quickly, you are losing money.
Here is why:
A 1-second delay in page loading rate leads to:

• 11 percent fewer page views
• 16 percent Reduction in customer satisfaction
• 7 percent reduction in conversions (Resource: Aberdeen Group)

For each 100 millisecond increase in page loading rate, Amazon's earnings went up by 1 percent (Source: Amazon)
Very similar to Amazon, Walmart increased earnings by 2% for each 1 minute of advancement (Source: WPO Stats).
Akamai ran a study that found:

• 47 percent of Individuals want a webpage to load in two minutes or less
• 40 percent will leave your site if it takes more than 3 minutes to load
• 52 percent of Individuals cite page loading speed as a Critical component for generating customer loyalty

Increasing your website speed therefore is not a nice-to-do, it is a must-do. If not, you are not just likely to suffer with poorer Google ranks, but also reduced gains.

Now you know why it is vital to be certain that your site loads quickly, continue reading to find out how I raised Cloud Living's speed functionality and enhanced organic visitors by 39.1 percent.

Here Is The Results I Got Out Of After This Website Speed Optimization Procedure

I utilized a 22-step procedure to optimize Cloud alive's rate.

As a result of my procedure, Cloud living's website speed taken through the roof.

Actually, this procedure decreased the webpage load time from 2.44 minutes...

... into 991 millisecond!

But that is not all...

I also detected an increase in visitor participation:

And over 30 days, organic traffic has improved by roughly 39.1percent too (with no new backlinks or content ).

Now that you have noticed how well this website speed optimization procedure functions, it is time for me to help you through the whole 22-step procedure for fostering your website speed.

Before we enter the details nevertheless...

You Need To Do These two Quick Matters

1. Test Your Website Speed & Performance

Be certain that you check your website's rate so that you may compare rate fluctuations once you have done optimizing your site.

Here is what I suggest using:

GTMetrix.com

Tools.Pingdom.com

For your two tools over, pick the location that is closest to your intended country. By Way of Example, in my case I picked Dallas USA for both GTMetrix and San Jose, California, USA for Pingdom.

This ought to provide you an excellent sign for your present page rate.

No matter your results, remember that you need to obviously try to boost your score, but it is unrealisticto attempt to maximize your pagespeed score to 100/100.

Why?

Because in the Event That You try to achieve a perfect tier, two things will occur:

1. You will go mad trying
2. It will not be worth all of the Excess effort - you will just receive marginal profits (your energy will be better spent elsewhere)

Therefore don't be overly OCD about it. You will not ever find perfect scores, nor if you attempt to.

What matters the most is that the loading rate of your website.
If your website loads under two weeks with GTMetrix and Pingdom, then you are pretty great.

Two ) Backup Your Site

It is important to copy your site before following the procedure below just in case you violate your website by mistake.

To copy, utilize UpDraftPlus.

We have that covered...

Continue reading to learn how to raise your website's speed.

22 Things You Can Do Right Now To Accelerate Your WordPress Website

1. Opt for a fast and reliable web hosting provider

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The very first thing you will need to do is select a trusted web hosting provider.

Obvious, right?

What is not so obvious is dividing reliable web hosting suppliers out of unreliable ones.

Truth be told, the majority of the hosting providers folks recommend are unsuccessful.

I understand because affiliate marketers advocate hosting solutions they do not even use themselves only to make a fast buck (they pursue commission, not fact ).

Among their favourite recommendations is BlueHost.

If you have heard the hype, then you likely believe BlueHost is super great.

However, in fact?

It is really very horrible.

Here is why:

• There has been plenty of reported downtime problems
• It's typical load rate
• Slow customer service
• Fees you for migration (which many hosting companies will pay for free)
• Limited CPU use (if you are using over 10%, They May suspend your website )

Additionally, but BlueHost can also be possessed by EIG - the company who has gone on a buying spree, but crossing up a lot of leading hosting companies simply to make them worse.

Here is the complete list of those hosting firms they have.

Be warned: Should you decide on any hosting provider in the list above, you are likely to suffer with a fairly lousy performance.

Why am I telling you ?

As you can't dismiss the importance of selecting a trusted hosting supplier - do this wrong and you have taken your odds of getting quicker site speed.

I have tried a lot of hosting providers. Below are the sole two net hosting providers I will 100% Guarantee for:
Choice 1 - Affordable Shared Hosting - InMotion Hosting

If you are just beginning, I suggest going with InMotion Hosting. Not only is it incredibly cheap, but it includes plenty of amazing features.

Here's a couple:

• Quick loading speed
• Great uptime
• Excellent service
• Free migration
• Free SSL
• 1 free domain

For a newcomer, these are fantastic.

But much better than the attributes themselves, I urge InMotion Hosting since you can anticipate them.

They are none of the hosting suppliers which are here 1 day and gone the next. On the contrary, they have been in business since 2001. Plus they provide really great functionality.

Actually, from our evaluations, InMotion Hosting has always outperformed BlueHost, HostGator along with many others.

Here Is What my buddy Jerry out of Internet Hosting Secret Revealed must say about Inmotion Hosting:

It is difficult to go wrong with InMotion Hosting since they provide solid performance and excellent customer care. I cover InMotion Hosting hundrds of dollars a year to sponsor my major websites and I highly recommend them. - Jerry, Internet Hosting Specialist

Use this link if you need 56% OFF InMotion Hosting

Choice 2 - High-Performance Managed Internet Hosting - WPX Hosting
If you are a bit more sophisticated, then I advise that you proceed with the managed hosting option WPX Hosting.
It is the one I use for Cloud living along with my other high-traffic websites. And I totally love it.

Here is why:

• It is quicker than shared hosting because they are not overloading their servers with a huge number of websites
• Great uptime
• Free SSL
• Free migration
• The best customer service you may get - they are online 24/7 and will assist you to do virtually everything technical.
• All of WordPress related queries will be replied with caution.
• Telephones will continually be solved in under one hour.
• They'll optimize your website speed at no cost.
• That is why I say it is the very best customer service ever!

What is the drawback?

It is more expensive than typical hosting, but nevertheless the cost is quite great for its operation.

You can check out more about WPX Hosting here.

Notice: If you obtain both of the hosting alternatives out of my affiliate links, my exceptionally proficient developer will put up and optimize your own site at no cost. Click the link to learn more.

2. Use a lightweight WordPress theme/framework

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There are a great deal of bulky bloated WP topics out there.
A few of those theme designers and developers prefer to incorporate a good deal of components and glistening features in their topics but these can make your website extremely slow.
It is far better to decide on a lightweight, minimum motif and use plugins or hire a programmer to extend your site's functionality as you want... rather than beginning your website using a hundred features you never use.
For the last couple of weeks, I have been moving all my sites for this subject known as GeneratePress.
Have a look at my comprehensive GeneratePress review.

I am not over-exaggerating to mention this really is the very best theme I've attempted because I started using WordPress back in 2007.
And for the past ten decades, I've tested HUNDREDS of topics including both paid and free.
The excellent thing about GeneratePress is it's really a multipurpose theme which means that you may use it to make a great deal of unique templates quite easily.
But unlike most of the multipurpose themes you may locate on ThemeForest, this one is unbelievably simple to use and most importantly it is super lightweight and quick.
Like lightning fast.
Additionally, this motif is modular which means that you may activate and deactivate features which you don't utilize which save funds and maximizes for loading speed in precisely the exact same moment.
Additionally, it is quite developer-friendly. The code is organized and clean. I showed it to my programmers and they loved it.
I understand you may be wondering why...
How does this compare to the topics supplied by ThriveThemes.com?
Frankly, I am a huge fan of Thrive Architect along with other plugins that they supply but in regards to producing motifs, the group at ThriveThemes.com isn't so good.
Their subjects do not seem very good layout wise, seem even worse on cellular and have a couple things which aren't optimized for SEO.
I have been utilizing FocusBlog by ThriveThemes but not been completely satisfied with it. I also had to create a number of customizations so as to allow it to be great.
The main reason I have not moved until today is because their subjects work with Thrive Content Builder (currently Thrive Architect) and encourage a few cool features like ability to disable any components on the webpage or to change between posts/page design.
But all of them can be found in GeneratePress. And Thrive Architect can operate easily with GP too.
The final thing I wish to mention is...
GeneratePress is incredibly reasonably priced.
They have a free version that has been set up by over 1 MILLION sites. Together with the free version, you've got an extremely fundamental fast-loading motif which looks great on both the desktop and mobile computer.
But the actual power of it's unlocked once you upgrade to the Premium version which costs just $39.95 for life use and 1-year of upgrades and service.
Yes.
Only $39.95 yearly for a potent theme which you may use on UNLIMITED sites.
Merely to compare, a multipurpose motif on ThemeForest on typical costs about $50 and FocusBlog by ThriveThemes prices $67 for unlimited use.
So at $39.95 GeneratePress is a no brainer.
If you're interested what you could do using GP, have a look at CloudLiving.com

Mobile reading experience enhanced considerably too.

I managed to receive 90 percent of the done my programmer just had to do a little custom code to make the tabbed perspective on the site.
If you have read this much, you likely feel my enthusiasm for GeneratePress. It's absolutely my favourite theme today and I highly suggest that you get it.
Click here to find out more about the subject at their official site.

3. Eliminate Unnecessary Plugins

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Plugins can accelerate your WordPress website but they can result in a whole lot of performance problems if you are not being careful and selective over what you decide to install.

Not many plugins have been created equal, there are fantastic ones but you will find many others which are badly coded.

In the ideal world, all WP plugins will work nicely together and in stability. But that is not the situation.

The plugins you set up, the more likely you'll have compatibility problems.

To get rid of unnecessary plugins:

Visit Dashboard >> Plugins >> Installed Plugins and perform an audit of your existing collection of plugins.

Repeat the following procedure for each plugin:

• Assess the last updated date - when the plugin hasn't been updated lately, then it is probably something you'll be able to live without
• Request your self - Can I really want the performance of the plugin? In case the solution is no, then deactivate it.

I advise that you deactivate the plugins and attempt to use your website as normal for a couple weeks to determine whether there is something missing.

When you are sure your website could operate normally with no plugins, then delete them.

Interesting Fact: Within my optimization procedure for CloudLiving.com, I eliminated a total of 12 plugins which I had installed for ages.

4. Prevent using sliders for greater conversions and speed

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Sliders suck.

They all do is:

• Slow off your website (a great deal of sliders load additional JavaScript which reduces your website rate )
• Reduce conversions (it has been noticed that sliders have VERY LOW Click-Through Rate (CTR). As few as 1 percent ).
• Ruin user encounters for cellular users (many sliders are not cellular friendly)

As you can tell, there is no true worth of getting sliders. That means you need to delete them. And select a motif that grants you the freedom of never needing to use sliders in your site.

5. Optimize your pictures

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Assessing your graphics is another fast way to provide your website rate a boost.
You would be amazed to realize how many men and women get this completely wrong (especially novices ). Their website is filled with big, unoptimized graphics that actually hinder their page loading speed.
Luckily, it's rather simple to maximize your pictures. I suggest using this plugin: https://wordpress.org/plugins/imagify/
It is amazing because:

• It includes great Simple to Use user interface
• It may resize your picture automatically during upload
• You can optimize for free 25MB of pictures (about 250 pictures ) each month and You'll Be Given a 25MB bonus upon enrollment
• Should you need more quota, there is 1 time purchase programs available at Reasonable Prices

Another free favorite alternative for maximizing graphics is https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-smushit/
Along with utilizing the aforementioned plugins, below are some additional tips to Be Sure your pictures are constantly optimized:
Utilize appropriate picture formats
Both greatest picture formats are JPEG and PNG. To be able to understand when to use that, you first must understand a bit about these formats.
In brief, PNG differs from JPEG since it's uncompressed (whereas JPEG is compressed).

• Compressed images often lose quite a lot of information, leading to just a bit of lesser quality (the fantastic thing about compressed pictures, however, is they're smaller so that they load quicker ).
• Uncompressed pictures , on the other hand, will probably be greater grade, but will take longer to load due to the bigger file size.

Therefore, how can we decide which picture format to select?

• When our photograph or picture has a great deal of different colours, we then use JPEG.
• If it is a more straightforward picture or we want a transparent image (such as desktop ), then we use PNG.

Resize before uploading
If you are using pictures on the world wide web, most pictures you download are likely to be rather significant.
These pictures will take more time to load and reduce your website rate. Before you upload, resize the picture and then make it as little as possible.
The width shouldn't be greater than the diameter of this location in which you would like to add the picture.
For many content place, it ought to be approximately 700 - 800px.
I love to utilize this site to resize and optimize pictures (free).

6. Utilize a much better societal sharing plugin

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Social sharing plugins use a good deal of JavaScript. The more JavaScript any 1 item utilizes, the slower your website will be.
If you'd like the best rate, simply exhibit social sharing icons with no counts. But demonstrating societal counts may aid with social proof and boost your traffic so that it may be fine to compromise a little loading rate for superior business outcomes.
I have used Sumo.com for societal sharing for two decades but recently switched to Social Warfare since it is lighter and does not slow down my website too much.
Sumo is a package of tools. I just needed societal sharing but it actually loads the scripts for different tools also which results in the rate problem.
Social Warfare is created for only social share and is optimized for speed.

7. Use minimal and clean homepage layout

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Your homepage is among the most important pages in your own site because most traffic will land .

Whatever subject you wind up picking, ensure that your homepage is quite minimal and clear. Too many features aren't simply distracting for viewers, but they also improve your page load rate.

You do not require many components to have a successful site.

Consider your site for a map that guests can use to browse through your website.

Here Is What you need for a successful site:

• Clear Unique Selling Point (USP) and messaging
• CTA to join
• Links to other relevant pages such as About, Resources, Start Here
• Links for your most well-known articles
• Links for your latest articles
• Hint: When displaying articles, reveal excerpts or merely name + featured picture without any text - that will help your website load quicker.

8. Install a powerful WordPress caching plugin

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Each WordPress website requires a powerful WordPress caching plugin.
Why?
Since caching:

• Dramatically improves site speed and functionality (static cached files load a Whole Lot faster than dynamic documents )
• Lowers load in your hosting
• helps improve positions (the faster your site loads, the more favourably Google views it)
• Increases user encounter

There are just two recommended choices for caching:
1) WP Rocket - PAID

• This isn't merely a caching plugin - it is an all in 1 tool to accelerate your site
• It is cheap starting at $49 for 1 website
• With WP Rocket, you can cut the Number of plugins that you use as it will have the performance you will need
• It may save a great deal of time and maximize your own website in only a couple of clicks
• I am personally using WP Rocket to maximize all my websites.
• Highly advocated

Two ) WP Total Cache - FREE

• If price is a problem then it is possible to use WP Total Cache
• The very popular caching plugin for WordPress. It is super free and powerful.
• It's a lot of options which could make it very confusing and difficult to configure particularly if you're a newcomer.
• However, it does not have as many choices as WP Rocket for lazy loading and database optimization so you'll have to set up a few more plugins to choose it so that you can have complete optimization

9. Enable GZIP compression

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If you are unfamiliar with GZIP compression, then it is basically another way that you compress Javascript, CSS and webpages.
Check to find out whether GZIP compression is enabled by employing Check GZIP Compression.
Notice:

• With WPX Hosting, GZIP compression is automatically permitted
• With InMotionHosting, you will want to allow it Cpanel or get support to get them empower it for you
• Should you utilize WP Rocket or WP Complete Cache they will automatically allow GZIP compression for you

10. Boost your database

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Assessing your WordPress database is among those things a good deal of folks do not know about.
If this describes you, you are likely to need to follow along with the optimization directions below.
By doing this you can accelerate the time that it requires the browser to accumulate and return files in the database.
One of the plugins that I urge for optimisation would be WP Optimize (complimentary ).
It is rather simple to use. All you need to do is assess the optimizations that you would like to run and then click'Run all chosen optimizations'.

Additionally, you may even install automatic refining (this feature is still in beta nonetheless ). To do this click on'preferences' and then select your program and check'enable scheduled cleanup and optimization'.

As an alternative, you may use WP Rocket (beginning from $49).
Personally, I use WP Rocket due to the greater performance it provides (unlike WP Optimize you won't need to download any extra plugins - you get all of it with WP Rocket).
It also conducts a automatic weekly cleanup of articles, comments, transients, and the whole database.

11. Lazy load your pictures and movies

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To create a top excellent website, you are likely to want top quality videos and images.
The issue?
The longer you have, the more probable it is that your website will start to slow down and experience diminished functionality.
To be able to overcome this problem, I advise that you start to idle load your videos and images.
Just what is lazy load?
Simple, actually.
Lazy load means using just the pictures over the fold load (i.e. just the pictures observable in the visitor's browser window), then whenever the reader scrolls down, then another pictures start to load, before they come into perspective.
This won't only accelerate your page loads, in addition, it can conserve bandwidth by loading data for users that do not scroll all of the way back on your own pages.
It's possible to enable lazy loading quite readily with WP Rocket.

Or if you travelled with WP Total Cache, then you will have to set up the Rocket Lazy Load plugin that's also developed by the WP Rocket Team.

NOTE: at times the cartoon effect of lazyloading can make your website feels diminished. So examine it carefully and if you do not enjoy the choice, you can turn off lazyloading for pictures.

12. Minify your own JavaScript and CSS documents

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Did you understand that for the most part slow page loads are due to JavaScript or CSS files which aren't loaded efficiently?
These documents contain unnecessary characters which don't have to get loaded and therefore slow down your website. These figures include:

• Remarks
• Block delimiters
• White space characters
• Line breaks
• Indentation

I suggest minifying your JavaScript documents by adding all of these to a few documents, instead of lots of different files.
It's possible to do this manually that requires technical understanding or setup WP Rocket like under to minify and unite your Javascript/CSS files.

If you are not using WP Rocket, set up the free plugin, then Autoptimize.

NOTE: Letting these choices could break the design / format of your website. So do so quite carefully. It is urge to empower 1 choice at a time and perform a comprehensive check to ensure that your website is loading generally.

13. Defer Parsing of JavaScript

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Why defer parsing of JavaScript?
As I said earlier, the greater JavaScript your website uses, the slower it will load.
Because of this, you ought to defer it and just use JavaScript when it's required.
By decreasing the amount of JavaScript required to leave the page, and deferring parsing of unnecessary JavaScript until it has to be implemented, you can cut back on the initial loading time of your webpage.
Here is the Way to configure WP Rocket:

You could even discover the placing on Autoptimize.

14. Eliminate Query Strings out of Static Resources

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Query strings is the term given to URLs that contain "?" Or"&".
Eliminating these query strings is not likely to boost your loading speed, but it might help improve your score when testing utilizing Pingdom or even GTMetric.
You may turn on this option inside WP Rocket.

Or put in WP Disable (free) and turn on the option below.

Notice:WP Disable is a really helpful plugin that you are going to find out how to utilize #19.

15. Avoid hotlinking and leeching of your articles

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You need to be certain that you disable hotlinking and leeching of your own content.
If you do not, you're essentially giving leechers completely free access to a bandwidth.
Let us presume that a leecher hotlinks for your picture.
What this indicates is each time that their reader views the picture on their site, a petition has been sent back to your own server. This ends up swallowing your bandwidth and reduces performance for real users visiting your website.
You can avoid this by adding the following code for your .htaccess document:

#disable hotlinking of images with prohibited or custom picture choice
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %undefined ! ^$
RewriteCond %undefined ! ^http(s)? ) ://(www.) ? cloudliving.com [NC]
RewriteCond %undefined ! ^http(s)? ) ://(www.) ? google.com [NC]
RewriteRule . (jpg|jpeg|png|gif)$ -- [NC,F,L]

Reminder: Replace cloudliving.com together with your site.

16. Utilize a content delivery network (CDN)

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​Like I said before it is important to select a dependable and fast hosting supplier, but you need to also remember it won't address all of your problems.
You are still bound to get latency issues.
For international visitors this is a massive pain because if they try accessing your website, it is going to load extremely slow as your web server might need to download everything throughout the world.
To overcome this, I suggest using a Content Delivery Network (CDN).

This does is it simplifies the matter of just getting your site data saved on a single server.
Using a CDN, your information is saved on servers (POPs) all around the world - so if a worldwide visitor checks out your site, the information is going to be pulled out of a local server rather than your internet server.
This contributes to...
Millions of global visitors who might wind up consuming a great deal more of your articles because slow page loading rates are something of the past.
When it comes to content delivery programs, I recommend utilizing CloudFlare and there is a Couple of reasons why:

• It is has free program that's sufficient for most sites.
• It's the most information servers (118) across the world.
• It is super easy to install - takes less than 5 minutes.
• It is also the quickest DNS supplier - by shifting DNS direction to Cloudflare out of Namecheap, I managed to receive my loading rate to below a second. Hat tip to my buddy Brendan Tully with this particular recommendation.
• It is possible to do much more with Cloudflare as they're not Only a CDN however an all round platform to enhance web performance & safety

To begin using Cloudflare, go to their site www.cloudflare.com and register an account.
Then you will be prompted to include your very first site. Just follow their directions.
Once you finish establishing Cloudflare, visit WP Rocket >> CDN >> Tick on Display Cloudflare configurations tab >> Save.
Then visit Cloudflare tab and replicate under setup:

Then Return to Cloudflare, visit Speed module and then enable the following choices:

Rocket Loader is just another new attribute by Cloud Flare that could allow you to squeeze out some excess rate but it's very likely to break your website. So to be safe only turn if off.

17. Use newest PHP version (7.1)

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PHP is the programming language that WordPress uses to operate.
To ensure that your website is as effective as possible, you are likely to need to upgrade to the most recent version whenever it is released.
Presently, it is on version 7.1. Be certain that you utilize it.
Why?
Based on evaluations conducted byWPX, PHP 7.1 is 150 percent more quicker than PHP 5.6

However, most WordPress sites are now still using PHP 5.x version.

Resource: https://wordpress.org/about/stats/
Why?
Considering that the newest PHP version has got the capability to disrupt your present theme/plugins, many hosting companies will remain far from upgrading it for you since they do not need to break your website and make compatibility problems.
Because of this, you want to take initiative and do it yourself or ask your hosting provider for assistance.
It is very important to do as in the event that you've never done it before, it's likely that you're still using a very outdated version of PHP.
Here is the Way to assess your PHP and update it (if need be):

1. Download Screen PHP Version plugin and determine that version of PHP you are using.
2. Utilize the PHP Compatibility Checker to assess if your plugins and theme are harmonious
3. If none is incompatible with the newest PHP version, reach out to a hosting provider and ask them to update for you.

18. Repair your broken connections ​

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Broken external links may not immediately slow down your website - however they cause a lousy user experience.

Yet, broken links on your JavaScript, CSS and Image URLs are able to make your site irritatingly slower.

I would not advise you to set up any WordPress plugin to test broken links since they may be very taxing on your own servers that as a consequence slow down your website even more.

Rather, you need to use something such as Sitebulb. It's a completely free 2-week trial that is sufficient for you to find the task finished.

19. Disable WordPress attributes that you don't want

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WordPress comes equipped with a lot of features - a few of those features are fantastic, but others you will not ever use, but it does not matter since they are still absorbing your precious server resources.

By employing WP Disable, it is possible to disable or maximize all those features.

Here is what my setup looks like:

Notice:

• Emojis and Google Maps ought to be disabled as you don't actually require those
• Should you use page and content builders, subsequently disable Autosave from WordPress editor
• when you've got plenty of opinions then Gravatar can have somewhat longer to completely load. By concealing avatars from the comment section you are able to squeeze a little extra speed.
• I would still like to show avatars since they may make your remark section more participating.
• But you ought to place your default Gravatar into Blank so that it loads quicker.

20. Reduce outside HTTP requests to a minimal

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1 downfall of WordPress plugins and themes would be that they have a tendency to create lots of HTTP requests.

If that is occurring with your own plugins, then your site will undergo a dramatic drop in page loading speed.

To overcome this, you may readily decrease these outside HTTP requests and maintain them to a minimum by minding scripts and styles you don't utilize.

Remember, however, you should not eliminate all scripts from the site.

That would be ideal for speed, however you'll lose out on the ability of analytics and monitoring services such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Facebook retargeting etc..

Therefore don't be overly OCD over this. Again, provided that your site loads fairly quickly under 2 weeks, you have done a fantastic job.