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WordPress Site Speed Optimization

 

Is your WordPress site slow? A slow site drives away visitors and also negatively affects search engine visibility. That's why site speed is one of the most important factors for user experience, search engine optimization, and conversions.

 

Fortunately, you can speed up your WordPress site with a few effective methods.

 

• Site speed optimization starts with choosing a good server or WP web host. Web hosting significantly affects your site's loading speed.

• Theme selection is also an extremely important part of optimization - a lighter and simpler theme often ensures better performance than a heavy option with many features.
• Removing unnecessary plugins helps with speed optimization.
• For measuring speed, you should use tools like PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. These help you identify problem areas and see the results of optimization.

 

In this article, we'll take a closer look at how you can easily speed up your WordPress site!

 

 

 

 

Fast WordPress Basics: Server and PHP Version

 

 

 

WordPress site speed starts with carefully building the foundation. The right web host or server choice and proper WordPress settings are key to speed optimization.

 

Choose a Fast Server or Web Host

Server selection is one of the most important factors in WordPress site speed optimization. Consider at least these things:
 

• Fast SSD storage is a necessity today, as SSD drives are up to 20 times faster than traditional hard drives

• PHP 8.0 or newer significantly improves site speed

• Web host location should be chosen according to your customer base: for Finnish customers, a server located in Finland

 

Hostaan offers web hosting on Finnish and ultra-fast servers that use fast SSD drives. Hostaan's WP web hosts also support the latest PHP versions (8.4 at the time of writing).

 

WordPress Settings and Foundation

WordPress installation optimization starts even before adding content. Here's how to achieve the best performance:

1. Install only essential plugins - each plugin slows down your site

2. Choose a lightweight theme - complex themes increase loading time

3. Enable Nginx Cache - caching speeds up your site

 

When installing your WordPress site, enable the HTTPS protocol. It not only improves security but also speeds up your site with modern browsers.

 

Hostaan's web hosts automatically activate HTTPS and Nginx Cache.

 

Speed Optimization with Plugins and Theme

WordPress site speed significantly affects both user experience and search engine visibility.

 

The right plugin choices and a lightweight theme are the cornerstone of speed optimization.

 

Improve Performance with Plugins

Caching plugins are essential for speeding up your WordPress site. They save a static version of your site in cache, so each page doesn't need to be loaded from the database every time.
 

Recommended caching plugins:

• WP Rocket - The paid version offers features for power users

• W3 Total Cache - Free and versatile

• WP Optimize - Automatically installed on Hostaan servers
   

Image optimization is another important area. Large images significantly slow down your site.

 

Image optimization tools:

• Smush - Reduces image file sizes without quality loss

• WP Optimize - Also includes image optimization tools

 

SEO plugins help with search engine optimization and improving site structure. SEOPress is a newer and lightweight option that doesn't burden the site too much.

 

Choose a Fast and Lightweight Theme

 

Theme selection directly affects your site's loading speed. A heavy theme slows down the entire site regardless of all other optimization measures.

 

Features of fast themes:

• Minimalist structure

• Little JavaScript code

• Responsiveness without extra "ballast"
   

Good options include:

1. GeneratePress - Lightweight and customizable

2. Astra - Fast and compatible with page builders

3. Kadence - Modern and performant
    

Avoid themes that include many animations, sliders, or other visual effects. These can significantly slow down site loading.

 

Secure Your Site with an SSL Certificate

 

An SSL certificate not only improves security but also your site's loading speed. The HTTPS protocol enables the use of HTTP/2 technology, which is a significantly faster option than the old HTTP.

 

SSL benefits:

• More trustworthy site for visitors

• Better ranking in search engines

• Faster data transfer thanks to HTTP/2
   

On Hostaan servers, SSL certificate is included as standard in all web hosting packages. Our WP web hosts are optimized for WordPress sites, ensuring excellent performance.

 

Frequently Asked Questions About WP Speed Optimization

There are several possible solutions to WordPress site slowness. The right choices regarding theme, images, and server make a significant difference in loading speeds. Caching is one of the easiest ways to significantly improve site performance.

 

Why is my WordPress site so slow?

 

Your WordPress site's slowness is usually due to a few common reasons. A heavy theme and too many plugins are the most common culprits for site slowness. Unoptimized images and poor web hosting can also slow down your site. WordPress needs appropriate resources to function efficiently.

 

The possible lack of caching is one significant factor: using a good caching plugin can speed up your site by up to 200-300%.

 

Does the number of plugins affect my WP site's speed?

 

The number of plugins directly affects your site's speed. Each plugin adds code that must be loaded when the page opens. Plugin quality also matters. A poorly coded plugin can slow down your site more than five well-made ones. Check plugin reviews and update frequency.

 

We recommend using only essential plugins. Remove unused plugins.

 

How should image sizes be adjusted so that WordPress site loads quickly?

 

Compress images to the right size before uploading them to the site. If you display an image 600 pixels wide, don't upload a 2000-pixel wide image.

 

Use the right file format:

1. JPEG is suitable for photographs

2. PNG for transparent images

3. WebP is a new and efficient compression format

 

Image compression plugins like Smush or WP Optimize help optimize images automatically. On Hostaan web hosts, images are automatically optimized with the WP Optimize plugin.

 

Does it matter where in the world the site server is located?

 

Server location directly affects your site's speed. A server closer to your visitors provides faster loading times.

 

For Finnish visitors, a server located in Finland is the best option. Hostaan's WP web hosts are placed on servers located in Finland, so they offer ultra-fast connections for Finnish users.
 

If you have visitors from around the world, a CDN service (Content Delivery Network) - like Cloudflare - can help. It distributes your static content, such as images and CSS files, to multiple servers globally.