Speed Up Your Slow Loading Website In 5 Steps

Web performance refers to how fast and dependable a website feels when you use it. It’s all about making sure visitors have a smooth and enjoyable experience, with a big focus on how quickly pages load and how reliable they are.

To make sure a website performs well, developers and website owners have a bunch of tricks up their sleeves. They can tweak things like image sizes, how the code is written, and which external scripts they use. It’s also important to pick good companies to host the website, handle content caching (which basically means storing copies of the website in different places to make it load faster), and balance the load (which is like spreading the work evenly across different parts of the website so it doesn’t get overwhelmed).

When a website loads quickly and reliably, it’s not just a win for users—it also helps the website rank higher in search results, makes it more likely that people will find it, and often leads to more people doing whatever it is the website wants them to do, like buying something or signing up for a newsletter.

How to measure website performance

If you want to make your website better, the first thing you need to do is figure out how it’s doing right now. You need to know how fast it loads and how reliable it is. There are a bunch of things that can affect how people feel about your website, so measuring them is the only way to know what you need to fix.

Luckily, there are some free website tools you can use to measure your site’s performance. Google Lighthouse is one of them, and you can find it in the DevTools section of the Google Chrome web browser. Another option is Cloudflare Observatory, which is available to anyone who uses Cloudflare—it’s right there in your dashboard.

So, what should you actually look at when you use these tools? A good place to start is something called Core Web Vitals. These are three important things that tell you how well your website is performing:

• Largest Contentful Paint: This measures how quickly the biggest thing on your page loads.
• First Input Delay: This measures how fast your page responds when someone tries to do something on it.
• Cumulative Layout Shift: This one tells you how stable your page looks while it’s loading, so things aren’t jumping around all over the place.

Improving a website’s Core Web Vitals not only makes it more user friendly website but can also boost its ranking in Google search results.

There are a few other important things to look at too. For example:

• Time to First Byte: This tells you how quickly a page starts loading.
• DNS lookup speed: This measures how fast a website’s Domain Name Service turns a custom domain name into an IP address.
• Time to Interactive: This shows how fast someone can actually start using a page.

Let’s break it down with some examples:

If a webpage’s Largest Contentful Paint is slow, it means it’s taking too long to show users the most important part of the page. The website’s owner might want to check if there’s any unnecessary code loading before that part and think about getting rid of it.

If a webpage’s Time to First Byte is sluggish, it means it’s taking too long to get stuff from the server where the website is stored. The owner might want to look into how long it’s taking for their DNS provider and website host to respond and think about switching to faster ones if needed.

Also Read : Most Common Cloud Migration Mistakes to Avoid

How to Optimize your website for faster loading times and better user experience

Boosting your website’s speed and reliability isn’t an exact science, but there are some tried-and-true methods that can help:

• Optimize images: Pictures usually take the longest to load on a website because they’re larger files. You can speed things up by optimizing images—this means making them smaller without sacrificing too much quality.

• Reduce HTTP requests: Every time someone visits a webpage, their browser has to ask the server for all sorts of stuff like images, scripts, and style sheets. This back-and-forth can really slow things down, especially if there are lots of requests. Try to keep the number of requests to a minimum by being smart about how many elements you have on your page.

• Use browser caching: Browsers have a handy feature called caching, which stores copies of static files like images and scripts so they don’t have to be downloaded every time someone visits your site. You can tell the browser to cache certain elements of your page that don’t change often, which can make things load faster for people who come back to your site regularly.

• Remove unnecessary JavaScript: Sometimes, web pages have extra code that loads before the important stuff, slowing everything down. This is often found on big websites where different people are adding code and content independently. Using a web performance tool can help you spot and remove this unnecessary code.

• Be cautious with external scripts: Elements like commenting systems, buttons, or popups that come from outside sources need to load each time someone visits your page. Depending on their size, these scripts can slow things down or cause the page to load in a weird way, especially on mobile phone devices. Keep them to a minimum to avoid frustrating delays or layout issues.

• Limit redirects: Redirects, where visitors are sent to a different page instead of the one they clicked on, can add time to page loading. While sometimes necessary, they should be used sparingly to avoid unnecessary delays. Regularly check your important pages for any redirects that aren’t really needed.
• Remove Unnecessary Plugins: Many plugins add functionality to your site, but they also add extra files that need to be loaded. Regularly review your plugins and deactivate or remove any that you’re not using.

• Minify CSS and JavaScript: Minifying code means stripping out anything that isn’t essential, like comments and extra spaces. This makes files smaller and helps them load faster in browsers, which is especially important for improving load times and conserving bandwidth.
• Code Optimization: This includes techniques like minifying code and eliminating render-blocking JavaScript. By cleaning up your code, you can reduce the number of requests needed to load your page.
• Leverage a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN caches website content across geographically distributed servers, significantly reducing the distance data needs to travel to reach users. This can dramatically improve website loading times, especially for visitors in locations far from your main server.
• Choose reliable third-party services: Make sure your chosen best cloud hosting provider’s server responds quickly to requests (aim for under 200 milliseconds) and has a good track record for reliability. Opt for DNS services that resolve domains quickly and reliably. Consider cybersecurity measures to protect against attacks that could slow down your site.

By implementing these practices, you can optimize your website for speed and reliability, ensuring a smoother experience for your visitors.

Also Read : How Your Website Host Influences Ranking and Picking the Perfect One

How WeWP Helps Improve Web Performance

At WeWP, we specialize in managed WordPress hosting services designed to elevate the speed and dependability of websites across the board. Our platform utilizes state-of-the-art infrastructure and innovative technologies to ensure peak performance for your WordPress site.

For individuals and small businesses, WeWP offers budget-friendly WordPress hosting plans that are easy to set up and come packed with essential performance features:

• Lightning-fast DNS services: Our advanced DNS services prioritize swift domain resolution, slashing the time it takes for your website to load.
• Content Delivery Network (CDN): Leveraging our CDN, your website’s content is strategically distributed across numerous servers worldwide, guaranteeing speedy delivery to users regardless of their location.
• Defense against DDoS attacks and malicious bots: WeWP implements robust security protocols to shield your website from DDoS attacks and common malicious bots, ensuring uninterrupted accessibility for your visitors.

For larger enterprises and high-traffic websites, WeWP offers enterprise-grade performance solutions tailored to address the unique requirements of any web application or infrastructure. Our team of seasoned professionals collaborates closely with you to fine-tune your website’s performance and scalability, allowing you to concentrate on expanding your business without the hassle of technical intricacies.

Trust WeWP for a dependable website hosting company that prioritizes speed, security, and scalability, enabling you to deliver an exceptional user experience to your audience.