Page load speeds are something you absolutely cannot afford to ignore. If your pages don’t load quickly enough then people will not sit around and wait for them. Not only does this mean fewer people are reading your content, but it’s also a big black mark when it comes to the search engines.
No matter what you want to achieve with a website, slow loading speeds are going to hold you back. While there are a lot of technical aspects that go into your loading speeds, there are also some simple changes you can make to give your site an important boost.
1. Remove Unnecessary Plugins
Plugins are great. They help us do things with our websites that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to do. The problem is, they often put a huge burden on your page load speeds.
If you keep adding plugins and don’t delete them when you stop using them, then the effects can really start to add up. They might enable your website to do some fancy things, but if people aren’t willing to wait for them to load then they’re not going to help you.
When it comes to plugins, it’s best to ask yourself, “is it really necessary?” If the answer is no, then get rid of it. Stick to the key plugins that bring you the most benefit and free up your site to load quicker.
2. Get the Right Hosting Package
Your hosting can make a huge difference to your page loading speeds. It’s not necessarily how much money you spend on it; it’s just the fact that some hosts are faster than others.
If you feel like you’re constantly making efforts to improve your site speed but you’re not seeing any results, then it could be to do with your hosting. Get yourself a super-fast hosting provider like Onyx and give your website the best chance of loading quickly.
3. Compress Images
Image files can take a huge amount of time to load if they are not properly sized. In many cases, your images can be compressed into smaller files without losing much quality.
Just like with plugins, images can bring great benefits, but they also have negative effects on your site’s speed. While you wouldn’t want a website without images, you also need to ask yourself are all of your images necessary for what you want to achieve.
Get rid of the images that aren’t necessary and optimize the ones that are.
4. Evaluate Your Website’s Theme
Your theme dictates the layout of your website, so it makes sense that it has a big impact on your site speed. Different themes can vary greatly in load times, so it can be helpful to find out how fast your theme is.
Test your website’s speed with its current theme and then compare it with other themes that are focussed on speed. You might find a theme that focusses on speed can make a big difference to your loading times while still giving you good user experience.