Is Your WordPress Website Speed Holding You Back?

When you visit a website and have to wait for ages before the page loads, there’s a very high chance you’ll give up and leave. After all, there are plenty of sites out there—the chances of another one having the information you’re looking for with shorter wait time is high. This is why optimising WordPress to speed up your website is essential if you want to increase your traffic. A page should load in under three seconds; otherwise, it can be considered slow, and that has detrimental effects on your site’s rankings and conversion rates.

If you are in doubt that your site is not performing up to its potential, perform a test that can help you figure out what is slowing down your website.

Top Causes Of A Slow Website

1. Web Hosting

One of the reasons that a website runs slow is because of the web host. The server may be down, in which case you may not be able to do anything but wait until the downtime is over. In some cases, you may be using a web host that is not suitable for your website. If you chose a cheaper hosting plan, that could be a plausible reason for slow site load speeds. You may need to upgrade your plan or choose a different host.

2. Plugins

Too many plugins can also be the culprit of your slow website speed. Each plugin requires time to start, which can slow down the loading speed of the site. Go through the plugins you have installed, and remove the duplicates and the ones you are no longer using.

3. Outdated Software

If your WordPress theme, plugins, and other software are not the latest versions, they can slow down the loading speed of your website. Some hosting plans automatically release updates, but some may require a manual update.

What You Need To Know About WordPress Speed Optimisation

When it comes to optimising WordPress for better speed, it is better to keep things simple. Here are some of the ways to improve your site’s loading time:

1. Cut Down On Server Requests

The higher the number of multiple server requests, the slower your website will run. Some tools can help you determine how many HTTP requests your site makes, to combine files, and to improve your coding.

2. Pick An Optimal Theme

It can be fun to choose beautiful themes for your website, but you should go for one that will make your site perform better. Pick one that has an optimal design for appearance and SEO purposes.

3. Optimise Images And Graphics

Use the optimal size, forat, and dimensions of the images and graphics you use on your website. Large images take longer to load and will slow down your website’s loading time.

Conclusion

Your website’s loading speed is vital in keeping your visitors on your site and increasing the traffic. Optimising WordPress can help improve the speed and overall user experience. Don’t take it for granted because you could be losing leads.

If you find that despite all your best efforts, your WordPress site still lags behind your competitors, it’s time to turn to the experts. We are a specialist WordPress website design company in Leeds. Whether you’re looking to revamp the look of your site or just kick up the speed with a new host, we’re here to help. Get in touch today.