Done with your regular website audit and noticed that many visitors leave your website after just a couple of seconds? This is a telltale sign that something’s wrong with your blog. In most cases, the culprit is slow loading time. Nothing frustrates online users more than a blog that takes several seconds to present its content.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should know that Google considers page load speed as a significant ranking factor. This aligns with their goal of providing the best results for their users. Google understands that people want to access content fast and easy. You’ll do yourself a favor by making this your goal as well.
Keep in mind that a blog that loads fast is a blog that ranks high. Not to mention, how fast your website loads has a huge impact on conversions as well. 40 percent of potential visitors will hit the return button if your blog doesn’t load within 2 seconds. Here are some tips on how to optimize your website for better page load speed.
1. Switch to a better web host
Sometimes, all it takes to speed up your blog is to use a better host. All web hosting providers will claim to have 99% uptime, but you shouldn’t take their word as bible truth. If you’re certain that your host is to blame for your terrible page load speed, just call it quits and switch to a new host. Be sure to read some reviews first and consider trying out their service for a month or two instead of opting for a longer term contract. This allows you to switch again if you’re not happy with their service without losing money.
2. Get rid of unnecessary plugins
If you’re using WordPress, chances are you have a ton of plugins installed. Plugins have revolutionized the way people create blogs, but they can do more harm than good if not used properly. It’s tempting to add different plugins to boost the functionality of your blog but be careful not to add a ton of them. Plugins you no longer use should be uninstalled right away. And if you find yourself using multiple plugins, try finding one that does everything you need.
3. Optimize your images
Every blogger should embrace visual content but be sure not to compromise page load speed in the process. Whether you’re getting images from stock photo sites or using your own photos, it’s a wise move to optimize your images before using them on your blog. You can use a tool that reduces the size of images without losing their quality. Also, there are plugins that conditionally load images, meaning they only appear once the reader scrolls down instead of loading all the images at once.
4. Use a CDN network
Many people aren’t familiar with a content delivery network despite encountering it virtually every day. Basically, a CDN consists of a network of web services located in various geographical locations that makes content distribution more effective. The idea is to reduce the distance between the visitors and the website’s server. This simple change can lead to a dramatic increase in your blog’s loading time, especially if you generate a lot of visitors from different countries.
5. Manage the content on your homepage
Do you show a boatload of posts on your homepage? You might want to drive more traffic to your posts but using this tactic might produce the opposite effect. Too many posts on your homepage usually slow down your blog. Try reducing the number of posts and see how it affects your page load speed. This also applies to advertisements. Ad banners and GIFs are notorious for slowing down websites. Visitors don’t want to be bombarded with ads anyway, so consider removing some ads on your homepage.