In many cases our WordPress websites take a long time to load, or we simply want them to be as fast as possible. By following these steps, we can achieve the maximum speed that our website allows:
- Check website load time using an online tool.
- Optimize the WordPress core (update WordPress, plugins, theme, etc.). Check load time with P3 Profiler.
- Scan the hosting for viruses or injected code.
- Configure the URL path of your WordPress with the final version to use (with or without www).
- Optimize the database with WP-Optimize.
- Optimize images with WP-SmushIt and resize images with Imsaniti.
- Load only visible elements using JQuery Image Lazy Load.
- Enable GZIP compression.
- Keep the connection active while loading using Keep-Alive.
- Combine JS and CSS files using WP-Minify.
Check the website with an online tool
To determine your website’s load time and that of all its components, it is recommended to first analyze it using an online tool to review the load details.
Optimize the WordPress core
When reviewing the load, the first line shows the load time including DNS requests and server connection. The second request begins loading the WordPress core. Once loaded, website elements start appearing in the browser.
To see exactly where WordPress spends its time, you can review it using the P3 Profiler plugin.
To avoid long loading times in the core, always keep WordPress and its plugins updated, use a lightweight theme, install as few plugins as possible, and remove unused ones.
Scan your site for viruses or injected code infections
If your hosting is infected, it may load external elements from other websites, causing double loading or, if links fail, extremely slow loading times.
For this and other reasons, it is advisable to ensure your site is clean and always keep WordPress and its plugins updated.
Configure the final WordPress URL path (with or without www)
If WordPress is configured with the www subdomain and you access it without www (or vice versa), it internally generates double processing because it must reprocess all requests:
It is recommended to use an .htaccess file that forces access through a single consistent path to avoid unnecessary core requests.
Optimize the database with WP-Optimize
WordPress stores all information in a database. The more data it contains, the slower the queries become. With the WP-Optimize plugin, you can remove unnecessary data and optimize it.
Optimize images with “SmushIt” and resize with “Imsaniti”
Many images take up more space than necessary. Optimizing them reduces their size without visible quality loss using the SmushIt plugin.
Additionally, you can resize oversized images to a maximum resolution using Imsaniti.
Enable progressive image loading “JQuery Image Lazy Load”
Instead of loading the entire website at once, Lazy Load displays only what is visible on screen and loads additional content as you scroll. This significantly reduces initial load time. You can enable this using the “JQuery Image Lazy Load” plugin.
Enable GZIP compression
Compressing files with GZIP reduces their size and speeds up delivery. This can be enabled from a hidden WordPress admin panel:
http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/options.phpReplace “yourdomain.com” with your WordPress installation domain.
Search for “gzipcompression” and set its value to 1 to enable it:
Keep connections alive (Keep-Alive)
Each element of your website opens a new connection to the server. Enabling Keep-Alive keeps the connection open until all files are delivered, improving load speed. Add this to your .htaccess file:
Header set Connection keep-aliveEnable cache tool “W3 Total Cache”
You can install the “W3 Total Cache” plugin to speed up cached data delivery.
JS and CSS files
Websites load many JS and CSS files. These can be combined into a single file using the “WP-Minify” plugin to reduce load requests. Use it carefully, as it may affect the website structure.
Extra: Speed Booster Pack
Many of these features can be handled by the all-in-one plugin “Speed Booster Pack”.
Our recommendation is to manually control which optimizations you apply. However, if you lack time or experience, this plugin can be a practical alternative.
For more information, you can contact us.