6. Common problems
… completely unordered!
Too many posts on the homepage
Too many social widgets
Too many external fonts used
Large/unoptimized Images
Themes with too many unused features
Too much CSS/JS code
No static content compression
No caching
No CDN
8. Page size
… matters!
Make a scroll map test ( crazyegg.com )
Reduce the number of posts per page
Progressive page loading (infinite scroll)
9. Social media widgets/plugins
… use them wisely!
Try not to use “Share on 100 social networks” services
Avoid using more than one social plugin
10. External fonts
… trust me, you don’t need 8 fonts on your site!
Include only fonts you use, on the pages you use them
Put fonts on your local server and include locally
Sacrifice the usage of a font for a better site performance
11. Images
… the right size and the right quality
Use images with the right size and specify their dimensions
Smush your images: http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-smushit/
Use sprites in your themes
12. Avoid bloated themes
… really, cut the fat!
Avoid themes that support every possible website idea
Don’t use all theme features on the same page
Make sure that the JavaScript and CSS is loaded only when needed
13. Minify your CSS and JS
… the smaller the size, the better!
Try using WP Minify: http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-minify/
If you’re already using it, enable minify options in W3 Total Cache
14. Enable gZIP compression
… for HTML, CSS and JavaScript!
Use .htaccess rules instead of plugins:
http://kb.siteground.com/enable-gzip-via-htaccess/
15. Leverage browser caching
… whatever that means!
The .htaccess rules:
http://kb.siteground.com/leverage-browser-caching/
16. Move your JS code to the
footer in WordPress
The functions.php code:
http://www.fluxbytes.com/wordpress/move-javascriptfiles-to-footer-in-wordpress/
18. Use a CDN service
… but do it wisely!
Measure if your site is working faster
Even local business can take advantage by the CDN
Bonus: “Always Online ” service
19. Cache your content
… if you don’t cache your content that’s bad and you should feel bad!
Use object caching - Memcached, Redis
Use opcode caching - АPC, xCache
Use reverse proxies - Varnish, nGinx
29. Some Key Takes
Speed Optimization is a process - do it regularly and you
will be rewarded!
Always test! Don’t test on a live site, use staging copies
instead. Backup!
Choose a well optimised host!