Honestly
without missing words, Google loves pages that load faster, practically not
only on desktop, but on mobile as well. They even provide developer guidelines
to provide assistance in optimizing the performance of blog.
without missing words, Google loves pages that load faster, practically not
only on desktop, but on mobile as well. They even provide developer guidelines
to provide assistance in optimizing the performance of blog.
What
else can we say makes speed important?
else can we say makes speed important?
If
you decide that you want to click a link and then decisively sit and wait there
forever for the site to load. What’s going to be your first impulse? Do
you actually sit and wait or leave in the first few seconds?
you decide that you want to click a link and then decisively sit and wait there
forever for the site to load. What’s going to be your first impulse? Do
you actually sit and wait or leave in the first few seconds?
NOTE
THAT:
THAT:
1.
The slower the page, the greater the abandonment.
The slower the page, the greater the abandonment.
2. 1
to 4 people abandons a web page that takes more than 4 seconds to load,
to 4 people abandons a web page that takes more than 4 seconds to load,
3.
50% of mobile users abandon a page if it doesn’t load in 10 seconds, and 3 out
of 5 won’t return to that site.
50% of mobile users abandon a page if it doesn’t load in 10 seconds, and 3 out
of 5 won’t return to that site.
Knowing
that one fourth of U.S. mobile web users browse only on their phones, never
using a laptop, tablet or desktop computer to access the Internet, the numbers
above must be carefully considered. If your blog receives attention from mobile
searchers read this post on responsive blog design.
that one fourth of U.S. mobile web users browse only on their phones, never
using a laptop, tablet or desktop computer to access the Internet, the numbers
above must be carefully considered. If your blog receives attention from mobile
searchers read this post on responsive blog design.
Is
your blog too slow?
your blog too slow?
To
find out, run a site speed test using Pingdom tools, which will also give you
find out, run a site speed test using Pingdom tools, which will also give you
information
on the pages that slow down your blog, so you can make the necessary
optimization like reducing the file size of largest images. Or even better, go
to Google’s PageSpeed Insights and type in your URL to get their suggestions on
how to speed up your site.
on the pages that slow down your blog, so you can make the necessary
optimization like reducing the file size of largest images. Or even better, go
to Google’s PageSpeed Insights and type in your URL to get their suggestions on
how to speed up your site.
If
you don’t like the results you see, these tips can make your blog load faster:
you don’t like the results you see, these tips can make your blog load faster:
Optimize your images before
uploading: If
the images on your blog are too large it will take too long for pages to load.
This is probably one of the biggest reasons behind slow websites.
uploading: If
the images on your blog are too large it will take too long for pages to load.
This is probably one of the biggest reasons behind slow websites.
Read Google’s guide on the best image
format for each file type, and use too like Picasa or Pixlr editor to resize
your images to the corresponding size in which they will be displaying on your
blog. You can also use the Online Image Optimizer to easily optimize your
gifs, animated gifs, jpgs, and pngs, and convert one image type to another for
free.
format for each file type, and use too like Picasa or Pixlr editor to resize
your images to the corresponding size in which they will be displaying on your
blog. You can also use the Online Image Optimizer to easily optimize your
gifs, animated gifs, jpgs, and pngs, and convert one image type to another for
free.
Check the results for your blog
images…Do
this with all your blog images before
images…Do
this with all your blog images before
uploading,
because this way you save lots of work and time of your readers’ browsers that
they need to do before they display your blog page. Less work means faster
loading for your site.
because this way you save lots of work and time of your readers’ browsers that
they need to do before they display your blog page. Less work means faster
loading for your site.
Store your data locally or set up
a CDN
a CDN
Make
sure all your images are saved on your servers. If you started your blog on
Blogger for example, and then moved to WordPress, ask your designer to also get
all images from there, so when someone views a page on your blog the images
will upload from your servers and this way speed up the loading time.
sure all your images are saved on your servers. If you started your blog on
Blogger for example, and then moved to WordPress, ask your designer to also get
all images from there, so when someone views a page on your blog the images
will upload from your servers and this way speed up the loading time.
If
you have visitors from many countries worldwide, set up your blog on a content
delivery network (CDN) that way caching your images, CSS and javascript closer
to your users to enable faster page loads. This means you keep your blog
content in sync automatically in various locations, so when visitors come to
your site the latest copy of the page is loaded from the location closest to
them.
you have visitors from many countries worldwide, set up your blog on a content
delivery network (CDN) that way caching your images, CSS and javascript closer
to your users to enable faster page loads. This means you keep your blog
content in sync automatically in various locations, so when visitors come to
your site the latest copy of the page is loaded from the location closest to
them.
For
steps on how to set up and integrate a CDN check this out;
steps on how to set up and integrate a CDN check this out;
Choose
your hosting provider wisely before you sign up an agreement with a company
that will be hosting your site (storing your data and making it available to
online users), be sure to consider what they are offering. Ideally you would
want your own dedicated server, but until then check the available bandwidth of
your hosting service – you will need lots of it and not shared with others, as
it will decrease your blog speed. Also
select a reliable provider that guarantees the servers will be up and running.
your hosting provider wisely before you sign up an agreement with a company
that will be hosting your site (storing your data and making it available to
online users), be sure to consider what they are offering. Ideally you would
want your own dedicated server, but until then check the available bandwidth of
your hosting service – you will need lots of it and not shared with others, as
it will decrease your blog speed. Also
select a reliable provider that guarantees the servers will be up and running.
Use
caching plugins
caching plugins
Caching
can significantly improve your blog’s performance. If ten people visit your
homepage, ten requests are made to the database to retrieve this page; if the
same request is made for a thousand people, you can imagine that will really
slow things down.
can significantly improve your blog’s performance. If ten people visit your
homepage, ten requests are made to the database to retrieve this page; if the
same request is made for a thousand people, you can imagine that will really
slow things down.
When
using caching plugins, like W3 Total Cache or Advanced lazy load, a copy of the
page is generated and uploaded instead of sending requests to the servers,
unless changes were made to the page in recent time.
using caching plugins, like W3 Total Cache or Advanced lazy load, a copy of the
page is generated and uploaded instead of sending requests to the servers,
unless changes were made to the page in recent time.
Do a
regular cleanup!
regular cleanup!
So
let’s say this blog post inspires you to optimize and speed up your blog.
let’s say this blog post inspires you to optimize and speed up your blog.
In a
couple of months you’ll need to do this again, and again… Remove stored
revisions of old posts, plugins you don’t use anymore and update the rest.
Regular cleanup is more than necessary if you want your blog to be fast enough
to keep readers happy.
couple of months you’ll need to do this again, and again… Remove stored
revisions of old posts, plugins you don’t use anymore and update the rest.
Regular cleanup is more than necessary if you want your blog to be fast enough
to keep readers happy.
So
how do you speed up your blog? Do you have some tips to share? Kindly use the
comment box below
how do you speed up your blog? Do you have some tips to share? Kindly use the
comment box below
Written by Uzoh Philip, A mentor, blogger and
web/digital content Writer. Follow him on twitter and on Facebook.
web/digital content Writer. Follow him on twitter and on Facebook.
