How to accelerate a web page to 70% in 7 steps

There is no doubt that website speed matters now more than ever. As average Internet connection speeds increase around the world, web users are becoming less and less tolerant of slow load times. At the same time, Google has unequivocally stated that it prefers to reward fast sites with higher rankings in natural search results.

To take advantage of these benefits it is necessary that the speed of your web page is fast. And today, we want to help you with how to accelerate a 70% web page in 7 steps.

List of steps on how to speed up a webpage

1. Check the size of the images on the web

   If you use a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or Joomla, you probably noticed that you can upload full-size images and then adjust the size of the screen in the backend of your website.

   However, this forces web browsers to execute multiple commands, pulling out the initial images and resizing them immediately, which can slow down your site.

   To prevent this from happening, use an image editing program to adjust the images to the correct size before adding them to your site.

   Most of us have access to a simple tool like Preview (on Mac), or even Microsoft Paint (on Windows). With these programs all you have to do is open the image and re-upload it in your picture library.

   Once done, you can take your image editing to the next level with a compression tool. Even after re-resizing each image, the total file size could be quite large and this will slow down the loading speed of your site.

   One of the best tools available is an online tool called TinyPNG. You just have to upload your resized image and this tool will reduce the size of the file without reducing the resolution.

   So, what you have to do is download the image and upload it to your site. With this tool your images will look exactly the same and they will load much faster.

2. Removes unnecessary plugins

   Today, having a huge number of plugins and scripts available for free, makes it tempting to add more plugins than you really need. Keep in mind that every plugin you add requires resources to run, and more resources mean a slower website.

   Before adding new plugins to your web, ask yourself whether the functionality you earn is worth it or if the content of the plugin could be coded.

   If you notice that your web is running slowly, or if you think it might be working much more effectively, investigate what is happening by disabling each plugin on your web, one by one. After disabling each plugin, run your web through a tool like GT Metrix. This will show you the speed of your website.

   If you find that the speed of your web increases a lot after you disable a plugin, then you have found the culprit. If it is absolutely necessary that the functionality of the specific plugin works, investigate until you find another plugin that does not affect the speed of your web.

   Also, getting rid of plugins can prevent plugin conflicts that arise when you have too many active plugins at once. The more plugins you have active, the more likely it is that your code will conflict and cause them to malfunction.

3. Make sure your web scripts are up-to-date

   Depending on the CMS or e-commerce platform you use, you may need to regularly check for new versions of the scripts you are using.

   If any, update them as soon as possible (first ensuring you have a recent backup). Script developers are always working on improving their code for future releases, particularly when it comes to site speed. Updating scripts to the latest versions could help you a lot by removing code blocks that prevent your web from loading quickly.

   Luckily, this is not something you have to do daily. With once a month is enough to install any update that might be available.

   If your site runs on WordPress, you’ll find these updates in the Updates tab of your WordPress dashboard. In just one click, your website will install the latest software updates.

   Set a recurring event on your calendar and reserve one hour each month for it. It will usually take up much less time, but it is important to build the habit of ensuring that your web and plugins are running with the latest version.

4. Use the CDNs (Content Delivery Network)

   CDNs are networks of servers that are found all over the world. Normally, if you do not use a CDN, your users will have to access the server in their central location.

   This can lead to slow web speeds, especially if your visitors are away from the central location of your server. Also, if you are only using a single server, there is a possibility that it will overload and cause your website to crash.

   CDNs resolve both issues by allowing your users to access a cached version of your web from the host that is closest to them. Better yet, if one of your server locations is overloaded, then you can switch to a new server location.

   The result? Faster loading times that will make your customers and search engines happy.

5. Enable Browser Caching

   Browser caching allows a web site visitor’s browser to store copies of individual web pages so that when the visitor returns in the future, content can be called from the cache instead of reloading the entire page new. This saves the number of resources used to display your pages, resulting in faster loading times for your visitor.

   The easiest way to enable browser caching is with a WordPress plugin like W3 Total Cache.

6. Enable Gzip compression

   Gzip compression is a technology that minimizes the size of browser-based HTTP responses, sometimes up to 70%. If you have not made this concept clear, do not worry, you can contact our experts with any questions.

   Using Gzip compression can significantly accelerate the load times of your web.

   There are three ways to enable Gzip compression on your website. Can:

   1. Add the following code to the .htaccess file of your web:
      # compress text, html, javascript, css, xml:
      AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
   2. Add the following code to the top of your HTML or PHP page:
      <?php if (substr_count($_SERVER[‘HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING’], ‘gzip’)) ob_start(“ob_gzhandler”); else ob_start(); ?>
   3. Install a Gzip compression plugin as the W3 Total Cache tool for WordPress.

7. Keep the CSS files at the top of your page and the Javascript code at the bottom

   Finally, keep your web code clean and tidy by adding CSS files at the top of your page code and Javascript snippets at the bottom when working with raw HTML pages.

   Adding your CSS files at the top of the page bans progressive rendering, saving resources that web browsers would use to load and redraw elements of your pages. Adding JavaScript at the bottom prevents your pages from waiting for the code to be fully executed before loading it, which leads to a faster browsing experience for your visitors.

Although these are just some of the different techniques that can be used to speed up your website, they are some of the easiest to implement. This list is a great start if you notice that your site is slowing down. If you want to go further or need help finding out how to speed up a website, do not hesitate to contact us . We will help you in every way for web optimization.