wordpress optimization tips for performance & speed

Agenda

Why optimize WordPress?

Hosting Options

Caching

Tools, Tips & Tricks

Why Optimize WordPress?

User Experience

SEO

"Only 1 in 1,000 websites are negatively impacted by truly poor site speeds"

- Matt Cutts

Optimize for a Better Customer Experience

● A 1 second delay can decrease conversions by 7%

● Shopzilla achieved a 25% increase in pageviews and a 7-12% revenue increase by speeding up its site

● 75% of users said that they would not return to a website that took longer than 4 seconds to load

● Nearly half of users expect webpages to load in 2 seconds or less

● AOL presented data showing that page load speeds can impact pageviews per visit by up to 50%

http://www.webpronews.com/how-page-load-speed-impacts-seo-and-user-experience-2013-04

WordPress Hosting Options

● Free (WordPress.com, Ad based)

● Shared WordPress Hosting $

● Virtual Private Server (VPS) $$

● Dedicated Server $$$

● Managed WordPress Hosting $$

Shared WordPress Hosting

BlueHost, DreamHost, HostGator GoDaddy, 1&1100 to 500 Sites per Server Thousands!

VPS WordPress Hosting

10 - 50 Sites per server.

Your site shares physical server resources, but runs in its own environment.

You may be responsible for system upgrades & maintenance.

Dedicated Hosting

All your resource are belong to you!

You are responsible for all server upgrades & maintenance.

Run as many sites as YOU choose.

Managed WordPress Hosting

Server Upgrades & Maintenance handled by hosting company.

Servers are optimized specifically for WordPress.

Content Delivery Networks (CDN)

● Reduced Server Load● Faster Content Delivery● Increased Availability/Redundancy● Geo-Located Nodes

Content Delivery NetworksStores Website Assets (Scripts, CSS, Images, Media)Handles Traffic SpikesGeo-located servers$39 to $79 per month

CDN, Optimizer, MinifierSecurity, DDoS Protection & Analytics tools Setup requires DNS changes$0 to $3000 per month

CDN built on Amazon Web Services (AWS)Users routed to closest edge locationStreaming, Progressive Downloading of Media/VideoVaries, generally under $1/month for 40,000 requests

Not a "true" CDNGood for storing large files, media, PodcastsChoose which region media is storedVaries, but very cheap.

Caching in WordPress

Configuring W3 Total CacheRecommended Settings

Page Cache (Enabled)

Minify (Disabled)

Database Cache (Disabled)

Object Cache (Disabled on Shared Hosting)

Browser Cache (Enabled)

CDN (Enabled if using a CDN)

W3 Total Cache - Page

Disk: Enhanced is best option for most websites.

Alternative PHP Cache (APC) is usually enabled on VPS server. (Only available options can be selected.)

W3 Total Cache - Browser

General, CSS & JS, HTML & XML, Media & Other Files

W3 Total Cache

DEMO

Optimization Tools, Tips & Tricks

Speed Testing

Image Optimization

Minified Files

P3 Plugin

Speed Testing & MonitoringPingdom.comFree Website Speed TestUptime & Performance Monitoring ($9.95 Month)

Torbit InsightFree Website Performance Monitoring

Synthesis Site SensorUptime & Performance Monitor($22-375/year, Free with Synthesis Hosting)

WebPageTest.orgFree Website Speed TestDetails impact of page scripts, images, etc.

Yahoo YSlowRules based browser extension to analyze pages

Google Page Speed InsightsAnalyzes your site and provides suggestions to speed up performance.

PageSpeed Apache/Nginx module to automatically optimize website resources. (Not available for most shared hosting plans. May be included in VPS or Dedicated).

Page Speed Dashboard integrated with W3 Total Cache

PAGE SPEED DEMO

https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights

Image Optimization● Optimize Images for the web & use the right file format.

● Combine images as Sprites to reduce http requests.

○ http://spritepad.wearekiss.com/

○ http://spriteme.org/

● Use Font Icons when possible

○ Single request

○ Works well in Responsive Designs

○ Font can be delivered via CDN

P3 (Plugin Performance Profiler)Creates a profile of your WordPress site's plugins' performance by measuring their impact on your site's load time.

Questions?