The free open source platform i.e. WordPress, which propels as much as 27.5 of the world websites on the Internet (Source: DMR Stats), is used by a large community. WordPress has been the choicest open source platform owing to rich-features and flexibilities it offers and no wonders it has been instrumental in creating success-saga for many website-owners. However, there is a struggling stratum of WordPress site-owners that is still trying to find what went wrong? The reason may be any or many, but the most common one is not paying attention to the fine-tuning of their WordPress Site’s Performance. Usually, site owners overlook the need to review and fine tune their site’s performance and lag behind in the race. To get best of your WordPress site, a well-timed review and fine tuning is inescapable; see how you can do this in 7 simple ways.
# 1 Get Core Technology Updated
Almost all WordPress site owners will admit that optimizing core WordPress technology i.e. PHP is not everyone’s cup of tea or indeed a really daunting task to embark upon. However, with the help a competent website host, such owners can make it sure that the core PHP technology of their WordPress site is fine-tuned to face the latest of tech changes in the industry. An optimized core technology promises a better online performance of the site.
Here I have a piece of advice that, since you’ll be largely dependent on the website hosts for your PHP fine-tuning process, you make a prudent selection of shouldering the responsibility to either less expensive hosts or the expensive ones.
Why I’m advising you, read this:
- Expensive hosts keep your PHP updated with rigorous efforts and advanced technology, thus you get an edge with these hosts
- Depending upon your trade needs, a less expensive host can be chosen who will sufficiently equip your PHP to the face challenges posed by user requirement as well as technology
- A cheaper website host should be avoided as they can ruin the core PHP technology with their outdated and poor service management
# 2 Get Your CMS Updated
An outdated CMS could simply wreak havoc with your website plans, as its leaves your website devoid of the basic security features, further making it vulnerable to several uncertainties like malicious code injection to your website. Thus it is highly recommended that you have the latest stable release of WordPress, which is currently being Version 4.7.4 (keep checking for the future updates and get them sooner). Furthermore, it becomes easier to write codes on an updated CMS, which helps speed up site performance.
So if you are not using the latest stable and your website still sticks to years’ old version of WordPress CMS, then it is high time you consider fine-tuning you CMS. Once you’ll be updated for your CMS’s current stable, you will be in a better position to handle the security concerns.
# 3 Audit Plug-ins
It’s ‘Okay’ to have plug-ins installed on your WordPress site, especially the ones which propel your business mechanism. But having too many and unnecessary plug-ins on your site could lead to memory issues (can be attributed to site’s loading time) including vulnerability to security threats, frequent crashing and to name a few.
So it’s better to have an in-depth audit of your WordPress site so that only the most essential plug-ins remain onboard, and you can see off rest all others. One of the easiest methods with which you can track down the troublemaker is through the P3 (Plugin Performance Profiler) installation.
# 4 Optimize Database
The servers which power your website are fueled by the heavyweight databases. And, no matter what online affair one can possibly be into, there is always some deadweight to the database, which gradually slows down website performance. Hence, database optimization is something very critical to fine-tuning your WordPress site. There can be certain obsolete data on your website like useless comments, plug-in data, spam comments etc., which needs revisions. Such useless data needs to be cleared from the database of your WordPress site to ensure it performs optimally for a delightful UX.
# 5 Optimize All The Images
Using fewer images on a website can be the ideal option, but it is the least feasible for a majority of us, we all will agree! However, we always have the option to upload images with reduced file size and believe me the images with comparatively smaller file size can contribute to drastically reducing the load time of your WordPress website.
There are a plenty of image file size compression tools available on the internet that work magic in reducing file size without making much alteration to the object visuals. The compression software or plug-ins can help you save up to 80% of the disk space, thereby can help you fine-tune the performance of your WordPress site.
# 6 Disable Hotlinking
If you’re not aware of how to enable or disable Hotlinking, then someone could easily tap benefit of your bandwidth, plaguing your website with slower loading speed. But, you needn’t dishearten, even if you don’t know how to disable hotlinking. What you can do is seek advice or service from an expert, who will optimize your site’s performance, and bar others to take advantage of the bandwidth which is owned by you.
# 7 Review Content
‘Content is King’ and a well-managed content is something that delights all, then be it the ‘end-user’ or the ‘search engine bots’, which in turn helps you gain higher rankings on search engines. More the orderly & prioritized content your website has, more it will be valued by the end-users including the search engines.
So ‘if you’ve put a mix of important and non-essential content on your website sidebar, then you must prioritize the content by streamlining the main content, and by replacing the unimportant data.
Depending upon their degree of simplicity, I picked up and described the above points, which WordPress site owners can maneuver without putting much of efforts as well as without spending exorbitantly. However, one can also find many other ways to yield desired outcomes vis-à-vis improving WordPress website’s performance through fine-tuning. If the performance of your site is spoiled with something you’re unaware of, then simply follow the above points and get ready to be stunned. Your managed approach and a never-say-die attitude will yield you positive results sooner. Just start implementing these tips without waiting any further.
