Daily ArchivesSeptember 7, 2021

Page speed can make or break you on the internet.

A faster page load usually means better results overall for your site speed. Every aspect of a website’s success is linked to page speed, from SEO to conversions, to user experience and beyond.

From the hosting provider you choose to the application you decide to work with, there are a lot of areas that can be optimized. With so many areas to consider, improving page speed can be a complex process. Learning how to optimize web page load time in easy to implement ways is crucial to success.

So, what can you do to make sure you’re optimized? Let’s look at some ways to make your web page faster, how to speed up page load time, and other best practices for page load time and increasing speed.

Why Page Load Time Matters

Before getting into how to speed up page load time, let’s first understand why it is so critical.

Google first announced that site speed would impact ranking in 2010 and has continued to demonstrate its importance. In 2018, Google introduced page speed as a ranking factor for mobile site speed.

SEO specialists quickly started trying to optimize on-page elements and make the search engine cut. Those that didn’t fell behind. And now, with recently announced core web vitals, speed is more critical than ever.

Want to learn more about how to improve page load speed? Here are some key areas to consider.

Page Speed Significance

Page load time has always been important for a pretty obvious reason: conversions. Simply put, fast sites increase conversions — and slow sites reduce them.

In fact, a 0.1-second improvement in mobile website speed results in an 8.4% increase in conversion rates for retail businesses, Google found in a 2020 study.

Site speed also impacts your bounce rates. When users encounter a slow site, they leave. A two-second delay in page load time could increase a website’s bounce rate by 103%, a report from Akamal Technologies found.

Testing Your Page Load Time

To get a snapshot of your website and create before and after benchmarks for the optimization process, the first thing you will want to do is test your current page speed. A couple of tools you can start with are Google’s Page Speed Insights and Webpagetest.org.

Make sure to run multiple tests and average your results. Web Page Test allows you to do this automatically in the settings menu. It is always wise to pick a testing location that is close to where your site is hosted to ensure you get the most accurate results. 

This is how we usually set up webpagetest.org for basic speed checks.  

Below you can see the results of a page speed test on the Magento demo site averaged out. We’ve picked out three of the most important and significant stats we want to use for optimizing the site.

Load Time	Time To First Byte	Bytes In
2.264s	0.318s	927 KB

The first stat is load time. This shows us the complete time it takes to load our page. Remember, if a page takes over three seconds to load, you may be losing half of your potential traffic. This number is the most important for us to change.

The second stat is Time To First Byte (TTFB). While it can help to provide guidance, TTFB can be manipulated relatively easily and its importance can vary. If you use Google Lighthouse, you can also track First Contentful Paint and First Meaningful Paint which report on how fast your page “paints” the screen with elements of your content.

Ever load a recipe and half of it hasn’t caught up with how fast you’re scrolling because you’re trying to get past all the ads and narrative? That’s because it’s FCP/FMP time is very slow. 

The third stat is the size of the information being downloaded to the page. If this number is very large, it may be useful to take a closer look at how long different page elements take.

Page Speed Waterfall

If you want to learn how to speed up page load time, isolate what elements are slowing down page speed and take a look at the waterfall. An example of what the waterfall looks like can be seen below. 

Once you’ve looked at the waterfall, you should have a better idea of what can be improved. Above, we can see that some of the front end .js files can likely be sped up slightly.

Lower down the waterfall (off the page), there are also some image files that take longer to load and should be optimized. Understanding what elements cause pages to lag is key when your focus is faster page load time.

How to Speed Up Page Load Time Via Web Content

Compress and Optimize Images

When looking at how to speed up page load time, image compression is a great place to start. Too often web designers make images that adopt uselessly high resolutions. High-resolution images take up more storage space on a server and can increase load times significantly.

We highly recommend scaling images appropriately. If an image is only going to take up a 100 x 100 pixel space on your site, there’s no need to make it 1000 x 1000. We recommend a plugin like Smush or EWWW Image Optimizer if you’re running a WordPress site. 

How to Convert to WebP Images on WordPress >>

Image Type Extensions

When saving images, knowing which extension to use is important. Should it be .jpg or .png? Did someone send you a logo in .svg? There is plenty of conflicting information out there about what is best. 

Many say .png (Portable Network Graphics) is the better option because it is designed to compress images as much as possible without losing quality. That is partially true. That being said, there are exceptions to the rule. For example, .JPEG files actually work much better when using photographs. 

Our suggestion is to check how saving your file a few different ways affects size and quality when displayed on a preview of your page. If you notice a clear difference, opt for the better extension. 

Compress Site Content

Images aren’t the only page elements that need a squeeze. You should also be compressing CSS, HTML, and JavaScript elements on your site. GZip is a highly recommended compression tool that Google suggests testing prior to implementing in a production environment. We recommend making use of a Dev Site environment that mimics your own production environment if you’re planning on doing this.

The thing about compressing your site content is that there’s some evidence that it can marginally increase Time To First Byte durations. However, it also dramatically increases the overall page speed load time, which some SEO experts suggest Google may actually prioritize. We recommend testing compression on individual pages rather than making a sitewide switch.

Simplify Web Design

If you want faster page load time, less is almost always more. Instead of adding additional functionality to core pages, how about settling on something simpler and faster? The fewer HTTP requests a page has, the faster it will usually load. 

In addition to improving page speed, simple web design has also been shown to improve user experience in many cases. In a UX study conducted by Google, it was found that users tend to judge a website’s aesthetics within 1/50th – 1/20th of a second, and that visually complex sites were almost always judged as being less beautiful than their simpler counterparts.

The more beautiful a website is perceived as, the better UX and SEO will be, and the more conversions will increase. A simpler website design is one of the quickest methods for improving page speed within a short period of time. However, we recommend running A/B tests in order to see how changes actually perform rather than making a 100% change straight away.

How to Speed Up Page Load Time Via Your Host

Your host also plays a large role in page load time. Here are a few ways to make page load time faster with your host.

Enable Caching

Caching is where repeat visitors are able to load your site much faster thanks to page elements being stored on their hard drive in a cache or temporary storage. For WordPress and WooCommerce sites, we make use of Redis Object Cache to manage caching functions. This will come pre-installed and pre-configured when you purchase a WordPress optimized hosting plan through Hostdedi.   

In order to optimize page speed even more, the Hostdedi Cloud allows for use of the Cloud Accelerator. This can easily be turned on and off with the click of a button under the performance section of the Client Portal.

Unsure whether you should turn on Varnish or NGINX? Find out more about the difference between Varnish and NGINX in our Definitive Guide to Optimizing Magento 2.

Caching and CDN

Caching with a CDN (Content Delivery Network) in place is a more complicated process and can require advanced setup. However, a proper caching configuration with a CDN can help you to reach that global audience as though you were with a local host.

Why You Need a WordPress CDN >>

For WordPress and WooCommerce, check our guide on how to configure the Hostdedi CDN with WordPress and CDN Enabler.

Other Areas To Consider

What Page Are You Optimizing?

Your site structure makes a world of difference when it comes to optimization. Thinking about which page you’re optimizing and how it’s relevant to total site structure is important. If you update one page, the pages it interacts with should also be considered.

For instance, it’s not helpful for us to just simply optimize Hostdedi.net, we also need to optimize Hostdedi.net/magento/hosting and Hostdedi.net/cloud/hosting. 

Before you set out to begin this process, put together a plan for what key pages are drawing in the most conversions and attracting the most ROI. Start here for the greatest impact.

Page Speed and SEO

While page speed and SEO are intrinsically linked, make no mistake that it is not the definitive factor in determining page rank. Google themselves has said that if content is more relevant and people are willing to wait for it to load, they will not penalize that site.

Ultimately, page speed is an important part of optimizing, but content, quality, and user experience should always be the primary focus.

Accelerate Load Time with the Right Host

We’ve come a long way from waiting for images to load line by line. Page speed isn’t just something consumers complain about — it can also make or break conversions, rankings, and more. Doing all you can to increase page speed is ALWAYS a good idea. 

If you’re investing time and effort into improving page load time, you’re protecting your digital business. Match your sweat equity with smart investments. Make your next step choosing a host that has proven scalability, security, speed and support — like Hostdedi.

Hostdedi provides fully-managed WordPress hosting that includes:

• Automatic updates.
• SSL for security.
• Built-in CDN.
• Image compression.
• Caching.
• And more!

See for yourself with a two-week free trial.

Related Content

This blog was originally published in July 2018. It has since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

One of the biggest reasons why small businesses fail is a lack of product strategy.

Too many online shops resemble marketplaces that sell everything. They figure this means they’ll be able to capture a larger market and more customers. However, when you try to sell to everyone, you end up selling to no one.

If you want to brand your online business or be an authority, you have to choose a product niche. Choosing the right niche establishes your credibility over competitors, ensures a more focused business, and opens you up to other income opportunities down the line, such as affiliate marketing.

What’s the result? Profitability.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• What a niche is.
• How to find a profitable niche.
• How to find a niche product.

What Is a Niche?

A niche is a profitable market segment with a focused audience. It is a subset of a large market defined by its own unique identity.

For example, the furniture market can be segmented according to use (i.e. office furniture, home furniture, or antique furniture), material (plastic, wood, or upholstered), or price.

The specific niche you choose can influence many aspects of your business, including:

• What products you sell.
• How much you sell.
• Which suppliers you work with.
• What kind of marketing strategies you should use.

Choosing the perfect niche is more complicated than it seems — you need to find a niche with products that are high in demand but low in competition.

Only when you find the right niche can you determine how to find a niche product. 

Below you’ll learn how to find a profitable niche.

How to Find a Profitable Niche

• Brainstorm niches you’re passionate about.
• Identify the problem of your niche market.
• Look for profitable niche markets.

How to Find a Profitable Niche Idea #1: Brainstorm Niches You’re Passionate About

To start your search for a profitable niche, make a list of your interests and what you’re good at. This is just the brainstorming stage, so don’t worry about financial viability at this point.

The ideal niche is at the intersection of profitability and your interests. Business is hard work. If you’re in it for the long run, it’s best to create a business you know you’re going to enjoy.

Additionally, if you choose a niche you’re passionate about, you already have an idea of the basics, including: 

• Who to sell to.
• How to sell it.
• What needs to be improved.
• Where to get suppliers.

Who knows — you may even get to develop new products. 

How to Find a Profitable Niche Idea #2: Identify the Problem of Your Niche Market

Good marketers know the key to success and longevity in business is to identify an unmet or underserved need and create a solution.

Analyze your target audience and identify gaps in the marketplace. Your products or services should address a pain point that your audience is currently experiencing.

Here are some websites you can use to seek out that information:

How to Find a Profitable Niche Idea #3: Look for Profitable Niche Markets

Validate your business idea by checking on its value in the niche market. Otherwise, you’ll waste time and effort trying to sell something unprofitable. 

Remember: Not all markets are created equal. Some are more profitable than others. Choose a sector that has anticipated growth.

To start, read articles on ecommerce trends, and look through a list of profitable niches.

How to Find a Niche Product

Now that you’ve learned how to find a profitable niche, it’s time to look for products to sell. 

A suitable niche product should:

• Have a relatively low amount of competitive products.
• Be in demand.
• Have the potential for long-term popularity.

Here’s how to find a niche product:

• Check past and present trends.
• Perform keyword research.
• Study the competition.

How to Find a Niche Product #1: Check Past and Current Trends

To choose the best niche products, analyze past and current trends. Input keywords from the niche you’re eyeing in Google Trends to check their performance over time. 

For instance, the search term “weight loss pills” enjoys relatively stable activity because people will always be interested in an easy way to shed pounds.

Meanwhile, seasonal terms such as “candy cane” only see a surge in searches around Christmastime.

Avoid fads. “Bread baking” may have experienced a surge in search volume during the height of the pandemic. But its popularity has already dropped back to pre-pandemic levels, which indicates bread baking niche products will not be viable long-term.

How to Find a Niche Product #2: Perform Keyword Research

To find saleable niche products, do keyword research on popular ecommerce platforms such as eBay or Amazon. 

Amazon’s bestseller page is a goldmine for keywords you can break down into niches and sub-niches.

Let’s say you want to move into the beauty industry. On the bestseller page of Amazon’s Beauty and Personal Care category, you’ll find subcategories such as bath accessories, fragrances, hair care, and makeup. Explore these categories for new products to sell.

Look at the highest-rated items and their prices to validate what people are willing to pay for them.

How to Find a Niche Product #3: Study the Competition

Although you may want to break into a new niche, competition signifies a healthy business opportunity. 

Be wary of a niche that doesn’t have any competitors. They’re evidence of an existing market. Competition indicates people are looking for the kinds of products you want to sell.

When you study the competition, you can also identify gaps in their current offerings and the markets they’re targeting. Use tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to research your competitors’ top content, traffic sources, social media, and sales pages.

Final Thoughts: How to Find a Profitable Niche for Your Ecommerce Shop

Contrary to popular belief, it’s relatively easy to make money online, but many small businesses fail due to a lack of a product strategy.

Learning how to find a profitable niche and how to find niche products is vital to building an online business. Use the information to stand out from the competition, establish your credibility, and create a focused business.

Have you found your niche? Get your online store up and running fast — check out Hostdedi’s ecommerce hosting plans today.

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Why WordPress?

WordPress is user friendly, customizable, and powers 40% of the internet. With thousands of plugins available to extend functionality, it’s easy to see why so many use WordPress for their sites.

If you’re looking to learn how to use WordPress, you’re in the right place. Here, you’ll find out most useful WordPress resources. Keep reading to learn WordPress basics, performance best practices, and more.

Learn How to Use WordPress: Understand Your Options

There are a number of CMS options available. As mentioned, WordPress is the most popular choice. If you’re not sure WordPress is the right CMS for you, learn about Drupal vs. WordPress.

WordPress history extends back to 2003. As you can imagine, there are many WordPress versions available. But it is important to start using the most recent one.

There’s also headless WordPress to consider. This option is gaining popularity and aims to accelerate page load time. What is headless WordPress?

WordPress does not limit you to a certain type of site. You can create a blog, an ecommerce site, a portfolio, and more. Learn about the types of WordPress websites you can easily set up. You can even monetize your WordPress site.

WordPress Hosting

With WordPress, you’ll also want an optimized host to power your site in the background. But you have a few different options when it comes to hosting, such as managed WordPress hosting and shared web hosting.

What is WordPress hosting? And why do you need hosting for WordPress? Here’s a breakdown of the difference between WordPress hosting and web hosting.

There’s also WordPress cPanel versus Managed WordPress and DIY to consider.

You may already have a shared hosting plan for your WordPress account. But shared hosting plans can leave much to be desired. Here’s how to tell when it’s time to leave shared hosting and upgrade to Managed WordPress.

Top 10 Questions to Ask a Cloud Hosting Provider >>

Getting Started With WordPress

Now it’s time to get started with your WordPress site. You’ll want to research your options and select one of the fastest WordPress themes. Speed is critical to providing a good user experience. It’s also key to ranking on Google.

Get started building your site with WordPress Gutenberg — a WordPress editor that makes site creation simple and easy. By using Gutenberg, you can simplify the content creation process in WordPress.

From there, you can…

Learn How to Use WordPress Plugins

There are thousands of WordPress plugins available for your site. Not sure where to start? Start by exploring the most popular WordPress plugins. These ones are fan favorites and are widespread for a reason.

Learn more about the top WordPress plugins and how to use them strategically in our Essential Guide to WordPress Plugins eBook.

There are plugins for just about every function you could want on your website. For example, you could add WooCommerce to WordPress to start an online store.

Below you’ll find out recommendations for the top WordPress plugins for popular functions.

Remember, it’s important to keep all of your plugins updated. Managed WordPress hosts like Hostdedi automatically update your plugins.

Explore Fully Managed WordPress Hosting by Hostdedi.

Learn WordPress Performance Best Practices

Why is my WordPress site so slow?

Many site owners ask this question after getting their site up and running. But once your site is up, you need to keep it optimized. Here’s why website performance matters:

• It is critical to the user experience.
• It is necessary to rank well on Google.
• It provides more visibility and organic traffic.
• It improves your conversion rates.

Here are some helpful WordPress resources to improve performance.

Learn more in our Beginner’s Guide to WordPress Performance Optimization eBook >>

WordPress Resources for Developers

Learn about the built-in features of WordPress for developers, and how to best use them for your site.

Using WordPress Local Dev Environments

You can use a WordPress local development environment, and you have a few options outlined below. A local dev environment allows you to set up a server environment on your own machine, rather than on the server environment from your hosting company.

The benefit here is that you can go into the local dev environment to customize your site and make any changes you need, without having to push it online until you are ready.

Get Scalable, Secure WordPress With Hostdedi

With Hostdedi, better is built in.

Power your site with optimized WordPress hosting from Hostdedi. Hostdedi provides fully-managed WordPress hosting that includes:

• Automatic updates.
• SSL for security.
• Built-in CDN.
• Image compression.
• Caching.
• And more.

With Hostdedi, your site is optimized, secure, and fast. Contact us today to learn how Hostdedi can take on-site performance tuning for you automatically.

Or, give it a try for free. Start your two-week trial of fully managed WordPress today.

If you’re thinking about launching a website, chances are you are considering using WordPress. It is easily the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world.

Throughout the history of WordPress, the free and open-source CMS has proved to be a versatile and lasting tool for beginners and pros. This is why WordPress is so widely used. But as powerful as it is, does WordPress host websites? Unfortunately, it does not. You’ll have to look for your web hosting elsewhere. 

Whether it’s WordPress-based or not, your website needs to live somewhere. WordPress hosting provides you with one option to host your site.

Understanding WordPress Hosting

So, what exactly is WordPress hosting?

WordPress hosting is a form of website hosting — providing storage and access to a website— intended for WordPress websites. Because WordPress hosting was designed specifically for the world’s most popular CMS, WordPress sites run especially well on this type of web hosting. Most notably, sites with WordPress hosting should expect fast performance.

WordPress hosting usually comes with 1-click installation of WordPress, or even with the CMS already pre-installed. This gives you a good head start in launching your site.

Is WordPress a Hosting Site?

WordPress is a system that helps you manage your website’s content, but it does not house or store that content for you. Your website must have a home, which is why it’s so important to understand what WordPress hosting is.

There is a slight caveat to this answer. If you look into WordPress, you’ll notice WordPress has two distinct websites: WordPress.org and WordPress.com. WordPress.org is the free open-source CMS that is usually discussed when talking about WordPress (it’s the focus here). WordPress.com offers hosting and limited use of the WordPress CMS. They are not the same thing. 

How WordPress Hosting Works

The basics of WordPress hosting is just the same as standard website hosting. All the files that make up your website (HTML, images, etc.) need a place to be stored. Your website host provides you with that storage (a server) and allows people to access the information being stored (your website traffic). Website hosts are like property owners and gatekeepers all in one.

Why You Need a WordPress CDN >>

Setting up servers is a highly technical and complicated matter. Website hosts build their servers for general use, which allows them to host all sorts of sites. Due to the nuances among the various types of websites types of websites, that means you’re probably not getting the best out of your host and server. With a WordPress hosting service, you get a server that is optimized for the super popular CMS. Things are configured for WordPress to run as efficiently as possible.

WordPress hosting is not the same as WordPress itself. How WordPress hosting works is entirely different than how WordPress works.

Do WordPress Sites Need WordPress Hosting?

Part of the story behind WordPress’ dominance on the web is its versatility. It can work on all sorts of platforms. You absolutely do not need a WordPress hosting service for your WordPress website. Most hosting services are compatible with WordPress. They would lose a huge chunk of potential business if they weren’t.

Why Do You Need Hosting for WordPress? >>

One way to look at hosting is thinking of the whole internet as living cities or communities. The buildings represent websites, and the land they are on represents a host server. To expand on this concept, you can think of WordPress hosting services as specialized communities, kind of like a retirement community. You don’t have to build your house there but living in a space and community built for your needs could make life a whole lot easier.

You certainly have options when it comes to WordPress sites and hosting. That’s part of the appeal of the world-leading CMS. However, if you want to get the most out of your WordPress site, WordPress hosting should be a primary consideration.

WordPress Hosting: Is It Worth It?

If WordPress sites don’t need to be on WordPress hosting servers, is there any real reason you should use WordPress hosting?

There are certainly some benefits to keep in mind. But as with anything, there are two sides to the story. Here are some pros and cons you should consider when thinking about whether WordPress hosting is right for you:

Pros of WordPress Hosting

• Fast speeds: Nobody wants to visit a website with slow load times. WordPress hosting servers are optimized for speed. This ensures that your visitors have a smooth and positive experience when navigating your site. Fast-loading content is also a crucial factor in search engine optimization (SEO), and slow page speeds can negatively impact search engine rankings.
• Strong security: WordPress is the most used content management system on the web. It’s no surprise that WordPress sites are constantly being attacked. Your WordPress hosting is built with security protocols specific to WordPress sites. This adds a layer of protection you can’t get from general hosting services.
• Better support: For the most part, using a WordPress hosting service means access to WordPress experts. You can be confident that they’ll know how to resolve any hosting issues you may run into with your site.
• Easy to install: Though not impossible, WordPress can be a bit of a chore to install for beginners. Most WordPress hosting services offer quick and easy 1-click WordPress installation.
• A ton of choices: You certainly don’t have a shortage of WordPress hosting options. Plenty of companies are set up to tap into the extremely large WordPress market. If anything, there might be too many choices.

Cons of WordPress Hosting

• Optimized for WordPress only: While this is great for WordPress sites, it does hinder you from starting up any non-WordPress sites. This means having to source a new hosting provider if you ever decide to move away from WordPress as a CMS.
• Limited plugin access: Most WordPress hosting services don’t allow for full access to all WordPress plug-ins. This is primarily for security reasons as plugins are often the most likely to have vulnerabilities against malicious parties. While this might be seen more as a positive, it still might hamper you from getting the most of your WordPress site if there’s a particular plugin you really want.
• Higher costs: This is especially true if you go with a managed WordPress hosting service (more on that later). While there are some strong benefits, they don’t come free. You’ll have to decide whether extra costs are worth it. 

Shared vs. Managed WordPress Hosting

There are two common types of WordPress hosting services: shared hosting and managed hosting. One supplies basic hosting, while the other handles a lot of your WordPress website management for you. 

Shared WordPress Hosting

Shared WordPress hosting is the more basic type of WordPress hosting. You’ll share space on a server with other websites. This would be like sharing an apartment with several roommates. Because the server resources are shared, this type of web hosting is usually associated with slower speeds. However, because WordPress hosting is optimized for WordPress websites, speed is not as much of an issue as it is with general shared website hosting services.

Shared WordPress hosting is the cheaper option. This makes it a sufficient choice for anyone starting up with a limited budget. Your site traffic is likely to not exceed your server’s resources.

Managed WordPress Hosting

Speaking of robust hosting, that’s exactly what you’ll get with a solid managed WordPress hosting service. With this type of website hosting, your WordPress site is typically on a dedicated server, virtual private server, or hosted on the cloud. This is like having your own house, own apartment, or even several apartments at the same time. You shouldn’t have to worry about sharing resources with other sites.

Related reading: What is Managed Hosting? >>

Managed WordPress hosting gives you an incredible amount of support for your website. Your hosting service provides you with the bulk of your site’s day-to-day hardware and software maintenance. They’ll make sure your security is well-tuned and manage updates for you. Many managed WordPress hosting services offer 1-click staging, allowing you to test changes to your site in a dev environment (not live on your website). 

You’ll also have access to expert-level support to help you troubleshoot any issues with your site. Managed WordPress hosting is going to be more expensive than shared WordPress hosting. This makes it the better choice for larger, more established sites, and brands looking to scale their WordPress site in the future.

What to Look for in a WordPress Host

Now that you’ve learned quite a bit more about what WordPress web hosting is, you’re more set than ever to find a service to host your site. When combing through the many options, keep these following factors in consideration:

• Speed and resources: One of the biggest selling points about WordPress hosting services is that they are optimized for speed. Look into what type of speed performance your potential host promises, and how they use their resources to provide you with a high-performing site.
• Reliability: No matter what type of site you have, you depend on your web host for reliability. Look into reports about uptime/downtime. Make sure you have a host that can keep your site up and running as much as possible.
• Price: You always want to consider price when shopping for any type of product or service. Make sure to shop around and compare prices. As with anything else, keep in mind that expensive doesn’t always mean the best, and cheap doesn’t always mean the worst. Shoot for getting the most value for your dollar.
• Management features: If you are going the managed WordPress hosting route, take a close look at the management features being offered to you. You’re paying for these services. Make sure you’re getting the ones that are going to make running your site easy for you.
• Support: Beginners can work with WordPress with relative ease, but that doesn’t mean putting up a WordPress website and maintaining it doesn’t come with some technical challenges. Look into your potential hosts’ technical/customer support. Be comfortable knowing that when issues arise, you have somewhere to turn.

Try WordPress Hosting From Hostdedi

No matter what your WordPress hosting needs are, Hostdedi has options for you. You’ll get top-tier managed hosting that eases the pressure of maintaining your site. Learn more about Hostdedi’ fully managed WordPress hosting packages. Or, start a free two-week trial of Hostdedi fully managed WordPress hosting.

Related Content

This blog was originally published in November 2016. It has since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

You already have a well-designed business website or online store. Your content is ready, and your website is live. But wait, something’s wrong — your new website takes a long time to load. 

Speed is a crucial performance factor for your business. If your website loads too slowly, potential visitors might abandon it in the first few seconds, which will affect your conversion rate.

Unfortunately, many web pages don’t load as they should, and this can negatively impact your search rankings and revenue. 

In this guide, we’ll answer the following questions: What could negatively affect site speed? How does page speed affect SEO? And how important is page speed for SEO, anyway?

What Webpage Load Time Is

Your webpage speed is the amount of time in seconds or milliseconds it takes to fully load a single webpage. This is also known as the Time to First Byte or the server response time.

You might have wondered what page speed is acceptable for users before they close a tab and move on. 

Google indicates that more than half of mobile visitors will leave your mobile site if it takes longer than three seconds to load, so you should aim for a shorter loading time. 

Different pages can have different loading speeds depending on their page elements, such as images and code. 

What could negatively affect site speed? Here are a few examples:

• Your server’s performance. 
• The user’s internet provider. 
• The browser used.
• The type of connection used.

How To Monitor Your Website’s Speed

Screenshot
ALT: Screenshot of Google’s PageSpeed Insights.

You can check your website speed using a free speed test on Google’s PageSpeed Insights, which can also let you know what could be negatively affecting your site speed.

To check your website’s performance, Google’s Speed Score uses data from the Chrome User Experience Report and metrics such as DOMContentLoaded (DCL) and First Contentful Paint (FCP).

How Important Page Speed Is for SEO 

So, how does page speed affect SEO?

According to Google, page loading speed became a direct ranking factor for mobile searches in July 2018. It will become a ranking factor for all pages when Google rolls out its Core Web Vitals update in June 2021. 

Google, along with other search engines, is keen on ranking pages that provide a great user experience.

Page speed matters and has a significant impact on user experience. Fast loading pages make it easier for visitors to navigate your website.

SEO Trends in 2021: The Future of SEO, What Matters Most and Why >>

Optimizing your website for mobile devices for mobile searches is crucial. Don’t overlook this since search engines have moved to mobile-first indexing with mobile page speed as one of the search ranking factors.

Besides, in 2019, Google Chrome announced that it would flag slow websites to encourage faster user experiences.

Here are some other reasons why increasing your page load time is essential:

• Reduces bounce rate.
• Increases page views.
• Increases dwell time.
• Improves conversion rate.
• Helps your ranking in organic search.

How To Speed Up Your Website

1. Activate browser caching.
2. Minify resources.
3. Enable image compression.
4. Implement a content delivery network (CDN).
5. Optimize media files.
6. Minimize HTTP requests. 
7. Use the right web host.

Image source

Many factors could negatively affect site speed, including pages with poorly written code or too many page elements.

You can speed up webpage loading time if you:

1. Activate Browser Caching

Fetching the resources to load your website could negatively affect site speed as it takes time to load several page elements for new visitors. Browser caching lets browsers temporarily store information, including JavaScript files, stylesheets, and images.

Browser caching can speed up webpage loading time, as it loads pages faster on subsequent visits.

Free plugins, such as W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache, help reduce the number of file requests to the server, resulting in faster page load times.

2. Minify Resources

Using too many CSS files causes numerous HTTP requests, which could negatively affect site speed. It’s vital to minify your CSS files, which removes unnecessary characters, spacing, and comments in your content.

For your WordPress website, we recommend using WP Rocket to speed up webpage loading time. 

3. Enable Image Compression

Large image file sizes can also negatively affect site speed. Enable Gzip compression to help reduce the time it takes to download your CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files. 

Gzip compresses and later decompresses files when they get to your browser. Most modern browsers automatically process Gzip for all HTTP requests.

Top WooCommerce Image Size Hacks To Keep Your Website Fast

4. Implement a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

CDNs are a network of servers used to store a static version of your webpages in different locations, meaning a visitor can easily download them from the nearest server. 

What is a Content Delivery Network (CDN)? CDN Benefits & Features >>

CDNs identify where the user is and deliver content from the server closest to them. This is an essential way to speed up webpage loading time.

5. Optimize Media Files

Images and videos that are larger than necessary could negatively affect site speed, especially for mobile users. Ensure your image sizes are optimized by using the right image format and pixel dimensions. 

How to Convert to WebP Images on WordPress >>

For best results, use PNG or JPEG file formats. To optimize your videos, compress and reduce length. You can also upload them to YouTube and use the embed code on your page.

6. Minimize HTTP Requests 

Every file that a webpage requires to function, including HTML, fonts, CSS, images, and JavaScript, will need a separate HTTP request. 

Too many requests could result in slow page speed. Another issue is that plugins might add further JavaScript and CSS files. 

Minimize these requests to speed up webpage loading time. Some of the most effective ways include merging CSS into one file, reducing plugins that load JavaScript or CSS, and using sprites for images.

7. Use the Right Web Host

Your WordPress website’s host can determine how fast or slow your pages load. 

If your website is sharing a server with several other people, it’s more likely it will load slowly. This can frustrate your visitors, and they might abandon your website. 

To combat this issue, upgrade to a host optimized for speed, such as Hostdedi.

Final Thoughts: How Does Page Speed Affect SEO? + Improve Your Site Speed

How important is page speed for SEO? It’s an essential ranking factor in Google’s algorithm.

Every webmaster needs to think about specific user experiences as they build and maintain their website. If your website is slow, visitors are more likely to click the back button, which will affect your rankings and ultimately decrease conversions. 

Since many visitors will access your website through tablets or smartphones, mobile speed optimization should be a top priority. 

The single greatest factor to having a fast website is your host. The right host can improve website speed and boost performance.

If you’ve just created a website or you’re looking for better hosting, Hostdedi has a package to suit your business. Visit us today.

Or, get started with a free two-week trial of fully hosted WordPress or WooCommerce.

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