How to Speed Up Your WordPress Site in 2024

1. Choose Quality Hosting

Choosing quality hosting is one of the most important steps to ensure optimal WordPress performance. Good hosting providers offer faster server speeds, higher uptime, and better customer support—all of which contribute to a better user experience. Look for hosting providers that offer the following features:

• High-Speed Servers: Hosting that provides the latest server technologies like SSDs or NVMe drives will significantly improve load times.
• Reliable Uptime: Choose a provider that guarantees at least 99.9% uptime to ensure your site is always accessible.
• Customer Support: 24/7 customer support is crucial for resolving any technical issues promptly.
• Built-In Caching and CDN Integration: A hosting provider like Cloudways offers built-in caching solutions and easy CDN integration, both of which are important for speeding up your site.

Cloudways offers a managed hosting platform with high performance and excellent scalability, making it an ideal choice for WordPress users looking to improve site speed and reliability.

These features help in providing a stable foundation for your WordPress site, which is essential when implementing further optimization techniques.

2. Minimize JavaScript Usage

Divi-Specific Tip:

• Divi Nitro can help reduce JavaScript and optimize overall page performance by deferring or conditionally loading scripts. Also, use Divi’s built-in performance options to disable animations and minimize unneeded features, which reduces JavaScript usage.

One of the best ways to speed up a website is by simplifying how the browser renders content. Instead of relying on heavy JavaScript frameworks, using simple server-side rendering (SSR) means the server sends fully-formed HTML directly to the browser. The browser is great at rendering HTML, which makes the page load incredibly fast. This approach also minimizes the number of JavaScript files needed, reducing unnecessary overhead and enhancing page speed.

The fewer JavaScript files a browser needs to parse, the faster it can render your content. Server-side rendering ensures that your page is already constructed when it reaches the user’s device, saving the time it would otherwise take to build the page in the browser. Minimizing JavaScript also means fewer resources are consumed, which is especially beneficial for users on mobile devices or with slower connections.

3. Prefetching and Prerendering for a Snappy Experience

WordPress/Divi Implementation Tip:

• Use plugins like Perfmatters to enable prefetching and prerendering on your WordPress site. It allows you to easily add important links to prefetch for a smoother browsing experience.

Another key approach is prefetching HTML content. Prefetching page HTML when a user hovers over a link allows the content to be ready even before the user clicks. This makes the transition between pages feel instantaneous, reducing any potential friction for the user.

Prerendering involves preparing pages that users are likely to visit next, loading content in advance. It’s like getting ahead in a game—your browser is waiting, assets in hand, before you even ask. By doing this, users get an almost instant experience when navigating from page to page, significantly improving the perceived speed of the website.

This technique is especially useful for websites that have well-defined navigation flows. For example, e-commerce websites can use prerendering to load product pages that users are likely to click on next. This makes the user experience feel seamless, almost as if the pages were already there, drastically reducing waiting time.

4. Implement Effective Caching Solutions

Divi-Specific Tip:

• You can also leverage Divi’s stock performance options, such as file minification and combining CSS/JS, to improve caching effectiveness. However, be cautious when using Divi’s built-in performance options to defer JavaScript, as it may cause issues with certain plugins like Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), which rely on specific JavaScript functionality to work properly.

Effective caching is crucial for optimal website performance. Using both server-side caching and browser caching ensures fast loading times for repeat visitors. By caching content using a CDN (Content Delivery Network), static content is served quickly from servers close to the user’s location. Additionally, employing a service worker to cache content in the user’s browser makes subsequent visits even faster—sometimes serving content in as little as 7 milliseconds.

Server-side caching stores frequently accessed resources on the server, preventing the need to regenerate these elements each time they are requested. Browser caching allows assets like stylesheets, scripts, and images to be stored locally, so when a user revisits your site, they load instantly.

With CDNs, content is delivered from servers distributed around the world. This not only reduces the distance data needs to travel but also offloads traffic from the main server, ensuring faster loading times for users, regardless of their geographical location. This combined approach significantly reduces latency and enhances the overall performance of the website.

5. DNS Prefetching and Preloading for Faster Resource Loading

Reducing the time required for the browser to locate resources can speed up a website significantly. DNS prefetching resolves domain names before they are actually needed, saving precious milliseconds when the actual request happens. By employing resource preloading, the browser is also told in advance about the assets that will be required, ensuring that these items are ready immediately when needed, with no delays.

DNS prefetching can be especially useful for websites that rely on external resources like third-party scripts or widgets. By resolving domain names before they are needed, the browser can establish a connection faster, reducing the overall time required to load these resources. Resource preloading can be applied to assets like fonts, images, and even JavaScript files, ensuring that critical elements are ready as soon as they are called.

6. Use Critical CSS to Avoid Page Jank

WordPress/Divi Implementation Tip:

• Divi’s built-in performance options provide Critical CSS generation and help inline essential CSS, reducing page jank and improving the initial load experience. However, be cautious when using these settings, as deferring JavaScript may break functionality for plugins like Advanced Custom Fields (ACF).

Instead of waiting for the browser to download an entire CSS file, utilizing Critical CSS means including the essential CSS in the HTML, allowing the page to be styled immediately without waiting for an external file. This reduces page load time and prevents visual delays, also known as “page jank,” where the website layout appears to shift or jump around as different resources are loaded.

Including only the CSS necessary for above-the-fold content ensures that the page appears fully styled as soon as it starts to load. This approach eliminates the lag users often experience when waiting for large CSS files to be downloaded and parsed. Any additional, non-critical CSS can be loaded asynchronously, allowing the user to interact with the website without interruption.

7. Optimize Images for Faster Loading

WordPress/Divi Implementation Tip:

• Use plugins like ShortPixel for image compression. Divi users can enable lazy loading directly via these plugins, reducing initial page load times and improving the overall experience.

Images are often the largest elements on a webpage and can significantly slow down loading times. Employing fixed-width and height settings prevents unexpected resizing, eliminating layout shifts that occur when images are loaded. Using sprites, which are combined images loaded as a single asset, reduces the number of HTTP requests and improves loading times. This technique reduces the data load compared to serving individual images separately.

Another key aspect of image optimization is using modern image formats like WebP or AVIF, which offer better compression than traditional formats like JPEG or PNG without compromising on quality. Compressing images appropriately and using responsive images (different sizes for different devices) ensures that users get the best experience based on their screen size and connection quality.

Lazy loading images that are not immediately visible is another effective strategy. By deferring the loading of images until they are about to enter the viewport, you can significantly reduce the initial load time of the page, ensuring faster interaction times for users.

8. Minimize JavaScript and Use Conditional Loading

Divi-Specific Tip:

• Divi Nitro provides tools to conditionally load JavaScript, optimizing performance by only loading what’s needed on specific pages. Additionally, utilize Divi’s settings to disable animations or features on pages where they aren’t required.

JavaScript can be a double-edged sword when it comes to speed. Only loading the JavaScript required for the current page—a practice known as conditional loading—helps determine which JavaScript files are essential and prevents unnecessary scripts from slowing down the entire site. Keeping JavaScript lightweight and limited to what’s needed allows pages to render faster without interrupting the user’s experience.

Conditional loading involves segmenting scripts so that they only load when needed. For example, a script that handles a carousel on your homepage should only be loaded there, not on every page of your website. This segmentation reduces the time taken to parse and execute JavaScript, allowing the website to remain responsive and preventing long delays in rendering.

9. Measure Performance and Use the Right Tools

WordPress/Divi Implementation Tip:

• Use the Query Monitor plugin to understand which queries are slowing down your WordPress site, and Google Lighthouse to analyze overall performance and identify bottlenecks.

Older, reliable tools like YUI (Yahoo User Interface) and jQuery can be used to streamline site performance. Metrics like window.performance can help measure page performance, ensuring bottlenecks are identified and optimized accordingly.

Using well-tested technologies means the website doesn’t suffer from modern frameworks’ complexities that can sometimes add unnecessary weight. Tools like Google Lighthouse or WebPageTest can provide deeper insights into what is slowing down your site, and metrics like First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Time to Interactive (TTI) give you specific targets for improvement.

Measuring key metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) helps keep the user experience in check, often achieving remarkable speeds by continuously optimizing and reducing bottlenecks. By using these metrics, web developers can focus on improving the most critical aspects of performance, ensuring that users experience a fast and responsive website.

10. Use a CDN for Global Speed Improvements

WordPress/Divi Implementation Tip:

• Integrate Cloudflare with your WordPress site to ensure that static content is delivered quickly to users across the globe. Many hosting providers also offer CDN integration directly within their platform.

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) stores and serves pre-rendered HTML pages closer to the end user. By distributing content across various locations globally, the user can access the nearest server, thus reducing latency. This is an essential step if your website serves a diverse, international audience.

CDNs also improve redundancy. If one server experiences an issue, the content can still be served from another, providing a more resilient service. CDNs also help in handling spikes in traffic by distributing the load, which helps maintain consistent performance even during high traffic periods.

11. Reduce the Number of HTTP Requests

Reducing the number of requests that the browser needs to make can drastically reduce page load time. Using image sprites—combining multiple images into a single asset—is an effective method for cutting down on HTTP requests, which can speed up the page significantly. Consider combining CSS files, using fewer plugins, and aggregating images where feasible to reduce these requests.

Each HTTP request adds overhead and can delay the loading of other resources. Combining JavaScript and CSS files wherever possible, minimizing the use of external scripts, and removing unused CSS or JavaScript will reduce the overall number of requests the browser has to make. Tools like Webpack or Gulp can assist in combining and optimizing assets, ensuring that only essential resources are loaded.

Takeaway Tips for Speeding Up Your WordPress Site in 2024

• Choose quality hosting like Cloudways for better speed and uptime.
• Cache everything—server-side, CDN, and browser-based caching.
• Prefetch and preload as much as possible to make browsing seamless.
• Use Critical CSS to reduce jank and load styles instantly.
• Reduce the number of HTTP requests with CSS, JavaScript bundling, and image sprites.
• Optimize images with modern formats, compression, and lazy loading.
• Measure and refine performance—tools like window.performance, Google Lighthouse, and WebPageTest can help pinpoint what needs improvement.

Every millisecond counts when it comes to website performance. By implementing these techniques, you can ensure that your website offers a lightning-fast user experience, making for happier users, improved SEO, and better conversion rates. Remember, fast websites are effective websites, and a few strategic adjustments can make all the difference.