Benefit from speed optimerization now!
You want to have a PageSpeed optimization performed for your website and thus improve the search engine result in addition to a shorter loading time?
How fast is your website? test right now!
Is your website fast enough? Most users will leave a page if it doesn't load within 3 seconds. A fast loading time leads to a higher usability and thus creates a longer dwell time of the users on your page. This not only increases your chances of a booking, the loading time is also an important factor for search engines.
Google Pagespeed Test
To check the effectiveness of your speed optimization, or to get an initial impression, you must first test the current loading speed.
There are several Page Speed Tests, each one will consider different factors and give different recommendations. Here are some of the most popular page speed tests:
- Google PageSpeed Insights: This is a free test provided by Google that examines both mobile and desktop versions of a website.
- GTmetrix: This is another free test that provides a detailed analysis of your website, including load time, page size and resource usage.
- Pingdom Website Speed Test: This is a simple test that gives you a quick overview of your website's load time and performance.
- WebPageTest: This is an advanced test that provides detailed data about your website, including load time, delays and transfer speed.
In the Google Page Speed Test, there are several important parameters that influence how fast a web page loads. The Google Page Speed Test is the most important parameter, because Google uses it to evaluate your website.
What needs to be optimized? the most important areas
- Load Time: This is the time it takes for a web page to load completely.
- Time to First Byte (TTFB): This is the time taken between a page being requested and the first packet of data being received from the server.
- Image optimization: It is important that images on a web page are optimally compressed to reduce loading time.
- Minimize CSS and JavaScript: Superfluous code should be avoided to optimize load time.
- Use of browser caching: Content caching can reduce the loading time of a web page.
It is important to note that optimal performance should be achieved on all devices, including mobile devices.
Minimization of WordPress CSS files
time to do
Minimizing CSS and JavaScript in WordPress can be achieved in a variety of ways, including:
- Using a plugin: There are many free and paid plugins that automatically minimize CSS and JavaScript in WordPress, including WP Minify, Autoptimize, and W3 Total Cache.
- Manual minimization: You can also manually minimize CSS and JavaScript by editing the code and removing unnecessary characters such as spaces, line breaks, and comments.
It's important to note that minimizing CSS and JavaScript improves your website's load times, but it also makes troubleshooting more difficult because the minimized code is no longer readable. Therefore, make sure that you regularly back up your website before making any changes to the code.
Plugin recommendation: Autoptimize
WordPress Caching and the Time to First Byte (TTFB)?
What exactly happens.
How to shorten the Time to First Byte (TTFB)?
- WordPress caching: causes static content on a WordPress page, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, to be cached to speed up page load time. When a user visits a page, the cached content is loaded from the cache instead of being regenerated by a server. This can significantly improve page load time and reduce traffic on the server, resulting in better performance.
- Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN): CDNs can help reduce content load time by bringing content closer to the user.
It is important to note that shortening the TTFB can have a positive impact on the overall load time of a web page.
How to check the TTFB?
The Time to First Byte (TTFB) of a website can be checked using the browser's developer tools. Here are the steps for the most common browsers:
- Google Chrome: Click the three-dot menu in the upper-right area of the browser, select "More Tools" and then "Developer Tools". Then select the "Network" tab, reload the website, and browse to the desired URL. The TTFB is displayed in the "TTFB" column.
- Mozilla Firefox: Click the three-line menu in the upper-right area of the browser, select "Web Developer" and then "Developer Tools". Then select the "Network" tab, reload the website, and browse to the desired URL. The TTFB is displayed in the "TTFB" column.
- Microsoft Edge: Click the three-dot menu in the upper-right area of the browser, select "Settings and more" and then "Developer tools". Then select the "Network" tab, reload the website, and browse to the desired URL. The TTFB is displayed in the "TTFB" column.
- Apple Safari: Activate the developer tools by going to "Settings" and activating "Advanced Settings". Then select "Developer" and "Show Web Inspector". Select the "Network" tab, reload the website, and browse to the desired URL. The TTFB will be displayed in the "TTFB" column.
Browser caching
causes the static resources of a website (e.g. images, CSS and JavaScript files) to be stored.
This can speed up the loading time when visiting the same page again, as these resources do not have to be downloaded each time.
There are some plugins that automate the setup of browser caching in WordPress, for example W3 Total Cache or WP Fastest Cache. These plugins can be installed and configured from the WordPress dashboard.
Plugin recommendation: WP Fastest Cache or Comet Cache
Image optimization
time to do
Only one method is recommended for image optimization, all others offer disproportionate configuration effort. Use WebP!
- Converting images to WebP format: use a tool to convert your images to WebP format, which offers a better ratio between quality and file size than the traditional JPEG or PNG format.
- Image optimization check: Check if the conversion has resulted in a significant reduction of the file size of your images and if the quality is still acceptable.
Plugin recommendation WebPExpress
Expert optimization
What exactly happens.
Critical CSS
Critical CSS refers to the part of the CSS code that is required for the correct display of the most important content on a web page. By embedding this part of the CSS code inline in the HTML code and loading it directly, the load time of a web page can be improved because it is not necessary to download an external CSS file before the most important content becomes visible.
Lazy Loading and Conditional Loading
It's worth not including certain files on a web page to improve load time. This is especially important when it comes to large or non-urgent assets such as images, videos, or JavaScript files.
One way to improve loading time is to use lazy loading, in which assets are loaded only when they become visible on the screen. Another way is to use conditional loading, in which certain assets are loaded only when they are needed on a particular page or under certain conditions.
Overall, avoiding unnecessary asset loads can significantly improve the load time of a web page and thus improve the user experience.
Dynamic caching for logged in users
Dynamic caching refers to the use of a caching system that dynamically stores the output of a website based on certain conditions. In the context of logged-in users in WordPress, this means that a website that detects logged-in users does not cache or handle its content in a special way.
This is important because logged-in users usually expect a personalized view of a website that is not the same as the view of a non-logged-in user. If the caching system stores a static version of a page for logged-in users, they may not see the expected content.
To avoid this, many WordPress websites use a dynamic caching system that detects logged-in users and ensures that their requests are not cached. This ensures that logged-in users always see the most up-to-date and personalized content.