The document provides various strategies for speeding up WordPress sites, highlighting tools for testing like Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix. Key recommendations include choosing good hosting, using Cloudflare for performance enhancements, implementing caching, optimizing images, and using plugins for minification and lazy loading. It emphasizes the importance of reducing server response times and minimizing file sizes to improve loading speed.

1. Speeding up WordPress
Jason Yingling
@jason_yingling
Jasonyingling.me

2. Where to Test
• Google Pagespeed Insights -
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagesp
eed/insights/
• GT Metrix - https://gtmetrix.com/

3. Pick good hosting
• Helps:
– Reduce server response time
– Leverage browser caching
– Enable compression

4. Server Speedup

5. Setup Cloudflare
• Easily minify and concatenate HTML, CSS, JS
• Bundle and load JS asynchronously
• Cache files
• Helps with:
– Minify CSS
– Minify HTML
– Minify Javascript
– Minify request size
– Prefer asynchronous resources
– Defer parsing of JS

6. Setup Caching
• Store static files in a cache so they are
accessed faster
• Most hosts have some form of caching
available
• Plugins:
– W3 Total Cache
• Helps:
– Leverage browser caching

7. Enable Compression
• Gzip it up via .htaccess or your host
• https://codex.wordpress.org/Output_Compre
ssion
• http://winningwp.com/how-to-enable-gzip-
compression-for-wordpress/
• Helps:
– Enable compression

8. Optimize Your Content

9. Crop and Resize Images
• Images make up > 60% of average site file size
• Don’t upload massive 3000 x 3000 images for a 150 x 150
square
• Editor Tip:
– Use Photoshop or Canva to crop images to smaller sizes
– https://photo-editor.canva.com/
• Developer Tip:
– Use add_image_size() to create thumbnail sizes to use within
themes
• Helps:
– Minimize request size
– Serve scaled images
– Optimize images

10. Optimize Images
• Reduce the file size of images
• ImageOptim
• Plugins
– WP Smush It
– Kraken.io
• Helps:
– Optimize images

11. Optimize Content
• Use embeds sparingly
– They’re nice but can load slow
• Be aware of what plugins add
– More JS
– More CSS
• Helps:
– Minimize request size
– Defer parsing of Javascript

12. Plugins

13. Jetpack Photon
• CDN for images
– Serves images from WordPress.com
• Scales images it serves to the browser
• Performs “blur up” method of loading
• Helps:
– Serve scaled images
– Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
– Optimize images

14. Autoptimize
• Minify and concatenate CSS and JS
• Works with scripts enqueued by plugins
• Helps:
– Minify HTML
– Minify CSS
– Minify JS
– Minimize request size
– Make fewer http requests

15. a3 Lazy Load
• Easily lazy load images and iframes below the
fold
• Helps:
– Defer parsing of Javascript
– Minimize request size
– Reduce server response time
– Prioritize visible content
– Eliminate render-blocking Javascript and CSS in
above-the-fold content