Speed is a very important factor for websites. People really like fast loading sites and dislike slow ones. Google has said the faster the site is the more likely it is to rank highly. But, how do you speed up your site?
The first step is finding out what you need to change or fix. For this, we use tools that help us measure site speed and give analysis on what needs to change.
Recommended Speed Testing Tools
How Site Speed Analysis Works
These different tools try go to your website and record how long it takes for the server to retrieve each of the requested files. Each file goes through a series of steps until the file is downloaded. Depending on how slow some of these steps are you can get an indication about what may be slowing down your site.
File Download Steps (http://webpagetest.org):
- DNS Lookup
- Initial Connection
- Time to First Byte
- Content Download
- Start Render
- Document Complete
Tips:
- Test from more than one tool
- Test from different locations (website will have options)
- Test multiple times
What’s Next?
After the test is complete, you will be presented with a score that shows you a list of things that, once fixed, will increase the speed of your site. This list is populated with good information that will help you get your site going in the right direction.
Google has a one of the best lists because it prioritizes what you should fix first. Giving you a better starting point.
More Information:
- WordPress Caching
- Monitor Response Server Time
- WordPress Minify
- WordPress CDN (Content Delivery Networks)
- WordPress Specialized Hosting
David writes for a couple different websites that work with hosting and consumer reviews. He brings real-world application to harder to understand concepts in order to help people learn about specific subject matter. He also knows HTML, CSS and PHP to help out with building and configuring sites.
