Update About Plugins Improving Loading Speed
Since I originally wrote this post, I have written an updated post about improving page load speed. These plugins aren’t bad for improving loading speed, but I am no longer using any of the plugins in this article.
Original Article About Improving Loading Speed
Plugins are a great way to bring your WordPress site loading speed to a crawl. But the right plugins can actually make your site considerably faster. If your site is running slowly, you can speed up its loading time using the following tools.
Before You Use These Plugins
Even if you use the following plugins, you need to understand that the size of your media files and your choice of web host can have a high impact on performance. You should always minimize the size of your media files to the lowest sizes necessary (your file sizes should be able to be measured in kb, not mb); and even if you use a solid web hosting service, if you try to save money using a shared server (like I do), then you’ll find that from time to time your site won’t load as fast as you might like, especially on mobile.
A Caching Plugin for Improving Loading Speed
There are multiple free caching plugin options, and my experience is that they perform about the same. If your web host provides you with a caching plugin, then it is probably Endurance Cache. It is not the most user friendly plugin, but you can learn how to use it here. If you don’t have that available, then I recommend WP Super Cache. The reason I recommend Endurance Cache first is WP Super Cache can become complicated to use because of your individual web host’s server settings.
Jetpack CDN for Improving Loading Speed
Jetpack is a big plugin. In addition to the CDN, it provides a number of cool blocks. But when you’re talking about site speed, you just need to deal with the Jetpack CDN.
What’s a CDN?
A CDN is a Content Delivery Network. When people try to get onto your site, physical distance matters. Jetpack CDN takes some of your biggest files (the images) and tells people that they can get the images from servers closer than your web host’s server. To turn on Jetpack’s CDN, just go to Settings > Performance, then turn everything on. This should include lazy loading which tells the browser to just load the images that can be seen and wait to load the other images when users scroll down to look at them.
Jetpack Boost for Improving Loading Speed
Jetpack Boost is a separate plugin——and free. No. Jetpack isn’t paying me. I just have to admit that their stuff works really well. In fact, I’ve used it on my own software, and I have noticed a big improvement in loading time, especially on mobile. I’m the kind of developer that’s okay with sacrificing a little speed so I can use higher quality media. The Jetpack Boost plugin allows me to have my cake and eat it too. Also, if you like to make custom modifications, this plugin will help offset any speed compromises that you may have made. All you have to do is add the plugin and follow the instructions. It’s pretty straight forward.
Conclusion
That’s it. You don’t need to know the history of the World Wide Web to make these updates. So go make it happen.