{"id":59646,"date":"2019-01-31T04:19:08","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T11:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/9-tips-for-speeding-up-your-website-in-2019\/"},"modified":"2019-01-31T04:19:08","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T11:19:08","slug":"9-tips-for-speeding-up-your-website-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/9-tips-for-speeding-up-your-website-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Tips for Speeding Up Your Website in 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not a trick question: is your website fast enough? Page load times can impact everything from how long users stay on your site (or if they see the content), to search rank and overall conversions.<\/p>\n

Speed matters on two fronts \u2013 for desktop and mobile devices \u2013 with mobile speed mattering more than ever. Not only does your website have to load fast; it needs to load fast everywhere<\/em>. <\/p>\n

So how do you do it? Start by running a Google PageSpeed test<\/a> to see where your site ranks (you\u2019ll get a few suggestions for speeding up your site there as well). Then, start making these tweaks to make your website lightning fast this year. <\/p>\n

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1. Start Caching Now<\/h2>\n
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Let\u2019s start with a tip from the experts. Google puts caching at the top of its list of recommendations:<\/p>\n

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\u201cCaching allows a browser to store frequently requested files on the user\u2019s device for a set period of time. When caching is enabled, subsequent page loads can be more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Caching stores components of your website in the user\u2019s cache so that when they come back, everything doesn\u2019t have to be downloaded again. So, the very first time a visitor comes to your site, it might take 3 seconds to load, but subsequent visits might be down to less than a second because all that data is already \u201cstored\u201d with the user. <\/p>\n

While caching doesn\u2019t do a whole lot for new visitors, it\u2019s an amazing speed saver for returning visitors (or people browsing multiple pages of your site).<\/p>\n

2. Optimize Images<\/h2>\n

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You are saving images for the web, right?<\/p>\n

In 2019, it\u2019s hard to believe that many website owners are still uploading full-size images to their pages. And this is a speed killer. <\/p>\n

Crop images to the necessary shape and size before uploading them. Compress file sizes as much as possible without compromising visual elements. Save in small file formats \u2013 JPGs consistently save smaller than PNGs, use the former file format unless you need transparency from the latter. <\/p>\n

You can do all of this optimizing yourself in software such as Adobe Photoshop or try a free online tool such as Compressor<\/a>. <\/p>\n

3. Embed Huge Files (Such as Video)<\/h2>\n

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YouTube is made to host and deliver video content at fast speeds.<\/div>\n

Huge files can suck the bandwidth right out of your website. They can be hard to manage and compress.<\/p>\n

Take those files off your website and use media embeds to pull in this information from external hosting platforms. <\/p>\n

Think of it like this: YouTube is made to host and deliver video content at fast speeds. You can\u2019t do it better than this monster. So, use it to your advantage and store video files on YouTube (or Vimeo or another video platform of your choice) and embed the content into your design. Users won\u2019t know the difference\u2026 but they will notice how much faster your website loads. <\/p>\n

4. Take Care with JavaScript<\/h2>\n

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Most of the cool stuff that happens on your website is likely the product of JavaScript. And it can get heavy. But that\u2019s OK if you take care with how you handle JS queries and loads.<\/p>\n