Now being used by more than one in four of the world’s websites, WordPress is the most popular content management system known to man. Its ease of use and relatively versatile performance allow it to be converted into online stores, blogs and static websites, and can be maintained by just about anyone. Many people simply set up their WordPress websites, giving little thought to concepts such as speed and security. For those who want to be at the top of their respective SERPs and attract as many people as possible, though, speed can be an important issue. We’ll discuss a few simple tactics you can employ that will reduce loading times and ensure that search engines and users alike love your website.

Be Picky About Hosting

Many people do not consider what goes into their hosting providers, but not all forms of hosting are created equal. There are plenty of resources on the web that can help you find quality hosting for low prices, but agreeing to be hosted with the first company you stumble across is a bad decision. Many discount hosting providers have poor infrastructure, which will lead to slow loading times for you. Since Google and other search engines will be pinging servers to determine page speeds, you’ll perform worse than you would with a faster alternative. Users will also prefer to go elsewhere, especially if they have to wait for seconds each time they click on one of your pages.

Use CDNs

CDN stands for content delivery network, and it can be a lifesaver for those of you already roped into contracts with slow hosting providers. A CDN works by storing your site’s files on various servers throughout the world, and will feed them to your visitors in cache-form whenever they visit your website. Not only will this dramatically boost page loading speeds for your visitors, but it can also result in a dramatic reduction in bandwidth usage on your hosting provider’s end. Depending on which server the visitor in question is closest to, the CDN will use that server to show them your website. With so many CDNs available, we recommend you do your homework before selecting any particular one.

Optimize Your Images

One other great way to increase the speed of your website by boosting loading times is to optimize your images for the occasion. All too often, people simply upload images without considering how much bandwidth they’ll use or how long they’ll take to load. In order to do this, verify that all of your images are in a small file size format (like PNG), reduce the overall dimensions of the photo to save additional space, and add a plugin like Smush.it to your website in order to optimize the files even more. This will ensure that images load quickly – in many cases, less than half the time they would otherwise take – and that will help you retain more traffic over time.

Conclusion

In order to get the most speed out of your WordPress site, you need only make a few simple changes. Pick an excellent hosting provider, optimize your images for web use and use content delivery systems to ensure prompt display for all visitors. These three steps will go a long way in ensuring that you are pinging networks (like Google) with positive indicators and avoiding high bounce rates among your visitors.