optimizing your wordpress site
DESCRIPTION
If you're WordPress site is slower or has low performance scores, watch as I show you some of the tools I use to improve speed and performance for your own site as well as clients. In the presentation, I go through some plugins you should be using on your site that are easy to set up as well as a basic setup of W3 Total Cache and using a CDN for your site.TRANSCRIPT
Optimizing Your WordPress site
Ozzy Rodriguez
Twitter: @OzzyR
http://ozzyrodriguez.com
WordPress Bay Area Foothills Group
July 16, 2014
Hosting Matters!
Most shared hosts have the following on one of their large servers:
• 2500 users
• 5000-7000 sites
• About 1000 of these are WordPress sites
• WordPress is a VERY HEAVY load on servers
• Because of this and the fact that WordPress is becoming more and more popular, more and more hosts are creating WordPress-specific hosting
• Good hosting costs money
• Easiest way to make your website faster
Tools you need to optimize!
1. PageSpeed for Chrome or Firefox
2. Pingdom
Queries are different than HTTP Requests
WordPress Queries• WordPress queries is information that
goes between the site and the database
• What you enter into the backend of your site is stored in the database
• The information is retrieved from the database by asking the database for it (plugins/themes)
HTTP Requests• These are requests made by the
website
• Include javascript, css, images, etc.
• Using sprites for images, combining css and combining javascript files will lower the requests made
Check Your Queries
• WordPress runs off a database
• Each query adds extra time
• Query Monitor
WP Smush.it
• Uses Yahoo Smush.it API
• Makes your images smaller in size, maintains quality
• Install the plugin when you start work on a site, run it once and it’ll run every time you add a new image
Install W3 Total Cache
• I use it for ease of use and functionality
• Works great with MaxCDN and other CDN providers
• Install after you’ve optimized everything else
Very quickly and easily, increase speed
• Enable Page Cache
• Minify Enable (leave defaults)
a) THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE GOOD FOR YOUR SITE! CHECK WITH OR WITHOUT!
• Enable Object Cache
• Enable Browser Cache
• Play around with other settings as even settings within these settings. Performance increase depends on server and other factors
Performance DifferenceBefore W3 Total Cache After W3 Total Cache
YAY! SO HAPPY THAT THE SITE IS FASTER AND HAS SEEN A PERFORMANCE BOOST!
Photo Credit: Paul L Dineen
Why use a CDN?• Content Delivery Network
• Takes your files and serves them from servers around the world
• Content is delivered from servers closest to your visitors (reduced latency, fast experience)
• MaxCDN, CloudFlare are big ones (Work with W3TC very easily)
MaxCDN Setup Inside W3TC
• Set up your pull zone at MaxCDN
• Follow instructions inside W3TC
• EASY!
With and Without a CDN
Without CDN With CDN
Now the client is REALLY HAPPY!Photo Credit: Steve Corey
Optimizing Your WordPress site
Ozzy Rodriguez
Twitter: @OzzyR
http://ozzyrodriguez.com
WordPress Bay Area Foothills Group
July 16, 2014