The Speed of a Website
The speed of a website is important because statistics show us that slow websites have higher bounce rates. Sometimes your site may seem slow on your computer because you are on it so much. One of the things that I do regularly is check the speed of my website. Since I have a lot of good content on it, I don't mind if it loads in under 5 seconds. Anything above 5 seconds, I start getting worried and have the desire to make it faster for my visitors. So in this article, we are going to discuss how to speed up your website!
Q. How do I speed up my website?
A. There are several things that you can do to speed up your website. The first thing we have to determine is whether you are a web developer or not. Web developers can speed up a website with caching, .htaccess, putting JavaScript in the footer, and using inline CSS. If you are not a web developer, I hope that you are on the WordPress content management system or some type of CMS. If you are a web developer, here is some code that you can use in your .htaccess file to compress several file types if you are using an Apache server. You can enable gzip in your .htaccess file by using the following code:
<ifModule mod_gzip.c> mod_gzip_on Yes mod_gzip_dechunk Yes mod_gzip_item_include file .(html?|txt|css|js|php|pl)$ mod_gzip_item_include handler ^cgi-script$ mod_gzip_item_include mime ^text/.* mod_gzip_item_include mime ^application/x-javascript.* mod_gzip_item_exclude mime ^image/.* mod_gzip_item_exclude rspheader ^Content-Encoding:.*gzip.* </ifModule>
Compress your picture files by using the following code:
<IFModule mod_deflate.c> <filesmatch "\.(js|css|html|jpg|png|php)$"> SetOutputFilter DEFLATE </filesmatch> </IFModule>
You can also use this code for your HTML, CSS, and more:
#Gzip - compress text, html, javascript, css, xml <ifmodule mod_deflate.c> AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript </ifmodule> #End Gzip
You can deflate your JavaScript and CSS files by putting the following code in your .htaccess file:
<files *.css> SetOutputFilter DEFLATE </files> <files *.js> SetOutputFilter DEFLATE </files>
Here is another code for GIF, JPEG, and PNG images:
<Location /> SetOutputFilter DEFLATE SetEnvIfNoCase Request_URI \.(?:gif|jpe?g|png)$ no-gzip dont-vary SetEnvIfNoCase Request_URI \.(?:exe|t?gz|zip|gz2|sit|rar)$ no-gzip dont-vary </Location>
WordPress CMS Plugins
If you are not a web developer and are using the WordPress CMS, then install the following plugins. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK AND BACK UP EVERYTHING!
- wp-supercache - It's free and it works!
- For proper settings, see our article WP Super Cache Settings for Optimal Performance
- WP-Optimize - FREE and it works too!
- EWWW Image Optimizer - Another free tool!
Other Ways to Speed Up Your Website
Do not use large images. A computer monitor can only show 72 dpi (dots per inch), so don't try to use an image that is 600 dpi. If your image is 10,000 pixels by 10,000 pixels in size, why would you want to use that? Maybe for a billboard that would come in handy. They usually measure pictures in pixels on a computer screen. This is a little tricky because converting pixels to inches depends on the computer screen resolution. Use a pixel-to-inch converter tool to help with your pictures; it will consider screen size and resolution.
Use YouTube to host your videos. If you don't want them available to the YouTube public, then make the video an unlisted URL and embed it into your website.
Q. How to Speed up Your Computer?
A. Sometimes it is not our website that is slow, but our computer. The longer we are on it, the more junk it collects, stores, and caches. Computing something repeatedly like a website gets redundant to a computer. Sometimes it gets confused, and when similar files repeatedly enter the computing system, it tries to match cached files to speed things up. Here are some steps to speed up your computer:
Steps to Speed Up Your Computer
- Do a disk cleanup: Go to "Start" and type "Disk Cleanup". This will remove junk and temporary cache files slowing down your computer.
- Defrag your computer: Go to "Start" and type "Disk defrag". Make sure you have enough time or start it before bed.
From Microsoft
The causes of your computer being slow can include:
- Not enough hard drive space, too many unused programs
- Leftover programs, old cached and temporary files
- Too many programs running at startup or in the background
- Data corruption, hard disk fragmentation
- Missing Windows updates or outdated drivers
Types of Caching
Computer Cache
Many people don't realize this, but there are several types of caching on a computer. The more you use a program, the faster it loads. For example, if you use Microsoft Office Word a lot, it gets more efficient because you use it frequently. This is caching on your computer itself.
ISP Cache
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use caching mechanisms called TTL (Time to Live). This can be frustrating as a web developer because changes made to a website might not appear immediately. The caching mechanism can store a website for up to 30 days.
Browser Cache
Most browsers cache pages. You can hit Ctrl + F5 for a hard refresh or the refresh icon for a soft refresh. We have an article on clearing browser cache that dives deeper into this topic.
Search Engine Cache
Search engines like Google use cache to provide fast results. If you have changed your website recently, you may see an old version in Google Webmaster Tools or Bing Webmaster Tools because of search engine caching.
Website Cache
Website caching stores temporary files on your server and your visitors' browsers. If you have a CDN (Content Delivery Network), it is even more aggressive. However, improperly configured cache files can slow down your website, so do thorough research before implementing a caching setup.
How to Speed up Your Internet
Slow internet speeds may be due to your connection rather than your computer. You can check your internet speed using an Internet Speed Tester. This will show your upload and download speeds. Your download speed should be between 1 and 6 Mbps, and your upload speed between 128 and 768 Kbps. If you're still experiencing slow speeds, the issue might be with your WiFi router. I recommend the Hawking Technology Hi-Gain Dual-Band Wireless-N Router (HD45R) for the best speeds.
Speed Test Website
Here are several services that I frequently use to test website speed. They measure your website's performance, and I suggest running multiple tests to get a solid average:
Article Summary
In this article, we discussed ways to speed up your website and computer. For a fast website, make sure your .htaccess file is compressing files correctly. For a fast computer, keep your system optimized by doing regular maintenance like defragging and clearing cache.