WordPress speed + performance

I do have a couple tiny disclaimers to point out before we dig into the nerdy bits of this tutorial. Increasing your media upload size does have consequences for your site speed. If you are uploading giant files (like video or huge graphics), you will slow your site down. Be mindful as to how much you increase your limit by + the types of files you are uploading. This may not work for your site because of your hosting company. It’s worth trying, but keep in mind that this is…

I hinted at website plugin FOMO last week because I think it’s a very real thing. When a new lead fills out our contact form, they more often than not reference someone else’s site that they want to either look like, function like, or both. What we work to get our clients to realize is that when they focus on their business strategy, goals + voice, their website decisions get a whole heck of a lot easier to make. Because they aren’t being made based on “what looks good” or…

Know your starting point Before we dig in to getting your site to load faster, we need to know what you’re working with. Head to Pingdom, my favorite free site speed tester, and paste in your URL to start the test. You’ll get loads of data + info, but right now we care about 2 things — your load time + how it compares. That way, you’ll know when the work you put in is paying off. For example, when I tested tinyblueorange.com I learned that it was faster than…

Those that have a backup of their site are leaps ahead of other online entrepreneurs that don’t store a copy of their WordPress site in case of emergency. And anyone who has a calendar or to do list reminder to run a fresh update every month or so is even further ahead. The business owner that doesn’t have to think about their backups being run because it’s being done for them is not only ahead of everyone else, they are also freeing up their time + brain space for other…

Automatic background updates have been introduced in WordPress 3.7. Since this moment it is possible to receive minor + security updates automatically because this feature is enabled by default. Additionally, managed hosting providers have their own update policy, updating websites themselves if you don’t do it yourself within days from the release of a new version. There are many benefits, but also a few drawbacks of this situation. Advantages of WordPress auto updates Let’s start with the positives. Here are a few reasons why enabling automatic updates for your website,…

Slow + steady wins the race works for a number of things in the online world, but not your website. It’s a fact that users have painfully short attention spans + are more likely to leave a slow loading website than wait around for it. As much as I’d love to focus on other things, your site speed matters. Even if you want to curate a fan base of followers who love you oh-so-much that they don’t care if your site takes 30 seconds to load, you have to first…

As hard as we may try to keep our sites free of clutter, shit happens. You might try out a few plugins for social sharing + forget to remove the extras. Or perhaps you are giving a new theme a try but it didn’t make the cut. It’s always a good idea to spring clean your WordPress site now + then. Not only for your own sanity, but also for your site speed + security. Spring clean your WordPress site + remove inactive plugins One of the easiest ways to…

If you didn’t know, Beyoncé announced a world tour nonchalantly after her Super Bowl halftime performance with a 15-second ad. And for the last 15 or so hours, her site has been taken down repeatedly — more than likely by the mass amounts of traffic it’s getting. You may not be getting Beyoncé sized waves of site visitors, but that doesn’t mean your latest launch isn’t capable of taking down your entire website. Sometimes the situation is one you can’t see coming or haven’t prepared yourself for, but if you…