Reference: How To Make Your Website Load Faster

Having a lot of images, no matter how small they are, can slow down your website because the web browser has to individually search for where all of those images are located on your hosting server.

To get around this, you can combine all of your small images and icons into what is known as a "CSS Spritemap" or "CSS Image Sprites." Check out w3schools.com for a simple explanation of how to use them.

What Are Some Recommended Image File Types To Maximize My Site Speed?

The image file type we recommend will depend on the contents of the image. As a basic rule of thumb when trying to optimize your website speed: use GIF for simple and animated images, JPG for photographs, and PNG for almost everything else.

Why Do My Animated GIF Files Take Up So Much Memory?

Animated GIFs contain multiple images played at specific intervals to give the illusion of a single moving image. As such, an animated GIF file containing 15 images will take up at least 15 times as much memory as a single image GIF file. You can reduce the number of animated images or reduce the image size to decrease its memory usage.

How Do I Make My Photo Gallery Load Faster?

The general rule of thumb is, "The more photos you put on a single page, the smaller the photos need to be." An effective technique is to create a thumbnail version of each photo that links to the full-sized version of that same photo.

Of course, most modern website builders have their own built-in photo gallery tool. If the photo gallery tool is designed well, it should help you make your photo gallery run faster (some even create thumbnail versions of your photos for you). Other photo gallery tools might be so overloaded with extra features and graphical effects that they might make your site run slower than it usually would.

If you plan on using a pre-made photo gallery tool (such as a WordPress photo gallery plugin), we recommend that you take some time to research and see what sort of impact the tool will have on your website speed.

How Do I Know Which Hosting Plan I Need?

The type of hosting plan you need depends on your website needs. Because each website is unique, we encourage you to contact us for help with understanding which hosting plan would be best for you. When deciding which hosting plan is best, we keep these questions in mind:

• How much storage space do you need for your website?
• How many visitors do you expect to see on your site every day?
• How complex (dynamic) do you expect your website to be?
• Do you plan on streaming videos or doing any other high bandwidth activities?

Dynamic Websites, Dynamic Load Speeds

What Is A Dynamic Website?

In essence, a dynamic website is capable of adapting its content to each visitor. RSS feeds, user restricted content, user logins, online calendars, reservation requests, in-stock inventory, and other features rely heavily on active (dynamic) communications with a database to ensure that the user has up-to-date information. Many modern websites utilize dynamic content.

How Does Dynamic Content Affect My Website Load Speed?

Dynamic content consists of several scripting files that calculate what a page's content should be and then convert the final result into a static format. These calculations take time to produce the displayable static format, increasing your website load time. Decrease the number of calculations that your website needs to perform to speed up your website.

You can decrease the number of calculations your website needs to make by reducing the number of plugins and the amount of content your website displays on a single page. You can also improve subsequent website page loads by enabling server-side caching.

Is There An Easy Way To Speed Up Database Driven Websites?

The easiest way to speed up a database-driven website is to repair and optimize its database regularly. Learn how

Enrich Website Speeds With Cache

What Is Caching?

Caching allows websites with dynamic content to load faster than they normally would. Dynamic content consists of several scripting files that calculate what a page's content should then convert the final result into a static format to be displayed. Server-side caching pre-calculates this final result into a static format so that it can be displayed faster.

When Should I Enable Caching?

We recommend that you keep Your Server-Side Caching enabled at all times and only disable the option if you are unable to see updates as you develop your website.

Are Their Other Ways to Cache My Site?

Some website builders or plugins might improve your caching capabilities and website load speeds (we recommend that WordPress users utilize the W3 Total Cache plugin). Note that the developers for some of these plugins might offer additional premium caching services for an additional cost.

Plugins, Take Only What You Need

What Is A Plugin?

Website building software comes with a core set of features to help you build your site. Several website builders (such as WordPress) allow you to add extra features, often called 'Plugins.'

Do I Need Plugins?

If you choose a website builder that does not come with a feature you need, then yes. Keep in mind that not every website builder supports plugins, so you may need to switch which builder you're using depending on the features you need.

Is It Possible To Have Too Many Plugins?

Yes. Plugins are usually packed with dynamic coding and features that may increase your website load time. A minimalistic approach is usually best. A good rule of thumb is, "If you don't need it, don't use it." You can purge plugins that are not needed for your website. Make sure also to do a plugin review whenever you feel that your site is running slow. 

With that in mind, some plugins can increase your website performance and make your sites load faster (such as W3 Total Cache for WordPress). We recommend researching each plugin that you plan on using to better determine how much it may impact your website performance.

Choose A Hosting Plan That Fits Your Needs

What Is A Hosting Plan?

A "hosting plan" refers to how powerful a website server is and what it enables you to do with your website. Web hosting companies often offer multiple tiers of hosting with each tier increasing in power, speed, memory, bandwidth, and storage limits. Hosting plans usually fall under one of the following tiers: