3 Simple Ways to Boost Your Website's Speed in 2024

Hey everyone!

If you’ve been feeling like your website is dragging its feet lately, you’re not alone.

We know that having a fast website isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have. A speedy site means happy visitors, better SEO rankings, and ultimately, more business.

So, let's dive into three simple yet effective ways to turbocharge your website’s speed!

1. Optimise Your Images

Large, uncompressed images can be a real drag on your website’s load time.

Think of it like carrying a heavy backpack on a long hike – it’s going to slow you down! By optimising your images, you’re lightening the load.

What you can do:

- Compress your images: Use tools like TinyPNG or JPEG-Optimizer to reduce the file size without losing quality.

- Choose the right format: For photos, JPEG is usually best, while graphics with fewer colours (like logos) are better as PNGs.

- Lazy loading: Only load images when they’re about to enter the viewport. This means images below the fold won’t load until the user scrolls down.

2. Leverage Browser Caching

Ever noticed how some websites load faster the second time you visit them? That’s the magic of browser caching.

It stores parts of your site (like images, scripts, and stylesheets) on your visitors’ devices so that the site doesn’t have to reload everything from scratch each time.

Amazing, right?

How to do it:

- Set up caching: If you’re using WordPress, plugins like W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache can handle this for you.

- Adjust the expiry times: Set longer expiry times for static resources. For example, images and CSS files can be cached for a week or even a month.

3. Minimise HTTP Requests

Every time someone visits your site, their browser makes requests to the server for various files.

The more requests, the longer it takes to load. Reducing these requests can significantly speed things up.

Tips to minimise HTTP requests:

- Combine files: Merge your CSS and JavaScript files into single files where possible.

- Use CSS sprites: Combine multiple images into a single sprite sheet and use CSS to display the required part. This way, you’re loading one image instead of many.

- Limit plugins: Only use necessary plugins and remove any that are redundant or slowing down your site.

Wrapping Up

Improving your website's speed doesn’t have to be daunting.

By optimising your images, leveraging browser caching, and minimising HTTP requests, you can make a noticeable difference.

And because we know how challenging it can be to identify these issues on your own, we're offering a special treat to our LinkedIn family!

Leave a comment below if you’d like a free website audit, and we’ll choose 3 businesses for a comprehensive speed check and improvement recommendations.

Don’t miss this opportunity to make your site faster and your visitors happier!

Cheers,

Team BCM