One of the determining factors in SEO positioning is the loading speed of a website. When we work with WordPress, WPO techniques are the main resource to optimize this aspect.
Therefore, it is essential to know and take care of this factor from the beginning of its development. In this article we will explain how to do it and what advantages of this relationship between WordPress and WPO.
Quick introduction to WordPress
Most of the websites that are currently created are made with WordPress, also known by its acronym WP. This content management system or CMS allows you to develop all types of sites, from a simple showcase to a complex ecommerce, in a way fast, simple, versatile and economical.
To do this, it uses optimized templates that can be customized, while plugins or microprograms to incorporate additional functionalities in its realization.
Originally, the templates used have the features required for proper operation: they are responsive, have the correct security levels, are friendly for search engines and allow you to quickly include dynamic and static content.
Its loading speed is also correct, but in any case it can be improved, and a lot, by incorporating the so-called WPOs. We are going to delve into this key factor in the speed of access to the best websites below.
What is WPO
These acronyms correspond to the expression in English Web Performance Optimizations or, said in Spanish, website performance optimizations. Its function is clear: to maximize the performance of that site so that it can load in the shortest possible time.
It is a proven fact, and we must not ignore it, Internet users do not wait more than 3 or 4 seconds to access a website or ecommerce. Before that interval elapses, they seek a different destination and abandon the initial attempt. In other words, the lack of loading speed inexorably leads to an irrecoverable loss of potential customers or followers.
Also, it is not enough to load the home quickly: the rest of the site must be activated fluently, without unnecessary or prolonged waits and ensuring a pleasant user experience for each Internet user.
Another determining aspect is that Google considers this issue a key aspect in its natural positioning. The longer our page takes to load, the less chance it has of being well placed in search engines.
WPO and WordPress
At this point, we all started to become a little more aware of the importance of the WPO when developing an ecommerce. Creation work in WordPress is no exception: yes or yes, it is essential to optimize web performance during this process.
The key is only dominated by teams or professionals in development and / or web positioning. Using these specialists is essential to multiply the visibility, traffic, conversion and return of our websites. In fact, designing an ecommerce with WordPress is within the reach of almost everyone, it is not even necessary to have previous knowledge of web creation. But nevertheless, there is a big difference between publishing a decent website and having a winning ecommerce in the most competitive markets.
That's what it's really about. To enjoy a tool marketing operational, efficient and capable of getting closer to our strategic objectives.
How to implement a good WPO in WordPress
For sure, the work of optimizing the performance of an ecommerce done in WordPress is much more complex than incorporating a series of plugins determined. They are a real help, but it is necessary have sufficient knowledge and experience to be able to discriminate which ones are suitable, combine them, polish them and adjust what is necessary in this regard.
Therefore, inevitably, we must count on freelancers specialized in web positioning, who are qualified and capable of properly carrying out this work.
As a guide, to reflect the level of complexity and the large number of technical decisions that need to be made in this regard, we list below what resources allow to accelerate the loading rate of any WP ecommerce:
- Optimize included images: The final weight of the web is the result of many small additions and, of these, the photographs make a considerable contribution. Viewing on the internet does not require photos of exceptional resolution and enormous weight. However, we often work on design with these formats, which, of course, have a higher quality. By incorporating them into our WordPress, we are unnecessarily overloading the total weight of the site, a real handicap that slows down its loading speed.
- Implement instantiation of content loading: LazyLoad is a technique that allows to postpone the appearance and loading of certain contents until the exact moment in which they are going to be viewed by the user. When they are out of the visible area, or when starting navigation, they are not loaded. This greatly reduces the display time of each screen. The user notices it enormously.
- Boost cache: For this there are different plugins that favor the speed of the site and the improvement of the WPO. This process includes technical aspects such as ironing the HTML, enabling comprehension, saving bandwidth and transfers, etc. The freelancers Specialists know well what we mean.
- Minify static resources: It is another question that sounds like Chinese to neophytes. It is applied to CSS, JS or even HTML files and makes them take up less space and therefore take less time to load.
- Bet on the conditional loads of libraries and other resources: It basically involves loading only those elements that are going to be used in each part, which avoids downloading all of them before they are required.
- Hire hosting quality: The price difference does not usually go beyond 4 or 5 euros and, in return, they include the most innovative and advanced technology, which will help us in this purpose.
We could continue talking about keeping our database clean and in perfect condition, optimizing the code, using CDN and other similar indications.
But it is not necessary: the best decision is to hire a qualified specialist that is able to take full advantage of the loading speed of our website. This way it will be more competitive, commercial and profitable. We must not forget that it is a tool for marketing fundamental in most branding strategies.