How long does it take for your website to load?
Let’s find out today and see if we can make it faster.
Website loading speed has become increasingly important in 2019 and will be even more so heading into 2020.
Slow site speeds almost always result in a higher bounce rate, and a lower number of pages per visit.
That can have a major impact on search engine rankings on both desktop and mobile, especially with Google. Yep, it’s true — slower loading can impact quality score, and result in worse ranking overall.
But perhaps the biggest reason to have a fast loading site is your user experience and conversion.
Slower websites get lower conversions of signups, sales and commissions. Essentially, a slow site means more people will bail out before seeing your info, simply due to a lack of patience waiting for your website to load.
I’ve been guilty of this myself as recently as yesterday!
An old friend of mine dropped me a line and pointed that my site was taking almost 10 seconds to load. Yikes!
I headed over to GTMetrix.com and ran a speed test and he was right, look at this screenshot I took…
I needed to fix that asap!
So I how do you speed up a website?
Well, if you run a WordPress site, you should be using cache plugins to speed up your site.
Cache plugins are by far the most effective way to get a huge speed boost..
(Again, if you’re not doing this you are leaving money on the table, as slower sites get lower rankings, less traffic & less sales.)
However, as I’ve learned in the past and from more research this week, even the best WordPress cache products can problematic…
1. Many current cache plugins are complicated to use & often break your site
2. Most free cache plugins are frequently exploited by hackers.
3. All cache plugins clear the cache on ALL pages even if you change 1 word on 1 page… which means vital server resources are used to rebuild your site cache
4. Cache preloading features cause even more site lag especially on larges sites.
So which is the best cache plugin on the market today?
The answer may surprise you.
I had been using a a free plugin called WP Fastest Cache up until a few months ago. Then I learned of some vulnerabilities so I deactivated it and went without caching. I didn’t realize how much my site had slowed until today.
I decided maybe I needed a more professional solution.
My research led me to a new plugin called ViperCache.
This morning I added it to this website you’re at right now, and here are the results…
As you can see, it cut my load time virtually in half. And I accomplished that feat in about 2 minutes.
I simply added the plugin, activated it and switched on the caching options.
The three things I like best about ViperCache is…
– it’s stupidly simple to use with much fewer settings than any other product
– It’s built on a secure framework which massively reduces the potential for hacking
– it has smart cache clearing & rebuilding technology so it doesn’t hog your site’s server resources or slow your site down like other products
Viper Cache can even lower your bandwidth by shielding your site from hot-linking, bad bots & know site scrapers – which makes it unique on the market.
If you want more site speed without the usual hassles, get this plugin! It’s on special today, and you can save 69% over the full price… well worth checking out if you want to max out your website’s results.
P.S. If you’re one of my monthly Done-For-You blog management clients, drop me a line and I’ll install the plugin for you!
