One of the most common requests I receive is optimizing existing WordPress sites to improve Google Page Speed scores and other performance metrics.
WordPress Speed Optimization and Performance
This post might be a bit lengthy, but there’s a good reason for that. WordPress optimization is a vital part of any website project or SEO campaign.
Why should you boost your WordPress site’s performance on various online tests?
- Because your competitors are doing it
- You’ll have a more effective website
- There will be fewer things holding back your search rankings
- Ultimately, your site will generate more business (especially if your SEO is strong too)
Search engine rankings are constantly shifting, and sites are competing for top spots in keyword searches. To maximize your chances of ranking well, it’s crucial to avoid technical shortcomings.
What steps should you take (or should have already taken) to optimize your WordPress site?
From a technical standpoint, your site needs to be fast and well-structured.
From a content perspective, you need to ensure that all your content is well-written and optimized; this goes beyond just using Yoast.
Below is a summary of my approach to optimizing WordPress websites.
Technical Optimization: Why it comes first?
You can write the most captivating content in the world, but if your site is poorly built, you’re only making things harder for yourself.
In my view:
- Google (and other search engines) wants to offer its users (who are essentially its customers) the best content.
- At the same time, it wants to avoid directing users to slow or technically inferior websites.
- Google doesn’t care much about your site’s design – a great design alone won’t boost your ranking.
- It prioritizes sites that are accessible, fast, and error-free.
- Google prefers HTTPS, so if you haven’t invested in an SSL certificate, don’t bother with anything else.
There are many other factors, but the bottom line is that if your site isn’t technically sound, your rankings will suffer.
That’s why technical optimization is the starting point.
Stage One:
What are your goals?
I need to understand what you want to achieve from the optimization of your site.
It might seem obvious, but if you’re expecting a 200% increase in sales, we need to have a different conversation.
The optimization of your WordPress site is about ensuring it’s SEO-ready; it’s not a magical solution that will bring in more leads overnight.
Managing Expectations
WordPress optimization should be integrated from day one of your WordPress setup.
Many of my clients come to me with sites that have already been built (by themselves or someone else) and realize after the site is live that it hasn’t been optimized at all.
While it’s possible to add optimization to an existing WordPress site, there are limitations on what can be done after it’s launched.
If the main issue is your theme, a new theme may be needed.
This can be a major issue for many businesses, especially if they’ve already invested in a site built on a theme that’s difficult to optimize.
The key point here is that I’m not a magician; I can only work with what I’m given. A poorly built site cannot be fully fixed just by going through the optimization process.
If there’s bad news, I’ll share it with you before you spend money or start the project, so you don’t waste your money… (It might sound harsh, but I’ve made it a principle to be direct in these matters.)
What’s the Ideal Outcome?
Most of the time, the focus is on getting your site’s scores on various tests above 90% (getting green instead of red or yellow).
If I can achieve that for your site, you’ll know that there are no technical issues preventing any SEO or content work you have planned.
Stage Two:
Evaluating Your Site for Issues
For this, I use a combination of free and paid tools:
- SEM Rush
- GT Metrix
- Google’s Page Speed Insights
- Pingdom
- Search Console (if I have access)
- Chrome’s Lighthouse tool
- A visual review of your site
Why so many tools? Each offers slightly different results, so having more test data provides a clearer overall picture.
How Long Does This Take?
This process usually takes 1-2 hours to complete and send the reports.
If you want a loosely detailed explanation of everything, add another 1-2 hours.
A full report and detailed review require at least 8 hours of work.
Can We Skip This Stage?
Absolutely not. This stage is crucial, and while it may take time, it’s worth it.
Can You Do This Yourself?
Sure, you can run the results and send them to me. However, I still charge for my time to review them (1-2 hours).
Stage Three:
Reviewing Your Setup, Theme, and Plugins
This involves a manual review of your WordPress setup and all its details.
Here’s what I’m looking for:
- Your WordPress version
- Your installed plugins (how many, whether they’re up-to-date, etc.)
- Your theme (customized, free, premium, child theme, etc.)
- The site health section of your setup (within tools)
How Long Does This Take?
I usually allow at least 1 hour for this.
I won’t make any changes or updates to your site; I’m just giving it a good once-over.
If your site’s admin access requires a privacy agreement, I have a contract that I can send over.
Can We Skip This Stage?
Absolutely not. This stage is crucial, and while it may take time, it’s worth it.
Can You Do This Yourself?
No.
Stage Four:
Starting with the Basics
This stage varies depending on what I’ve discovered so far.
Generally, I begin by looking at easy win optimization options for any website. These might include:
- Caching plugins – do you have one? I recommend WP Rocket (not free*) or Autoptimize (free).
- Are your images compressed? I recommend Smush Pro for this (not free*).
- Are you loading too many fonts? If so, can we reduce them?
- Are you using too many plugins? Can we reduce or combine them?
- Is your server up to the task? One of the biggest issues with sites is slow server response times.
- Is your site loading third-party scripts?
- Are you using tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, or similar?
Easy win optimizations are things that don’t require changing your theme or processes.
For example, if you have a plugin that you need to use but it’s slowing down the site, this would require additional development work, which would incur an extra cost.
How Long Does This Take?
I usually allow 3-4 hours for this stage.
During this time, I’ll make improvements wherever possible and report other optimization options that might require further work or be more complex (such as removing custom fonts or plugins).
Can We Skip This Stage?
No.
Can You Do This Yourself?
No, which is probably why you’re reading this.
Stage Five:
In-depth WordPress Optimization
At this stage, we’re making more significant changes to further optimize your site.
If I’ve done everything I can but your site still isn’t scoring above 90% on various tests, we’ll need to make some important decisions about how to proceed.
If your theme isn’t up to the job, you may need to rebuild the site.
If essential plugins are slowing down the site, we’ll need to reconsider their usage.
How Long Does This Take?
There’s no definitive way to predict this stage, but the goal here is that I’ve kept your costs as low as possible up to this point. If you decide to invest more in improving your site, that’s entirely up to you.
Can We Skip This Stage?
Yes, you can skip it, but your site will remain poorly optimized.
Can You Do This Yourself?
The answer to everything is somewhere on Google – it’s entirely up to how much time you’re willing to invest.
Next Steps?
Here’s my perspective.
Over 20 years, I’ve built and optimized hundreds of sites; for small clients, corporate clients, and international sites for multinational companies.
The best advice I can give about WordPress optimization is this:
If you’re serious about your business, invest in making sure your site is as good as it can be.
Improving your website is not a cost; it’s an investment. And like other business investments, if you do it cheaply, you’ll get what you pay for.
Consider the following:
- How much do you pay annually for hosting? Monthly?
- What about your phones and landlines? Monthly?
- Your cell phone?
Therefore, a typical business probably spends a fair amount each month on communication and other necessary products or services.
You should be investing at least that much each month in your website because it’s a 24/7/365 marketing machine that, if done right, can bring in new business every day.
I’ve successfully run a design agency for over 20 years and have seen constant annual growth, all thanks to the number of leads we generate daily from the various websites we manage for our company.
Raising these sites in the rankings and ensuring they perform well required thousands of hours of work, first to build and then to keep them up to date. I know very well the commitment and effort it takes to do this job.
If you’re serious about improving your website, you’ll also be serious about investing in it.
If you’d like to map out your WordPress speed optimization plan and get more information, you can reach me by filling out the form below or using the WhatsApp line at the bottom of the page.
