Website Speed Optimization: How to Do It in 2021

website speed optimization

It has been found that the search rankings can be affected by the speed of the website and it has been announced by Google around 10 years ago. You can determine the number of visitors staying on your site with the help of page load times. Stats say that if page load times increase then conversions can reduce. According to HubSpot, conversion can reduce to 20-30 % if load time is delayed by one second. The average size of the page has increased a few years back. It was greater than 2 MB in 2018. Videos, static files and images are the page load’s part. Now I am going to tell you how to optimize your site in 2021.

1. Optimization of static files

Here we optimize scripts (JS files) and stylesheets (CSS files) which are static files.

  • Moving stylesheets to head and scripts to bottom – You have to ensure that JS files come in the page’s </body> tag and CSS files come in the page’s <head> section. It is based on the simple logic that:
  • On comparing with scripts, we find that the size of stylesheets is smaller
  • A proper styling of the page elements will happen if in the <head> tag you include stylesheets
  • It will be good that at the bottom we use scripts because at the time of loading of the page’s content we can see the script’s functionality
  • Setting up minification – It is not possible to execute the unnecessary file parts. Removing these parts comes under minification. For example, there are certain parts of these kinds in the scripts or stylesheets, which are:
  • Unused code
  • Variable names
  • Comments
  • Whitespaces

By using the Minify service you can reduce the static file size.

2. Optimization of images

A website’s essential parts are images. But it is not recommended to use the images of full quality for the site. You need to reduce the size of the image after compressing it. For doing this you have to optimize your file by:

  • Uploading right size images – Uploading two times image size of the maximum capacity of the theme needs to be done by you. But why two times? It will help in displaying the image’s retina-quality versions.
  • Using images of correct type – PNGs and JPGs are the image types that are mostly used. These two are different.
  • JPG – So much color information is present in these images. Here basically complex images and photos are included.
  • PNG – Color information is present in a small amount here. Basically, graphics are included in these.
  • Optimizing the images before uploading – For optimizing the images before uploading to your website you can use a number of tools like:
  • TinyPNG in a web solution
  • ImageOptim in a desktop

3. Optmizing HTTP requests

HTTP requests are responsible for actual transfers when a web page loads in a browser. For fetching each resource, one request is made. The web page loading time increases if these requests increase.

  • Combining the files – By combining similar resources the HTTP requests load can be minimized. As an example, a single file can be made after combining each custom JavaScript file with each stylesheet (CSS). With this a reduction in the client requests can be made.
  • Minimizing redirects – Usually opening of a web page having a different URL happens here if we redirect a URL. Your web page load time increases with each redirect. So, these redirects need to be avoided.

4. Use of Caching

Without caching, optimization of website speed is not possible. A process in which a temporary storage is used for storing the resource is known as caching. With this a quick retrieval of the resource at any time is possible.

5. Optimizing for mobile

With the increasing use of mobile phones, it becomes necessary to optimize your site for mobile so that your conversion rate can increase.

If you take interest in getting responsive web design services then it will be good for you to contact a responsive web design company.