One of the determining factors in SEO ranking is a website's loading speed . When working with WordPress, WPO techniques are the primary resource for optimizing this aspect.
Therefore, it's crucial to understand and manage this factor from the very beginning of its development. In this article, we'll explain how to do this and what advantages this relationship between WordPress and WPO brings.
Quick introduction to WordPress
Most websites created today are built with WordPress, also known as WP. This content management system (CMS) allows you to develop all kinds of sites, from a simple online storefront to a complex e-commerce platform, quickly , easily, versatilely, and affordably.
To achieve this, it uses optimized templates that can be customized, as well as plugins or microprograms to incorporate additional functionalities into its implementation.
Originally, the templates used have the features required for proper functioning: they are responsive , have adequate security levels, are search engine friendly, and allow for the quick inclusion of 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 initials stand for Web Performance Optimizations . Their function is clear: to maximize the performance of a website so that it loads in the shortest possible time.
It's a proven fact, and one we shouldn't ignore, that internet users don't wait more than 3 or 4 seconds to access a website or e-commerce site . Before that time has elapsed, they look for a different destination and abandon the initial attempt. In other words, slow loading speed inevitably leads to an irretrievable loss of potential customers or followers.
Furthermore, it is not enough to load the home page quickly: the rest of the site must be activated smoothly, without unnecessary or prolonged waiting, ensuring a pleasant user experience for every internet user.
Another crucial aspect is that Google considers this a key factor in its organic search engine ranking . The longer our page takes to load, the lower its chances of ranking well in search results.
WPO and WordPress
At this point, we all become more aware of the importance of website performance optimization (WPO) when developing an e-commerce site . WordPress development is no exception: optimizing website performance during this process is absolutely essential.
The key lies solely with teams or professionals specializing in web development and/or SEO. Enlisting these specialists is crucial for boosting the visibility, traffic, conversion rates, and return on investment of our websites. While designing an e-commerce site with WordPress is accessible to almost anyone, requiring no prior web development experience, there's a significant difference between publishing a decent website and having a winning e-commerce platform in the most competitive markets.
That's what it's really about. Enjoying an operational, effective marketing tool capable of bringing us closer to our strategic objectives.
How to implement a good WPO in WordPress
To be honest, optimizing the performance of a WordPress e-commerce site is far more complex than simply adding a set of plugins . While plugins can be a real help, you need the knowledge and experience to choose the right ones, combine them effectively, refine them, and make the necessary adjustments.
Therefore, we inevitably need to rely on freelancers specializing in web positioning , who are qualified and capable of carrying out this work appropriately.
For guidance purposes, to reflect the level of complexity and the large number of technical decisions that need to be made in this regard, we list below the resources that allow you to accelerate the loading speed of any WordPress ecommerce site :
- 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 that's not necessary: ​​the best decision is to hire a qualified specialist who can maximize your website's loading speed. This will make it more competitive, marketable, and profitable. We mustn't forget that it's a fundamental marketing tool in most brand strategies.