In a recent post I talked about how you can speed up WordPress through compressing data using gzip by way of PHP.
Since I posted that article I’ve had more than a few people ask me what other ways I know that can help speed up a WordPress blog. To be honest, most of what I know is from what I’ve found online.
Something to note before we begin, though, is that if you’re going to toy around with your blog’s performance and theme’s code, be sure to back everything up first. Do NOT skip this step!
Also, always make sure your website is working properly immediately after attempting any of these hacks.
Speed Tip #1: Enable Caching Through .htaccess
If your web host supports mod_deflate, try adding this code to your root .htaccess file to compress javascript and css before it is sent to your visitor’s browser.
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
<FilesMatch "\.(js|css)$">
SetOutputFilter DEFLATE
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
Source: AskApache
Speed Tip #2: Combine and Minify Javascript and CSS
One way to speed things up is to rearrange Javascript and CSS files so that everything loads quicker. In practice, if you combine all your Javascript files into one file and load it at the end of your website (i.e. in the footer), your site will load quicker because there are fewer stops and waits for multiple Javascript files to be accessed.
Similarly, the same holds true for CSS files except you’d rather have those load at the top of your website, not the bottom.
WordPress makes this very difficult because of the use of plugins. Many plugins come with their own CSS and Javascript files and unless you’re into coding big time, it’ll be extremely difficult to combine all your plugin’s CSS and Javascript files.
There is hope, however, thanks to (ironically) minify plugins.
Two minify plugins I have experimented with are the WP Minify and Head Cleaner plugins.
These plugins attempt to speed up your blog’s load time by combining Javascript and CSS files respectively and loading them in their appropriate places for increased speed. Of the two plugins, the WP Minify plugin worked best for me as seen by these screen shots below using the Firebug/Y-Slow add-ons for Firefox.
Before WP Minify my blog had a B rating because it made too many http requests (which slow things down):
After installing the WP Minify plugin my blog now has an A rating:
One thing to note about the WP Minify plugin: if your blog is located in the /blog or some directory other than your website’s root, make sure to define its location in the plugin’s settings.
There are lots more little tips and tricks you can do to increase the speed at which your blog loads, some things work, others don’t or have very little performance changes. It’s always best if you can find articles which back up claims with statistics.
By the way, if you’re still looking to get your own WordPress blog or you’re in the market for a domain name, SSL certificate, etc., don’t forget we provide all these hosting/domains services here at WP Blog Host. 
SSL certificates are a great way to log into your WordPress admin area and do whatever it is you want to do under the protection of everything being encrypted. We’ll talk more about that and how to set it up in a future post.
Related posts:
- WordPress Defender: 30 Ways to Secure Your Blog from Attack Anyone Can Do
- 2 Easy Ways To Set Up A WordPress Firewall
- How To Install Google Analytics On A WordPress Blog Without Using A Plugin
- 2 Killer WordPress Security Plugins You Probably Don’t Know About
- 1 Incredibly Wicked Trick To Speeding Up Your Blog’s Load Time
October 12th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Hi John
Like the new format… with the screenshots.
My sort of easy reading post.
And well done on your A grade, when do you graduate?
Would the gzip and Minify work on a local setup using XAMPP?
Keith Davis´s last blog ..easy peasy!
October 12th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
It’s nice having a blog with an A rating! hehe
Not sure about Minify, but I don’t see why not. You can configure your XAMPP to work with gzip, but you have to install it. I’m not all on the up and up on that, but here’s an article I found online which you might be interested in. I’m sure you can contact the author if you have questions.
October 12th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Ok after more testing I’ve found that the compression technique I showed in my article 1 Incredibly Wicked Trick To Speeding Up Your Blog’s Load Time will not work with the Head Cleaner and WP Minify plugins.
I notice my blog runs a little quicker with the compression so I have deactivated the Minify plugin for now (guess I lost out on my A rating, Keith). If I find a work around, I’ll be sure to let everyone know.
October 12th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Thanks for the article link John… looks like a useful site for anyone using XAMPP.
Keith Davis´s last blog ..easy peasy!
October 13th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Wow. I’m gonna have to do this as well!
The faster you can deliver content to the readers, the less time they’ll have to push the back button
October 13th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Hey Brad, I’m with you on that. I have a mirror “test” blog in which I tweak, twist, stretch, and squeeze to see what all works. Sometimes WP Super Cache tricks me though by serving up a cached page. I have to remember to turn it off whenever I do testing.
October 18th, 2009 at 5:07 am
Great points! I’ll look into that meself – one’s blog can ever be too fast.
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach ´s last blog ..Today’s Humor – do NOT push the big red button!
October 18th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Hi Barbara. Unlike the road, there’s no speed limit for websites, is there?
The faster loading the better.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:04 am
Hi John,
These are more great tips. Thank you.
A speedy blog is definitely good, so all the help you can send my way, the better. Plus, I like how you experiment with these plugins first and then share the results. Great idea!
Barbara Swafford´s last blog ..Words For Sale
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Hi Barbara. My pleasure. You know me, I love toying with WordPress.