How to improve website speed on WordPress for SEO?

@dorothea 

Improving website speed on WordPress not only enhances user experience but also boosts SEO. Here are several strategies to speed up your WordPress site:

1. Choose a Good Hosting Provider: Opt for a reliable and fast hosting provider that specializes in WordPress hosting, such as SiteGround, Bluehost, or WP Engine. These providers often offer better speed and performance than general hosting services.
2. Use a Lightweight Theme: Select a lightweight and well-coded theme. Frameworks like Astra, GeneratePress, or themes from StudioPress can significantly reduce loading times.
3. Optimize Images: Compress images without losing quality using plugins like Smush or ShortPixel. Serve appropriately sized images using responsive design techniques.
4. Use a Caching Plugin: Implement a caching plugin such as W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, or WP Rocket. These plugins store a version of your site for quicker load times.
5. Minimize CSS, JavaScript, and HTML: Minify and combine CSS and JavaScript files to reduce their size. Use plugins like Autoptimize or WP Rocket.
6. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN like Cloudflare or Amazon CloudFront distributes your content across multiple global servers, significantly reducing loading time for international users.
7. Optimize Database: Regularly clean up your database to ensure it operates efficiently. Plugins like WP-Optimize can help with optimization.
8. Reduce HTTP Requests: Limit the number of elements on your pages. Use fewer scripts and CSS files, consolidate them, and reduce image sizes where possible.
9. Enable GZIP Compression: Enable GZIP compression to reduce the size of files sent from your server to increase the speed at which they are transferred to the browser.
10. Leverage Browser Caching: Configure your server to instruct browsers to cache certain elements of your website, reducing the need to reload these elements every time.
11. Limit Post Revisions: Limit the number of post revisions stored in your WordPress database to keep it lightweight and fast.
12. Deactivate and Delete Unused Plugins: Check your installed plugins and remove any that are not necessary. Keep only the essential and active ones.
13. Optimize Homepage: Ensure your homepage loads quickly by displaying only excerpts rather than full posts and limiting the number of posts per page.
14. Enable Lazy Loading: Delay the loading of images until they are needed on-screen using lazy loading techniques. This can be implemented using built-in WordPress settings or plugins like Lazy Load by WP Rocket.
15. Stay Updated: Regularly update your themes, plugins, and WordPress core to their latest versions to ensure optimal performance and security.

By combining these strategies, you can significantly improve your WordPress website's loading speed, ultimately benefiting your SEO and enhancing user satisfaction.