Having a slow website is a common problem that many website owners have. There are some good workarounds for this problem which will help to speed up the website. Here is a list of methods which can be used to speed up the website.
Increase Website Speed
Exporting images suitable for websites is an important point to the speed up process. Here you can find some tips and tricks about well known Photoshop software regarding website suitable images:
Format to Choose
PNG, JPG and GIF image formats are mostly used for website projects. PNG format is used for graphical elements and parts of design which need transparency support. JPG format is used for photos and slideshows. GIF format is used for small graphical elements or animated graphics. Try to export your design parts to different formats to get the lowest sized image with the best quality you can.
Save as Web and Devices
This is a feature of Photoshop to export your graphics specifically for web. This method is using good compression methods which will help lower the size of the exported image without losing too much quality.
The Save as Web window is accessible from the Files menu. Always try to check the lower left side of the page for the size of the image and manipulate the top right options to get the best result in preview mode. The important thing is finding a good tradeoff between quality and image size.
JPG format has options below:
- Quality: A higher quality will result in a bigger image
- Progressive: This feature will make the page load in different phases on some browsers, but it increases the size a little bit.
- Embed Color Profile: This option will guarantee that the color variation you see on your display will be the same for other displays, but it will also increase the image size
PNG format has options below:
- Transparency: You should enable this if you have transparent sections in your image. It mostly increases the image size.
- Interlaced: The same progressive idea but for PNG format. It increases the image size.
GIF format has options below:
- Transparency: You should enable this if you have transparent sections in your image. It mostly increases the image size.
- Colors: The more the colors used, the bigger the image size.
Posterize method for PNG format:
If the PNG format is used, there is a good option called the Posterize (under Image -> Adjustments -> Posterize) menu which will reduce the file size.
Finding the best level to do this effect is different for each image. The best way is trying to find lowest level possible without changing the image too much.
Even with the best export option from graphic software there is still room for compassing images to reduce the size without losing quality. We will introduce a web based service, a Mac app, and a Windows software for this goal.
Smush.It
Smush.It iis a web service from Yahoo where you can upload your images and download the compressed version of them after some process.
Image Optim
There is a very robust app for Mac users called ImageOptim. Just drag the image to the app and it will compress and replace it with the original one. Simple and free.
PNG Gauntlet
PNG Gauntlet is a windows software which works great when it comes to PNG compression. Working with it is easy and it is free.
One of the best methods to speed up the website is reducing the server requests for the website. This can be achieved by caching the website and serving the cached version of pages instead of requesting the whole backend process from the server. Two of the best plugins in this area are WP SUPER CACHE and WP Rocket plugins. These plugins installation process is easy and similar to every other plugin.
The options of the plugin are easy and can be accessed by Settings -> WP Super Cache menu inside the WordPress dashboard.
CDN stands for Content Delivery Network. It is a method of distributing different assets like images and media files between different locations with the goal of reducing the main server load. This method boosts the speed of the website to a great extent. There are many CDN providers on the market. Here is the list of recommended ones by us:
CloudFlare
This service has a free plan which is enough for most personal websites. Needless to say by purchasing other plans from this service the website speed sometimes increases two times. (Click here for more information)
MaxCDN
This is a professional service and has different plans to choose from. They provide a very robust and satisfactory. (Click here for more information)
AWS
This is one of most famous CDN services on the market provided by Amazon. If you are a professional webmaster and have a website with a large amount of information, this service is for you. (Click here for more information)
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