Performance 101

Performance is a popular buzzword in the WordPress space. For most users, installing a performance optimization plugin is the one thing they do on their website, maybe configuring some of the settings. But performance is way more than that. In this session, I want to give a quick overview of what is important for a website to be considered performant and what to look at when working with WordPress websites.

Transcript

1. Performance 101
   Jessica Lyschik
   WordCamp Netherlands 2022
   

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2. Agenda
   • What is performance?
   • Which performance tools are available?
   • What influences the performance of a
   WordPress website?
   

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3. What is performance?
   Besides it's a fancy buzzword
   

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4. Performance is
   not a setting.
   Not in WordPress, not in your hosting and it's not a (caching) plugin.
   

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5. Performance is the
   continuous
   optimization of all
   components.
   Really everything: Hosting, WordPress, Plugins, Themes, Content.
   

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6. What performance tools are
   available?
   How to measure the performance of your site
   

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7. PageSpeed
   Insights
   By Google. Shows a calculated
   score in either green (good),
   orange (average) or red (bad).
   Different scores for mobile and
   desktop. Gives suggestions
   what can be improved.
   

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8. WebPage
   Test
   Very detailed results with lots
   of tables and charts. Made for
   users with higher technical
   interest. Suggestions in the
   new "Opportunities &
   Experiments" tab.
   

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9. GTmetrix
   Kind of in between
   Pagespeed Insights and
   WebPageTest. To change the
   test server location from
   Vancouver, Canada to
   something else, you need a
   free account.
   

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10. Browser
    DevTools
    Chrome and Firefox also offer
    some interesting insights in
    their dev tools, in "Network"
    or "Network Analysis".
    

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11. What influences the performance of
    a WordPress website?
    Caching is not everything
    

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12. Hosting
    • Your hosting package needs to fit your website
    • Don't go for the cheapest, if your website needs
    WooCommerce for example
    • If your website grows over time, don't forget to upgrade your
    hosting too
    

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13. WordPress
    • If possible, have the latest WordPress version running
    • At least, have it updated to the last security update
    • On production sites: disable WP_DEBUG
    

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14. Themes
    • "Multi Purpose Themes" often come with lots of assets
    • Choose specialised or performance optimized themes
    • Research for ratings or recommendations
    • Brand-new but worth a look: Block Themes together with Full
    Site Editing
    

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15. Plugins
    • In general: as many as neccessary, as few as possible
    • Don't rely on the "not more than X plugins" myth
    • It's about the quality of a plugin and the functional range
    • Have a first look at the WordPress Plugin Repository
    • Paid plugins: check out ratings, recommendations or if a free,
    limited plugin is available
    

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16. External resources
    • The less, the better!
    • Every request to another server increases the time needed to
    load your site.
    • Google Fonts, Google Maps, Ads, Instagram Embeds,
    YouTube Embeds...
    

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17. Images
    • Edit images before upload: as small as possible, as large as needed
    • Further image optimization can be handled through plugins in
    WordPress like ShortPixel, Smush, Imagify…
    • Choose the right image size when adding your image to your
    content
    

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18. Contents
    • Your home page shouldn't have too much content
    • Create subpages for heavier use-cases like galleries
    • Avoid using sliders or any additional animations, or use
    modern and optimized methods
    • Avoid autoplay of audio or video files
    

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19. There are many things you can do to
    optimize your website for performance
    besides using a Caching plugin.
    Don't try to get the very best scores in tests, it
    could also hurt your site.
    Every website is different and getting a
    specific average score doesn't make it an
    unsuccessful website.
    Tips
    

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20. Thank you!
    Jessica Lyschik
    Frontend & WordPress Developer, Extendify Inc.
    @jessicalyschik
    https://jessicalyschik.com
    What is your
    question?
    

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