How to Diagnose & Fix a Slow Web Site

Introduction to the problems, causes and possible remedies for speeding up a slow web site. Very introductory. Includes free online diagnostic tools. For the "Beginner"

Transcript

1. ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
2. Tonight’s Topic: How to Diagnose & Fix Slow Web Sites Agenda:  Why Be Concerned?  Site Loading: Factors & Causes  Resolving Your Problems  Diagnostic Problems  Resources & Tools  Exploring a “CDN” ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
3. Why Be Concerned? ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com Slow sites cause…  A poor UX for your site visitor… ◦ They will leave!  You’ll lose business! ◦ Your site visitors will go elsewhere  You’ll lose traffic! ◦ Google may downgrade your ranking
4. Site-loading Factors/Causes  Too many/too large images  Conflicts among plugins  Conflicts between plugin(s) & theme  Badly-coded theme  Poor bandwidth/hosting issues  For shared hosting, could be too many sites on a single server  Your site may have outgrown your hosting plan: ◦ have you added lots of large downloads (like videos or software)? ◦ have you added a forum? ◦ have you added e-commerce? ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
5. Resolving Your Problems  2-step process:  Diagnostic ◦ Make sure you know the whole picture! ◦ Do your homework…  Taking Action ◦ Resources & Tools ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
6. Diagnostic Problems  It may be difficult to isolate  “Conflict" issues are a slow process to isolate  ie, it could be multiple conflicts/causes  IF it's hosting, you could have trouble proving it, or getting the host to remedy  Tools help you document the real issue! ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
7. Diagnose Completely First!!!  Do your homework!  Use online resources & tools to definitively isolate the problem  Use online resources to troubleshoot  Assess hosting  Research theme & plugins  Examine content-handling ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
8. Diagnose Completely First!!! Explore the obvious:  Examine recent changes  When did your site begin to slow down?  Was it always slow?  Do you have lots of images?  Have you optimized them?  How does your theme handle the images?  Do your research:  Google "plugin conflicts ______________ (your plugin[s])"  Do the same research on your theme  Do the same for theme/plugin conflict ◦ If you can't find anything obvious, check with your theme support staff ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
9. Google Tools (all free!)  Google Analytics  Google Page Insights http://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/  Google Page Speed Tools https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/ ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
10. Google Tools (all free!)  Google Page Insights ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com Enter your web page url
11. Google Tools (all free!)  Google Page Speed Tools ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
12. Tools http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/ ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com Customize with Settings!
13. Tools (continued)  Plugin Performance Profiler https://wordpress.org/plugins/p3-profiler/  This plugin will advise you if there is any plugin problem…  Download & run: it will tell you about any problem plugins  Some problematic plugin areas: ◦ Social Media ◦ Web stats ◦ Gravatar ◦ Fonts ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
14. Tools (continued)  Plugin Performance Profiler ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
15. Tools (continued)  Plugin Performance Profiler ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com Example Plugin Report
16. Caching Plugins  WP Super Cache  https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-super-cache/  W3 Total Cache  https://wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/  Google “wordpress caching” ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
17. Don’t Ignore the Obvious#2!  Theme Issues  Contact your theme support  Give them diagnostic reports  Ask for a fix  Hosting Issues  Contact your host support  Give them diagnostic reports  Ask for a fix: move you, or you’ll leave!  Google your specific problems, after diagnostics ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
18. Some Caveats  Not all tools are for the beginner!  There can be several factors causing a slow site  If you’re over your head, get outside help! ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
19. Image Issues  Consider using a CDN (Content Delivery Network)  Google “WP CDN” ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
20. Caveats #2: CDN Searches  Beware: Sponsored Listings!  Few tutorial resources  Most are highly technical! ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
21. How a CDN Works  Your content (images) are stored elsewhere  No WordPress database calls  Spreading storage around saves speed & sometimes bandwidth ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
22. If You Need A CDN…  They can be expen$ive  Consider FREE CDNs  Jetpack “Photon” (WordPress.com hosting)  Cloudflare ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
23. Caveats #3: Other CDN Issues  Many solutions  Image-only options  Javascript calls, for LOTS of scripts  Make sure you know what you really need!  Few tutorial resources  To DIY is highly technical!  Get a 2nd opinion from qualified specialist!  You probably need to outsource it! ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
24. CDN Alternatives…  Photo-sharing services  Photobucket  Flicker  Imgur  Similar to Vimeo & YouTube for hosting videos ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com
25. ©2014 Karen McCamy  FreelanceTechnologyReview.com Email me: kmccamy@freelancetechnologyreview.com