News article posted on: 26-06-2019
6 Tips to make your Joomla website faster
Joomla is an open-source platform that allows the creation of websites big and small. Not only is it free, but there is a vast library of plugins that can be used to improve webpage efficiency, add functionality, and make producing a world-class website that little bit easier. One of the often overlooked aspects of Joomla is how small changes can speed up load times significantly.
WHY DO YOU NEED TO IMPROVE YOUR PAGE SPEED?
In an online world, swamped in information, speed and efficiency are crucial. Even if two competing websites offered the same quality of service, product range, and award-winning customer service, the site that loads quickest will almost always be the one people visit.
Faster webpage load times have been shown to directly impact conversion rates, and every successful business in e-Commerce knows that conversion is the name of the game.
MAKE YOUR JOOMLA WEBSITE FASTER WITH THESE ESSENTIAL TIPS
Knowing how crucial webpage load times are to not only keeping, but converting visitors to actual purchases, here are six essential tips for speeding up Joomla websites.
1. Choose a hosting provider with a good reputation
Chances are you wouldn't buy a car from someone you don't trust, so why choose a hosting provider with poor service? Even the most well-designed websites are useless if visitors can not access them. Choose a hosting provider who not only has excellent server uptime but limits the number of sites per server, and offers special Joomla web hosting packages.
2. A clean website works best
Customers will be coming to your website for the services and products you offer, not dozens of pop-ups, fancy videos, graphics and interactive tabs. While some of these extensions will be necessary to set your website apart from the rest, the more extensions running, the more significant the load. The fewer extensions, the lighter the load, and the less time it takes for a page to load?simple.
3. Use photos that don't take up much space
Just like trying to run too many extensions, too many photos increases the load, and thus the load times of webpages. That doesn't mean scrapping photos altogether, but instead, using software to compress them when needed. Photo editing packages like Photoshop and Gimp allow images to have their dimensions reduced and compressed into smaller file formats.
Also, think about the impact of a picture or photo and decide whether it needs to be such a prominent feature on a webpage?if it doesn't, remove it. The possibility of higher conversions rates far outweighs longer load times for the sake of impact.
4. Compress CSS & JavaScript
Every time a browser loads a webpage it processes the style and layout information provided by CSS and JavaScript. Rather than removing, what is ultimately necessary to produce a professional looking site, we can instead, trim out any bits of unwanted code. Optimising CSS and JavaScript can be done with a simple plugin, and is an efficient way to erase, unwanted or redundant code.
5. Reduce re-direct links
Imagine driving to work and finding your usual office has moved and no one told you?this is precisely how webpage re-directs work. Rather than taking a visitor to the webpage they've requested, it will re-direct them to another, taking more time to do so. In some circumstances, a re-direct may be necessary; however, just because you have to re-direct doesn't mean you need to go crazy with it.
Keep re-direct chains to a minimum (usually no more than one), and use a responsive layout for webpages that have a mobile version?both actions should significantly speed up load times.
6. Minify HTML file
Minifying an HTML file is another step, alongside compression of CSS and JavaScript, that improves load times by removing unnecessary elements. In the case of HTML, repeated line breaks, white spaces, tabs and other unwanted characters are deleted when you 'minify'. Several plugins allow this function to take place at the click of a button. With a smaller HTML, not only will your web page load faster, but it makes it harder for your code to be copied, and used elsewhere without your permission.
Optimizing the efficiency and load times of web pages can be done in a matter of minutes. With the trade-off between time spent and customers earned?these six tips are a no brainer.
