No matter how simple or complex your website may be, it is very important that it runs fast. This is because your visitors will probably bounce if your website fails to load within a few seconds. Having a faster website will also make your company look more professional. If your website runs slow then you are really hurting your brand. You do not want your competitors having faster websites which rank higher than yours, so let’s fix that straight away. Let’s show you how to speed up your website with WP-Optimize. Please note that this free plugin works with WordPress websites only.

The topics we’ll be covering in this article are as follows:

• Setting up WP-Optimize
• WP-Optimize Image Compressor
• Enabling the Cache
• Optimise JavaScript, CSS and Font Settings

Website speed is just one of several SEO tasks which is critical for appearing on the first pages on search engines. This video link explains how to install the plugin on your WordPress website and how to set it up for speed. Click here to watch the video.

Setting up WP-Optimize for high speed

Once activated from your WordPress backend, you’ll see ‘WP-Optimize’ appear near the bottom of the sidebar, on the left hand side of your screen. Please note you must have an admin account in order to configure the settings. Click on it and you will be taken to the ‘database’ screen. Here you can optimize several options either individually or in bulk. WP-Optimize enables you to remove any revisions and auto saves which builds up every time you update web content. You can remove out-dated junk files, spam comments etc and you can also optimise the tables in your database. You will also notice several options have a triangle with an exclamation mark. Personally I have never ran an optimisation for these options.

Once you have finished with optimising the database elements, click on the ‘images’ tab.

WP-Optimize image compressor

Scroll down to the bottom of this page and you will some uncompressed images in your media grid. You can now select all images in simply compress them. However, I like to optimise and compress all images before uploading them onto the website. This feature is useful if you use stock images where they can be huge in size. Large sized images which are megabytes in size will slow your website right down. By rule of thumb I always aim for website images to be under 200 kilobytes in size at 72 dpi.

Enable The Cache Tab

Click on the ‘enable page caching’ button. ‘Purge Cache’ will appear in the top admin bar. This is very important for speed and we’ll get into more detail about purging the cache later on. If you have any other cache plugins installed, it might be a good idea to de-activate them because they might clash. Trust me, you will only need WP-Optimize for caching. Then click on the ‘Minify’ tab.

Within the ‘minify’ tab, click ‘enable minify’ button under ‘Minify status’ page. You will also want to process the HTML, Java and CSS files on this page. Minifying the Java and CSS files will greatly increase the speed of your website. However, you must take great care and keep an eye on everything you do here. You might want to back up your site before adjusting the Java and CSS settings because you could break things.

How To Optimise the JavaScript, CSS and Fonts Settings

Near the middle of the page, you will see a bar of tabs such as JavaScript, CSS, Fonts etc. Click the JavaScript tab and check that ‘Defer JavaScript’ is enabled. Depending on your WP theme this will cut your site’s Java usage by around 80%, thus greatly increasing speed. This will also increase and optimise your SEO score and server settings. Try checking the before and after the ‘Defer JavaScript’ settings using this free SEO tool called SEObility.

With the CSS and Font settings, this too will depend on your theme and fonts used on your website. Most themes should allow you to enable minification and merging of CSS files, but check after changing anything on these tabs. If something fails to load properly on your site, you can always go back and deselect any previous changes.

The final steps to speed up your website with WP-Optimize

Once you’ve completed the steps to speed up your website with WP-Optimize, click the ‘Save settings’ button. Then purge your cache by hovering over the ‘Purge Cache’ tab in the admin bar. The drop down menu will then appear. First click ‘purge cache for all pages’ then click ‘purge minify cache’. If done correctly with just a little trial and error involved, you should notice your site running much faster. You can also use plenty of the SEO checker tools out there to check SEO status.

DISCLAIMER: Logo St. Marketing and/or And So She Thinks Ltd are not responsible for any changes which may occur and you use WP-Optimize at your own risk. It is highly recommended that you safely back up your website before changing any software settings.

Nothing makes my heart sink more than a client asking me to ‘write for SEO.’ Because, often untrained in the principles as they are, what they mean is ‘stuff this copy full of keywords, even if it sounds unintelligible.’ As a copywriter and marketer, I always write for the audience. Because the goal of your copy is not just to get people to your page, but to engage, inspire, and convert them. And you can’t do that with bad copy.

Length matters

Google does reward pages with longer copy with better SEO rankings. But that doesn’t mean you should write 3000 words of drivel. The reason it rewards these pages is because people spend longer on them. How do you make sure they do so? Write something compelling that they want to read. Don’t add words just for the sake of it. If someone has come to your page for a quick answer and you give them reams of copy they will go elsewhere fast, increasing your bounce rate. Say what you need to say to get your message across, and no more.

Cut to the chase

You can tell a post written purely for SEO, or at least old school keyword stuffing SEO, as the first paragraph is stuffed with every possible permutation of the main phrase. By that point, you’ve lost your customer. You don’t have long to articulate your value proposition, some say ten seconds, so don’t waffle about it.

Keywords for key insights

People come at keywords in the wrong way. Rather than think of them as words and phrases you should stuff into your writing, they are actually inordinately helpful research into the kind of mindset your audience are in and where they are in the customer funnel. If the top result is ‘which cat food is healthier?’ you know you need to give them an answer. If it’s ‘where should I go on holiday?’ give options. ‘How do I treat an ingrown toenail?’ try facts. Doing research for keywords isn’t just about finding the words to add in, but learning more about your customer.

Get your goals right

The goal of someone who says ‘write just for SEO’ is to get someone to visit their website. But that’s not the right focus. You need to think about your customer’s goals, and how fulfilling the customer’s goals will get you to yours – more sales, more profit, more work.

Credibility counts

One of the main elements that search engines use to determine rankings is domain authority, influenced by the number of links pointing to that website. If your content is pointless, dull, or spammy, people won’t want to link to it, as it will undermine their own credibility. So just having filler keywords certainly isn’t the way to go.

SEO matters, of course. You can have the most beautiful prose or compelling copy, but if you can’t get an audience through the metaphorical door, there’s little point. But that shouldn’t be where the process ends. That’s one, very important, but certainly not the only, step through the sales funnel and customer journey. To get them to actually click a link, purchase a product, make an enquiry, you need to convince them that you are solving their problem.

And you do that through convincing and compelling copy that converts. And how do you get that? Well, you hire a copywriter of course…

How can I make Facebook advertising work?

Although it might not be cool to admit it, the majority of people in the UK are on Facebook, and spend a lot of time on it. For your advertising to work you need to be very specific with your targeting. Think about who your ideal customer is and target them. Whilst it can be tempting to just share your advert to all adults aged 18-60, that is too wide and will see you just wasting money. Also have a very clear call to action – if you want people to share your post, buy a ticket, or click a link, let them know.

How can I get more visitors to my website?

You’ve heard of SEO right? That’s search engine optimisation. It’s not the be all and end all, unlike what some people might make you think, but it is important. Basically it involves thinking of the kind of terms that someone looking for your business might search for, and adding them into your website copy and content (that’s the words!). So if you’re a carpenter in Kent, think ‘wooden furniture’ ‘carpenter Kent’ etc. What you really shouldn’t do though is stuff your content full of words so much that it feels stilted and unreadable. Because also what is key is keeping people on your website and getting them to take the actions you want them to. Google will also boost up the rankings websites that have a long dwell time, so don’t just think about getting people there, but also keeping them there.

How much personality should I add to my business?

I got told by a well known business coach that I needed to be more dry and corporate and have less personality, if I wanted to attract dry and corporate clients. Thing is, I don’t. Think about what your audience or client are like. If they’re chatty and laidback, try that approach. If they are more formal, adopt that tone. People like to work with and buy from people like them, so I think the best advice is to mirror them. That’s not to say you should reveal everything about yourself. Keep it professional. But you’re allowed to smile as well.

If you want me to help you with your marketing, do get in touch. I’d love to chat.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]