Performance On Shared Hosting : The performance of a website is key to its success, especially when it is hosted on a shared server. If your website is hosted on a shared server, there are certain steps that you can take to optimize its performance.
From choosing the right hosting provider to optimizing your website’s code and images, there are 8 simple tips that can make a big difference when it comes to the performance of your website on a shared server. This article will discuss the 8 tips for optimizing website performance on shared hosting, so that your website can run faster and smoother, and provide a better user experience for your visitors.
1. Enable Gzip Compression
Gzip is a compression algorithm that can be applied to data before it is sent from a server to a client. When data is sent in compressed form, less bandwidth is required to transfer that data, and the transfer can be completed quicker. Gzip is commonly used when transferring code that includes files such as CSS, JavaScript, and images. Compressing these files can reduce the size of the data being transferred by as much as 70%, and help to speed up the process of loading a website for visitors.
When enabling gzip compression on your shared hosting account, make sure that you have enabled the Accept-Encoding header to allow clients to decode the data. However, enabling gzip compression can sometimes have a negative effect on the performance of your website. If your website is experiencing high volumes of traffic, enabling gzip compression can actually slow down your website, as it can take longer to process the data.
2. Ditch Unnecessary Plugins
Unused plugins can have a negative impact on the performance of your website. If you are using a plugin that is not being actively used on your website, then it is best to remove it. Not only do unused plugins affect the performance of your website, but they can also increase the load times of your pages. A WordPress website that is installed with a large number of plugins can take longer to load than a WordPress website installed with a few carefully selected plugins.
When you are installing a WordPress plugin, make sure that you only select the ones that are absolutely necessary for the website, and remove any plugins that are not being used. There are hundreds of WordPress plugins available that can be used for all types of websites, so make sure you select the plugins that are only necessary for your website.
3. Use Caching
Caching is a process that stores the output of a process when it is executed, so that it can be reused in the future. This process can speed up the execution of a process by either saving the output in a database, or on the file system, so that it can be accessed quickly in the future. Caching can be applied to data such as web pages, images, and API results.
Caching data such as web pages and API results can help to speed up the execution of a process by storing the result of a process, so that it can be accessed quickly the next time the process is executed. This is particularly important when it comes to API results, as API calls are often slow and take a long time to execute.
Caching API results can speed up the execution of a process by storing the result of the API call, so that it can be accessed quickly in the future. There are a few caching plugins that can be used on a shared hosting account, such as WP Rocket and W3 Total Cache.
4. Use A Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A content delivery network or content distribution network (CDN) is a globally distributed network of servers that are used to serve content, such as your website’s static files, like images, CSS, JavaScript, etc. A CDN can be used to serve all of the static files on your website, or just a select few. The use of a CDN can help to speed up the delivery of static files, as well as offload your web servers.
A CDN can work with your existing hosting provider, as well as a number of other hosting providers, making it easy to set up. As a CDN is a paid service, it is recommended that you select a CDN provider that offers a free trial, so that you can test the service for yourself before committing to a paid plan.
5. Optimize Images
It is recommended that you optimize all of the images that are used on your website. This can be done by reducing the size of the images, so that they take up less space on the server. This can be done by using an image editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop, Pixlr, or Paint.NET, so that you can optimize the images before uploading them to the server.
Once you have optimized the images, you can upload them to your website and use the “img” tag to link to the image on your server. For example, if you have uploaded an image named “logo.png” to your server, you can use the following code to link to the image on your website: img src=”logo.png”> If you have a WordPress website, you can use the ShortPixel Image Optimizer plugin to optimize your images.
For example, if you want to add an image to your website, you can select the “ShortPixel” option from the “Add Media” window, and then click the “Optimize” button to optimize the image. This plugin works by clicking on a button to optimize the image when it is uploaded to the server.
6. Install A Lightweight Theme
When you are selecting a theme for your website, make sure that it is lightweight, as a heavyweight theme can have a negative impact on the performance of your website. A lightweight theme is a theme that uses fewer resources, such as less JavaScript, fewer CSS files, and smaller images. These types of themes are particularly useful if you are running a website on shared hosting, as they can help to reduce the load time of your website.
When selecting a theme for your website, check the size of the theme by looking at the “Complete Theme Size” value, located underneath the “Theme Details” section in the theme’s page on your WordPress dashboard. This will show you the size of the theme in kilobytes (KB). Also, check the number of CSS and JavaScript files that are included in the theme, and make sure that the theme includes only the essential files.
7. Optimize Your Database
A shared hosting account does not come with a lot of space on the server, so it is important that you optimize your database. When adding new content to your website, it is important to delete old content, such as blog posts, articles, or images that are no longer relevant to your website, as this will reduce the size of your database.
This process is known as “de-fragging” your database and can be done by going to your WordPress dashboard and clicking the “Tools” tab, followed by “MySQL” in the left-hand menu. From here, you can optimize your database by compacting your tables, removing old entries, or removing BLOBs.
8. Use Lazy Loading
Lazy loading is a technique that is used to defer the loading of images, as well as other media elements, until they are within the viewport of the user. This can be done by adding a script to your website, such as the Progress Thru Image script. When the page loads, the script will wait until the images are in the viewport of the user before loading them.
This can be particularly useful for images that are in the sidebar or at the bottom of your posts, as the user may never scroll down to see them. This script can be installed from your WordPress dashboard by going to “Appearance” > “Widgets” > “Progress Thru Image”. Lazy loading can help to speed up the load time of your website, as waiting until the images are in the viewport of the user to load them can reduce the load time of your website.
This is particularly useful for websites that have a lot of images, or images that are presented at the bottom of posts, as these images may be outside of the viewport of the user. With lazy loading, these images will only load when they are in the viewport of the user. This can speed up the load time of your website and help to reduce the amount of bandwidth being used.
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Conclusion
Website performance is a crucial factor in determining the success of your website, particularly if it is hosted on a shared server. When optimizing your website for a shared server, it is important to select the right hosting provider and follow these 8 tips to make sure that your website runs smoothly and quickly.