{"id":93773,"date":"2026-03-07T14:31:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T20:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/?p=93773"},"modified":"2026-03-30T00:20:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T05:20:52","slug":"checklist-for-website-speed-optimization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html","title":{"rendered":"Checklist for website speed optimization\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You must take website speed optimization seriously when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.godaddy.com\/pro\/hosting\/wordpress-plans\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"follow noopener\" data-eid=\"procontent.garage.checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.product.link.click\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">designing websites<\/a>. Google and users value speed, and will abandon a website if it loads slowly. A slow loading page provides a poor user experience, and as you know, about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thinkwithgoogle.com\/consumer-insights\/consumer-trends\/mobile-site-load-time-statistics\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">53 percent of mobile users<\/a> are likely to leave a site and return to the search results if it takes over 3 seconds to load.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, high-performance websites get low bounce rates, higher conversions, return visits, higher engagements, provide a better user experience, and rank higher in organic search, which is what your clients want. This article looks at everything you need to know about website speed optimization.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Whats_the_connection_between_website_speed_optimization_and_SEO\" >What\u2019s the connection between website speed optimization and SEO?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#What_is_a_good_site_load_time\" >What is a good site load time?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Desktop_vs_mobile_average_load_times\" >Desktop vs. mobile average load times<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Website_speed_optimization_checklist\" >Website speed optimization checklist<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Mobile-friendliness\" >Mobile-friendliness<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Accessibility\" >Accessibility<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Use_a_content_delivery_network_CDN\" >Use a content delivery network (CDN)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Server_response_time\" >Server response time<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Image_optimization\" >Image optimization<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Caching\" >Caching<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Resizing\" >Resizing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Delete_unnecessary_plugins\" >Delete unnecessary plugins<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Minimize_HTTP_requests\" >Minimize HTTP requests<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Minify_CSS_and_JavaScript\" >Minify CSS and JavaScript<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Reduce_redirects\" >Reduce redirects<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#404_errors\" >404 errors<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/checklist-for-website-speed-optimization.html\/#Dial_in_your_website_speed_optimization\" >Dial in your website speed optimization<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats_the_connection_between_website_speed_optimization_and_SEO\"><\/span>What\u2019s the connection between website speed optimization and SEO?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In simple terms, website speed refers to how fast a website loads for users. When users visit a website, they expect the pages and images to load faster; otherwise, they will leave the site and pick another website from the search results page. In fact, some users are so impatient that a blink of an eye is a very long time to wait.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Statistics show that 47 percent of users expect a website to load in <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.kissmetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/loading-time.pdf\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">2 seconds<\/a> or less. Additionally, 40 percent of consumers will leave a page if it takes 3 or more seconds to load.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And it\u2019s not just users \u2014 search engines like Google take website speed seriously and use it to determine what websites to rank on top of search engine result pages (SERPs). If you intend to get that top spot on Google, you should give special attention to website speed, as it plays a vital role in search engine optimization (SEO).<\/p>\n<p>According to Google, site speed is one of the signals its algorithm uses to determine which pages to rank on top of SERPs. In fact, Google rolled out the <a href=\"https:\/\/alchemyleads.com\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" link=\"external\">Core Web Vitals in June 2022<\/a>, designed to give website visitors a more secure and pleasant page experience.<\/p>\n<p>These signals are now Google ranking signals and rank pages based on factors such as mobile friendliness, interactivity, and visual stability. According to this update, it\u2019s obvious that Google prioritizes websites that provide a better page experience to real users and will favor them when providing results to search queries.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, lower page speed means Googlebot will crawl fewer pages, negatively impacting a website\u2019s indexation.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_a_good_site_load_time\"><\/span>What is a good site load time?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>No goal is open-ended, and website speed optimization is not an exception. Therefore, before we look at the website speed optimization checklist, it\u2019s crucial to first look at what a good page load time is; otherwise, how would you know whether you\u2019ve hit the right spot.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Google says that the best loading time is 3 seconds. However, its recent findings show that most sites don\u2019t meet this requirement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A Google analysis involving 900,000 mobile ad landing pages found that 70 percent of the pages took about 7 seconds to display the visual content above the fold. To be specific, most of the websites analyzed didn\u2019t com<strong>e<\/strong> close to Google\u2019s recommendation of 3 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>A mobile landing page takes an average of 22 seconds to load. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, about 53 percent of mobile users abandon a visit if the site takes more than three seconds to load. Additionally, the user bounces rate increases by 123 percent if a page takes 10 seconds to load.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Desktop_vs_mobile_average_load_times\"><\/span>Desktop vs. mobile average load times<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/page-speed-stats\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Backlinko<\/a> analyzed 5 million mobile and desktop users to find the average load times on desktop and mobile. They found that the average desktop webpage load time is 10.3 seconds, while that of mobile is 27.3 seconds.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>This supports our earlier mention that most sites are nowhere near achieving what Google recommends as the best loading time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>However, on the brighter side, this presents an excellent opportunity for web developers to shine if they put more effort into getting website speed to an acceptable level.<\/p>\n<p>Use Google\u2019s recommendations as guidelines to set your goals and measure your performance when working on your client\u2019s websites. After all, as of now, Google is the largest search engine, and following its recommendations can lead to success.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Website_speed_optimization_checklist\"><\/span>Website speed optimization checklist<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Now that you\u2019ve learned why having a fast-loading site is important, let\u2019s look at our checklist for website speed optimization.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mobile-friendliness\"><\/span>Mobile-friendliness<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Having a mobile-friendly website isn\u2019t an option today but a necessity. A website not optimized for mobile-friendliness isn\u2019t sustainable and won\u2019t achieve higher traffic and conversions. To optimize a website for speed, you need to check the site\u2019s mobile-friendliness.<\/p>\n<p>When indexing a website, Google prioritizes mobile versions of a site, meaning it makes a lot of sense to build a fast-mobile site. Even if your client has a fast-loading desktop site, they have leaner chances of ranking in search results if they have a slow mobile website version. In turn, this will lead to reduced traffic and fewer conversions.<\/p>\n<p>Here are tools to use to check whether a website is mobile-friendly:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cf\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cf&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/en\/seocheck\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">SEO Checker\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cf\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cf&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/test\/mobile-friendly\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Google Mobile-Friendly Test Tool\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cf\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cf&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/webmaster\/tools\/mobile-friendliness\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Bing Mobile Friendliness Test Tool\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the website is not mobile-friendly, you need to do some design and development work to have a responsive design.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Accessibility\"><\/span>Accessibility<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Everyone wants to have a website that is accessible and usable to all people, including those with impairments, disabilities, and limitation.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, many sites have accessibility barriers and don\u2019t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design (ADA). ADA requires all electronic and information technology, including websites, to be accessible to people with disabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Failure to comply with ADA means people with disabilities won\u2019t have access to your website and can lead to lawsuits against such websites for discrimination.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>This can lead to huge fines and financial burdens associated with ADA lawsuits.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Accessibility is a crucial factor web developers should consider before they start optimizing website pages for speed. If working on a WordPress website, ADA plugins like <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/online-accessibility\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Accessibility Suite<\/a> will come in handy.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Use_a_content_delivery_network_CDN\"><\/span>Use a content delivery network (CDN)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Investing in a content delivery network (CDN) is another way to improve web page loading time. A CDN hosts the media files across a large network in servers distributed in various parts of the world.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In other words, a CDN provides web content to searchers based on their geographical location.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Ideally, hosting a website on a single server is one of the reasons for slow loading web pages as a single hardware processes all users\u2019 requests. As a result, the time for processing each request increases. Besides that, the page load time will likely increase if the user is far away from the server.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, with a CDN, user requests are sent to the nearest server, which reduces the time it takes for the content to be delivered to the user. Of course, you will need to pay extra money to get a CDN, but it\u2019s an effective way for website speed optimization.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Server_response_time\"><\/span>Server response time<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Reducing server response time should be a primary goal when it comes to website speed optimization.<\/p>\n<p>Server response time is the time it takes between when a user requests a page in a browser and when the server responds to the request. It is measured in time to first byte (TTFB), or how long it takes (in seconds) to receive the first byte of the page after the HTTP request is sent.<\/p>\n<p>A slow response time can damage a business \u2014 it reduces the PageSpeed Insights score and leads to a bad user experience.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>After all, a slow server time means users must wait longer to see the content of the pages.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Tools that can help check a website\u2019s server response time include <a href=\"https:\/\/pagespeed.web.dev\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">PageSpeed Insights <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/gtmetrix.com\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">GTmetic<\/a><strong>,<\/strong> among others. According to Google, you should aim for a TTFB lower than 200 milliseconds to ensure a faster loading speed and a good user experience.<\/p>\n<p>Some issues that can cause a lower server response time include lack of enough memory, slow routing, and slow database queries.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the steps you can take to improve server response time:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use a CDN<\/li>\n<li>Invest in upgraded server hardware to solve memory issues<\/li>\n<li>Change how the server prioritizes database<\/li>\n<li>Update server applications logic<\/li>\n<li>Suggest a better hosting service<\/li>\n<li>Reduce resource size<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Image_optimization\"><\/span>Image optimization<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>While images play a crucial part in a successful website, using large or wrong format files can have a negative effect. As such, you need to ensure that the images on a website are of the right size and format to avoid slowing the website.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Ideally, PNGs are recommended for graphics with fewer colors, while JPEGs are ideal for graphic compression.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Tools like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpegmini.com\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">JPEGmini<\/a> can help compress the images without compromising the quality. However, when compressing the images, you should note the two common types of compression: lossy and lossless.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cf\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"3\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cf&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Lossy compression \u2014 Reduces image size by eliminating redundancies. It reduces the file size but degrades quality. The worst part is that you cannot recover the data lost once the image is compressed. It\u2019s advisable to keep the original copy to prevent data loss.<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cf\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"3\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cf&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Lossless compression \u2014 Values quality over image size. It maintains the quality of the image after compression, and you can restore the file.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Caching\"><\/span>Caching<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Caching is another technique you can use for website speed optimization. It involves storing images in a proxy server or browser cache to reduce application requests.<\/p>\n<p>If you choose to cache the images in a proxy server, you need to set up storage for images on several point of presence (PoP) servers. These servers are distributed around the world, and the images are served from the closest servers, reducing the page load time.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Resizing\"><\/span>Resizing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Larger image files slow down a website. This is especially true if a visitor uses a mobile device to access the site. As a web developer, you need to find the balance between file size and quality, and resizing the images is a great way to achieve this. If you must display large images, show a thumbnail. Only load the full image on the user\u2019s request.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Delete_unnecessary_plugins\"><\/span>Delete unnecessary plugins<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Plugins are a great way to add new functions to a host program without changing it. However, many unused plugins on a website can lead to serious problems.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The most notable issues are slowing down a website or adding points of vulnerability to a website.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Website owners add plugins to add new functionality to their websites. Ask your client whether they\u2019re using all the plugins on their site to discover any unnecessary plugins. Also, run the performance test to see which plugins are slowing the client\u2019s site.<\/p>\n<p>Besides the number of plugins, their quality can also impact the website speed. The best approach is to avoid plugins that generate numerous database queries. Only keep the necessary plugins and ensure they are updated.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Minimize_HTTP_requests\"><\/span>Minimize HTTP requests<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When someone surfs the web, many things happen behind the scenes before they can get the results. In fact, a significant percentage of a web page\u2019s load time is spent downloading the various parts of a page like stylesheets, images, and scripts.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Each component is associated with an HTTP request, meaning the more the components, the more the page takes longer to load.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As such, the HTTP request determines how quickly the page loads. More HTTP requests mean a slower loading time, while fewer HTTP requests mean a faster load time.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>HTTP requests affect several key functions of a website that determine user experience and how engaged the users are.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>To minimize HTTP requests, first, you must determine the number of requests a site makes. <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.chrome.com\/docs\/devtools\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Chrome DevTools<\/a> can help Chrome users see how many HTTP requests the site makes. Once you\u2019ve determined that the site is making many HTTP requests, you can take these steps to reduce them to increase the site speed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Delete unnecessary images<\/li>\n<li>Reduce image size<\/li>\n<li>Combine CSS and JavaScript files<\/li>\n<li>Minify CSS and JavaScript files<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Depending on the website\u2019s size, keep the number of files between 10 and 30 unless the site is large with lots of content, images, and videos.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Minify_CSS_and_JavaScript\"><\/span>Minify CSS and JavaScript<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>While CSS and JavaScript help add functionality to a website, they can make the web page swell in size when used in excess. Unused CSS and JavaScript can become unmanageable and negatively impact a site\u2019s functionality.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>More specifically, unused CSS and JavaScript can reduce a site\u2019s load speed and affect performance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is bad news for website owners because Google values performance and prioritizes websites that load quickly and provide a good user experience. To avoid this issue, minify CSS and JavaScript to increase the site load speed and functionality.<\/p>\n<p>Google DevTools has CSS and JS coverage to help identify and eliminate unnecessary CSS and JavaScript. When you remove unnecessary codes like space, comments, and tabs, the file size is significantly reduced, which increases the pages\u2019 load time and improves the website\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reduce_redirects\"><\/span>Reduce redirects<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Redirects are another thing that can slow down a website. Ideally, when a page redirects to another page, visitors need to wait longer before they can get the results.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The extra waiting means the website loads slower, leading to a bad user experience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As earlier stated, users leave a site if it takes longer to load. Ideally, 2 to 3 seconds is enough time for visitors to wait before leaving a site. This would mean less traffic and lower conversions.<\/p>\n<p>To reduce redirects, you need first to identify that they exist. Tools like <a href=\"https:\/\/pagespeed.web.dev\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">PageSpeed Insights<\/a> can help scan a client\u2019s website to get a report on all redirects on the website. Remove all unnecessary redirects and leave only the vital ones.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"404_errors\"><\/span>404 errors<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>404 errors are not uncommon for people with internet access. It indicates that the requested page cannot be found. Having these errors on a website can damage a brand, negatively affect SEO, and lead to a bad user experience. In fact, users who experience broken links on a certain website are unlikely to return to the web pages again.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Search engines, too, hate broken links and will rank websites with 404 errors lower, which translates into less traffic and lower conversions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Common causes of broken include deleted pages, incorrect URLs, typing errors, or a page moved to a new address. Tools like Google Search Console and WordPress Plugin (for WordPress websites) can help find a list of URLs with 404 errors.<\/p>\n<p>Once you identify URLs with 404 errors, assess the traffic they generate. If they have some traffic, set redirects for external links and fix the link addresses for the internal links. If the URLs don\u2019t generate traffic, leave them as they are because they don\u2019t consume your server resource.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dial_in_your_website_speed_optimization\"><\/span>Dial in your website speed optimization<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The benefits of a fast-loading site cannot be overstated. A slow loading means a bad user experience and a lower ranking in search engine results. This shouldn\u2019t be the case, though.<\/p>\n<p>By following the above checklist, you can turn a website into a speed demon, significantly improving their rankings in search results<strong>. <\/strong>It will also help build your reputation and lead to more work for you and referrals.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The post Checklist for website speed optimization\u00a0 appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.godaddy.com\/garage\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"follow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">GoDaddy Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Source: Go Daddy Garage<\/p>\n<p id=\"kc_opp\"><small>Republished by  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogtrafficexchange.com\/\">Blog Post Promoter<\/a><\/small><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You must take website speed optimization seriously when designing websites. Google and users value speed, and will abandon a website if it loads &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":93774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23511],"tags":[126],"class_list":["post-93773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ebusiness-emarketing","tag-information"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/net-promoter-score-speedometer-300x168-1.jpg?fit=300%2C168&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3k0YU-oot","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93624,"url":"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/how-to-improve-wordpress-speed-performance-tips-to-fix-common-issues.html","url_meta":{"origin":93773,"position":0},"title":"How to improve WordPress speed &amp; performance: Tips to fix common issues","author":"admin","date":"March 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"WordPress is a great platform that can create a website or blog. 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Without a pro handling this during build-out, it\u2019s possible nobody else will be left to ensure that a search engine can easily crawl and read the content. When developing or designing a website, you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;E-business &amp; E-marketing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"E-business &amp; E-marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/category\/ebusiness-emarketing"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93016,"url":"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/12-top-seo-best-practices-for-small-business-websites.html","url_meta":{"origin":93773,"position":3},"title":"12 Top SEO best practices for small business websites","author":"admin","date":"March 7, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Wondering how to improve your website\u2019s SEO and increase web traffic fast? There are plenty of actionable steps you can take today. Most don\u2019t even require a web developer or coding knowledge to get started. 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This can give you quite a competitive advantage over sites where content displays little by little, tempting the frustrated visitor to bounce.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;E-business &amp; E-marketing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"E-business &amp; E-marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/category\/ebusiness-emarketing"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/clock-95330_12801-300x200-1.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92847,"url":"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/03\/the-benefits-of-seo-for-cloud-computing-brands.html","url_meta":{"origin":93773,"position":5},"title":"The Benefits of SEO for Cloud Computing Brands","author":"admin","date":"March 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Benefits of SEO for Cloud Computing Brands \u00a0 Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the biggest marketing advantages that a brand from any industry can leverage. 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