Welcome back to our WordPress tips series! In this 20th post, we’ll cover how to enable GZip compression to speed up your WordPress site’s loading time. Other Tips to Speed Up WordPress Enabling GZip compression is just one way to improve your WordPress site’s loading speed. Some other tips we’ve covered previously in this series include: security and updating themes and plugins.
What is GZip Compression?
GZip is a file format and software application used for file compression and decompression. By compressing your website’s files, and can significantly reduce their size, leading to faster page load times. According to Yahoo, compression can reduce the size of the transferred response by up to 90%, minimizing download time, reducing data usage, and improving the time to first render of your pages.
How to Check if GZip Compression is Enabled
Before enabling GZip compression, you should first check if it’s already activated on your web server. You can easily do this using the online test tool from GiftOfSpeed. Simply enter your website URL and click the “Test” button. The tool will quickly analyze your site and tell you if GZip compression is enabled or not.
Methods to Enable GZip Compression in WordPress
If the test tool shows that GZip is not enabled, you’ll need to activate it on your server. Here are a few methods to do this:
Enable GZip in cPanel
If your web hosting uses cPanel, you can enable GZip compression directly from there. Under the Software section, look for an option called “Optimize Website”. Clicking this will bring you to a page where you can enable compression.
Enable GZip in .htaccess File
You can also enable GZip by adding code to your .htaccess file. Edit or create the .htaccess file in the root directory of your WordPress site and paste in the following code:
Use a WordPress Caching Plugin
Many WordPress caching plugins can enable GZip compression for you. Some of the most popular ones that have this feature include:
Simply install one of these plugins, go to the plugin’s settings page, and look for the option to enable compression. It’s that easy!
Additional Tips to Speed Up WordPress
Enabling GZip compression is just one way to improve your WordPress site’s loading speed. Some other tips we’ve covered previously in this series include:
- Updating Themes and Plugins: Regularly update your themes and plugins to ensure optimal performance and security.
- Minimizing HTTP Requests: Reduce the number of elements on your page to lower the number of HTTP requests.
Conclusion
By implementing GZip compression and following these other tips, you can dramatically improve your WordPress site’s performance and provide a better user experience for your visitors. If you need help enabling GZip compression or optimizing your WordPress site’s speed and performance, the experts at 2X Sales are here to assist you. We offer professional WordPress web design services to help your business succeed online. Contact us today to discuss your needs and see how we can help!