Here are some optimization techniques to optimize your WordPress site for Google Page Speed 1.10.2, Yahoo YSlow 2.1.0, and Zoompf. I installed a completely new WordPress 3.1 site with no plugins and using the default Twenty Ten theme.
Here are the relevant scores on a fresh install:
Test
Score
Page Speed
87
YSlow
93
Zoompf
49
- Edit your .htaccess file by adding the following: [sourcecode language=“html”] Header unset ETag FileETag None ExpiresActive on ExpiresByType image/jpeg “access plus 6 months” ExpiresByType image/png “access plus 6 months” ExpiresByType image/gif “access plus 6 months” ExpiresByType image/x-icon “access plus 6 months” ExpiresByType text/css “access plus 6 months” ExpiresByType application/javascript “access plus 6 months” ExpiresByType application/x-javascript “access plus 6 months” AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/css text/plain text/xml application/javascript application/x-javascript [/sourcecode]
- In your /wp-content/themes/twentyten/header.php remove the following line: (this removes the charset from your page because it’s not needed if the web server is using the HTTP Content-Type header to define the character set) [sourcecode language=“php” htmlscript=“true”][/sourcecode]
- In your /wp-content/themes/twentyten/functions.php add the following: (this removes the ability to use remote editing) [sourcecode language=“php”]function remheadlink() { remove_action(‘wp_head’, ‘rsd_link’); remove_action(‘wp_head’, ‘wlwmanifest_link’); } add_action(‘init’, ‘remheadlink’);[/sourcecode]
- Optimize the /wp-content/themes/twentyten/images/wordpress.png using a tool such as ImageOptim. This will reduce the size of the image from 849 bytes to 661 bytes without losing any quality.
- Optimize the /wp-content/themes/twentyten/images/headers/path.jpg by saving it with a jpeg quality setting of 75% using your favorite image editing tool and then using a tool like ImageOptim. This will reduce the size of the image from 51,727 bytes to 42,154 bytes without losing too much quality.
- Minify the /wp-content/themes/twentyten/styles.css using the YUI Compressor tool.
Here are the new scores after optimization:
Test
Score
Page Speed
99
YSlow
98
Zoompf
84
Here are the remaining issues:
Page Speed:
- Use efficient CSS selectors
- Minify HTML
YSlow:
- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Zoompf:
- RSS Feed Without Blackout Period (skipDays)
- RSS Feed Without Blackout Period (skipHours)
- RSS Feed Without Caching (TTL tag)
- Dynamic HTML Not Minified
- Potentially Cacheable Text Response (iPhone)
- Uncacheable Response (iPhone)
WordPress Optimization for Mere Mortals
Here is the slide deck from my presentation at WordCamp SLC 2012 on “WordPress Performance Optimization for Mere Mortals”. [slideshare id=14379643&doc=worcampslc2012-120921180416-phpapp01&w=550] I hope you learned some simple steps on how to optimize your WordPress site.