Speed is at the top of every website owner’s wishlist. The faster the site, the better the experience, which leads to more conversions. Also, Google ranks pages that load more quickly higher in search results, so you have an excellent reason to eke out every last millisecond you can from your website. One particular way to speed-optimize WordPress sites is by GZIP. The best way to make things load faster is to make them smaller. In this guide and tutorial, you’ll learn the process of enabling GZIP compression for better WordPress website performance & speed up.
That’s just what GZIP does. We’ll show you how to enable it and ensure your page is blazing fast, even if you already have image compression and other settings set up and optimized.
GZIP WordPress Compression
The compression optimization strategy is an optimized file format and software for file compression and decompression. Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler created GZIP compression. It’s free software for the reduction in old systems.
GZIP was used for GNU (free, open-source software) and the WordPress core software. The ‘G’ is from GNU. WordPress compression optimization strategy reduces the size of your website files, including codes like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
The GZIP technique does not work on images. However, it is a bag when it comes to media files. For example, some image files, such as MPEG and WAV files, compress well with GZIP, while other file types, such as audio folders, may increase in size if you try to squeeze them.
GZIP compression must be enabled on your web server to work you to enable file and folder compression (web servers with the compression optimization strategy enabled will return the content-encoding: GZIP header in its response).
From the client side, all modern web browsers support GZIP compression and automatically ask for it when making HTTP requests. This means that once you’ve enabled it, all users will reap the benefits.
Why Enable GZIP Compression on WordPress?
- Faster Load Times: Compressing your website’s files can reduce their size by up to 70%, leading to faster load times.
- Improved SEO: Search engines like Google consider site speed as a ranking factor. Faster sites are more likely to rank higher in search results.
- Better User Experience: Users prefer fast-loading websites. A quicker site can lead to lower bounce rates and higher engagement.
- Reduced Bandwidth Usage: The compression optimization strategy decreases the amount of data transferred between the server and the browser, saving bandwidth.
Enabling GZIP Compression WordPress Tutorial
Two methods of enabling GZIP compression exist: modifying the .htaccess File or using a WordPress plugin, like WP Rocket. Using a WordPress Plugin: Installing a plugin is the easiest way to enable GZIP compression in your WordPress site. It will be a lot easier and safer than modifying the .htaccess File. There are a lot of plugin choices available, but we have singled out these 3 WP plugins because of their features and ease of use:
WP-Optimize
This is an all-in-one solution to boost your website performance. The plugin will enable GZIP compression and web caching, clean unnecessary files on your website, and optimize images to free up more space!
Hummingbird
You have more freedom to choose which aspects you want to optimize. GZIP compression, minification, and lazy loading of offscreen images are some of its main features.
WP Fastest Cache
WP Fastest Cache combines its caching prowess with GZIP compression to make your page fast and lightweight. This tool can also automatically disable emojis and optimize every single post.
Since these plugins can do so much more than enabling GZIP compression, I suggest you try them all to see which one fits you best. After all, they are free and frequently updated. What’s not to love?
This method is quite technical and more suitable for advanced users. However, anyone can do it as long as they are careful. Before continuing, remember that you should always back up your .htaccess File if something goes wrong.
.htaccess
You must download an FTP client, like Filezilla, to locate the .htaccess File. It is usually present in your website’s public_html index. Download the File and save a copy on your computer as a backup. Then, paste the following Codes before the # END WordPress line of .htaccess. Follow this code.
Upload the edited File to the exact location. If FileZilla asks permission to overwrite it, click OK.
Verifying GZIP Compression
After enabling GZIP compression, it’s crucial to verify that it’s working correctly. Use tools like Check GZIP Compression, GTmetrix, or your browser’s developer tools to ensure your files are being compressed to finish the GZIP WordPress enabling tutorial.
Conclusion
Enabling GZIP compression is a powerful way to improve your WordPress site’s speed, enhance user experience, and boost your SEO. Whether you choose to use a plugin, modify the .htaccess file, or configure your server settings, the steps outlined in this tutorial will help you achieve a faster, more efficient website.
Remember, a faster site not only ranks better on search engines but also keeps your visitors engaged and satisfied. Implement GZIP compression today and take your WordPress site to the next level.
