We specialize in optimizing existing WordPress websites!
WordPress implementations typically need significant optimization before they can handle large amounts of concurrent traffic. Our technical team works on the application, images, server configuration, and tuning. Our team has done dozens of optimizations including optimizing the SCOTUS – Supreme Court of the United States – blog (read more about that effort here) which handled one of the intense traffic spikes in history.
WordPress Plugin Optimization
Any poorly performing plugins are identified and then removed, corrected, or replaced. Plugin developers rarely build their plugins with big traffic in mind and many plugins fail miserably when the traffic hits.
WordPress Theme Optimization
Theme developers are also guilty of failing to address performance issues. Slow loading theme elements are identified and corrected. Comprehensive caching plugins are installed and carefully configured. WordPress is very resource intensive and even a single page uses significant resources. Caching plugins greatly reduce that load.
WordPress Image Optimization
Any images that were over-sized were identified and then replaced with images in web resolution. This greatly reduces the overall bandwidth load. Most sites with significant traffic and significant image and video content require a CDN (Content Delivery Network). The appropriate CDN will be selected and implemented.
WordPress Server Configuration and Tuning
All Linux servers provided by hosts typically have only the Apache web server installed. Apache is desirable when dealing with PHP (programming language) and MySQL (database schema) which are the foundations of WordPress. However, Apache uses loads of server resources. All web pages have static elements (images, scripts, style sheets, etc.) that are better served using NGINX (another form of web server). NGINX is typically installed and carefully configured to serve certain page elements. Apache, NGINX, and other critical server elements are carefully configured to provide the best possible WordPress performance.