What Performance Optimization Can Do For Your WordPress Site

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Looking to optimize the performance of your website prior to Black Friday / Cyber Monday? Get in touch with our team – we’re experts in scaling WooCommerce sites to handle large amounts of traffic.

Website performance is paramount. A slow website can frustrate users and impact your bottom line. This post explores how performance optimization can drastically improve your WordPress site’s performance, using a real-world example.

Black Friday & Cyber Monday: The Ultimate Test of Website Performance

Nowhere is website performance more critical than during high-traffic events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These shopping holidays can drive an unprecedented surge in visitors to your site, putting immense strain on your website’s infrastructure. If your site is slow or experiences downtime during these peak periods, you risk losing significant revenue and customer trust. According to studies, a mere one-second delay in page load time can reduce conversions by up to 7%, which is especially costly when traffic spikes.

To prepare for such events, optimizing your WordPress site’s performance is essential. This includes enhancing server response times, using caching mechanisms, optimizing images, and ensuring your hosting plan can handle the expected traffic surge. By focusing on performance ahead of these critical shopping days, you not only improve the user experience but also maximize your potential sales during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when consumers expect quick, seamless online shopping experiences.

 

before-after

Initial Setup and Migration

Our client, initially on WPEngine, migrated to Convesio and immediately noticed performance improvements. However, given that the site was a Learning Management System (LMS) with membership features, further optimizations were needed. LMS sites often face challenges since much of the content cannot be cached, making backend performance critical.

Analyzing the Performance Metrics

Using New Relic, a powerful monitoring tool, we captured key performance metrics before and after optimization. Initially, the app server response time was a sluggish 1300 milliseconds. Post-optimization, this dropped significantly to 877 milliseconds. This reduction is a testament to the effectiveness of our optimization strategies.

Key Optimization Techniques

  1. Database Optimization One of the first areas we addressed was the MySQL database. By implementing database indexing and custom configuration files for MariaDB, we significantly reduced the MySQL response time. Tools like New Relic help us analyze and fine-tune database queries, ensuring optimal performance.
  2. Upgrading PHP Running the latest version of PHP is crucial for performance. We upgraded the client’s PHP from version 7.4 to 8.2, which alone shaved off hundreds of milliseconds from the response time. This upgrade ensures that the PHP processing time is as efficient as possible.

Error Rate Reduction

Another significant improvement was the reduction in the error rate. Initially, the site had a 17.89% error rate, which dropped to under 2% post-optimization. Cleaning up errors is vital for maintaining a smooth and efficient site. It not only improves performance but also simplifies troubleshooting by reducing the noise in error logs.

Increased Request Handling Capacity

The optimizations also led to an increase in the site’s request handling capacity. Before the optimization, the site handled an average of 8 requests per minute, which increased to 22 requests per minute after optimization. This improvement allows the site to scale better, handling higher traffic volumes efficiently.

Conclusion

Performance optimization is not just about faster load times; it’s about creating a better user experience and enabling your site to handle more traffic. This case study highlights how a series of targeted optimizations can lead to substantial performance gains. Whether it’s through database tuning, upgrading PHP, or reducing errors, these changes can transform your WordPress site’s performance.

If you’re looking to enhance your WordPress site’s performance, consider these strategies. The results can be dramatic, offering your users a faster, more reliable experience and giving you the capacity to scale your application effectively.

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