Most websites get dismal speed scores at Google page speed, ranking in the '60s' or so, and WordPress speed specialists brag about reaching a 90 score for mobile. But we normally score '100' for both mobile and desktop. And we can get you there, too.
People regularly ask us how we got so much faster than even the most renowned speed specialists. While we can't share all our secrets or proprietary code here, we can tell you a few of the basics:
— Nginx Server
Most web hosts use Apache or similar web servers, but we use Nginx, which is what professionals and big sites use (including the WordPress site itself). Nginx is much faster, but is avoided by shared hosting companies because it is harder for them to configure. We get it right.
— NO shared server using 1,000+ sites!
Most shared hosting companies have over a thousand sites per server! This is why they get so slow, and are prone to bugs and security attacks. We cap the number of sites per server at under 50! Yup, more than 20 times less sites per server, and that translates to speed for you. (We can even set up a unique virtual server just for you at an added $9.)
— No page builders!
Page builders are a type of system for designing sites, but they slow the site down because of all the extra bloated code they need to function. We don't use page builders (unless you request them).
— Avoid 'Gutenberg', which is a page builder.
Some years ago WordPress introduced its own basic page-builder, called 'Gutenberg', but it adds a lot of bloated code that slows your site down. So a fork called ClassicPress emerged that removes this and creates leaner, faster sites.
— NO Need for a CDN !
We achieve all these super speeds without usually needing or using a CDN (Content Delivery Network)! From our super fast server in the New York area, we can usually load sites in about one second for all of the U.S., Western Europe, and even as far away as Brazil. But for visitors in Asia, that might be 2 seconds, and for Australia, 3 seconds. So if you have a lot of visitors there, you might consider a content management system, which keeps copies of your images and static files on various servers around the world, so they reach your visitors quicker.
But CDNs can actually slow small sites down. That's because the cache on these servers only stays there one or two days. And the first visitor who gets there afterwards has to wait an extra long time as the server looks for it, and reloads the cache, all before sending it to your visitor. This is called ‘warming the cache’. If you don't have a lot of daily visitors in these distant places, then it's probably not worth it, as CDNs can be expensive and troublesome to manage. You can talk to us about your case. (Also, we plan to open a server in Singapore soon.)