Naturally, the heads at Google have committed to nurturing their healthy relationship with the users. Thus, in 2024, we expect them to implement significant changes reflecting the ever-changing user behavior. As you can imagine, to stay on top of the SERP, you must meet these changes and make your website a much more welcoming place. 

So, what will be the trends in 2024, and how should you tweak your SEO to accommodate them? Let’s find out. 

AI at the forefront

The rise of AI is simply remarkable. Since its inception, AI has grown by 20% each year. Moreover, experts suggest that its influence will only grow, expecting the industry to reach 15.7 trillion dollars by the end of the decade. Also, with 97% of smart device users interacting with AI on a daily basis, it’s no wonder that AI will take the spotlight in almost every aspect of online communication.

Google itself is increasingly relying on AI to understand and utilize users’ intent and create an algorithm that will sort the results based on genuine first-hand data. 

Bard and Gemini are the first steps toward building an AI empire and tapping into that market as well, showing their dedication to this industry. 

So, to stay ahead of the competition, you might want to enhance your website UX by implementing AI tools. You can also help yourself by utilizing AI SEO tools such as keyword research tools and link-building assistants. 

When it comes to content, AI can be of great help. Still, despite the significant advancement in all AI generators, one thing they can’t fake is personal experience. For Google, personal experience has always been a cornerstone of high-quality content, as it gives value to the user. 

So, next year, AI will be a hot topic. Thus, getting some AI tools ASAP would be wise and help you stay ahead of the competition.

SGE will be the new standard

Speaking of AI, Bard and Gemini are not even the best AI products that Google will introduce in 2024. Google’s Search Generative Experience is, without a doubt, the revolution in search engines we’ve been looking for. This cutting-edge technology uses AI to provide more natural, conversational, and personalized search results. So, instead of listing some links, SGE will try to understand the user’s query and provide a more comprehensive and interactive response.

Unfortunately, not everyone had access to the beta version, so we can’t talk from first-hand experience here. Still, if SGE is half of what it’s advertised as, this will be an entirely new chapter in Search engines and SEO as a whole. 

Unfortunately, this means new SEO guidelines for all website owners and SEO experts. First and foremost, we might be looking at the twilight of keywords. Website owners must shift to understanding the intent behind the user’s query. For example, if someone asks how much baking soda you need for a loaf of bread, advertising bakeries will be pointless, as, obviously, this user will make their own bread. On the other hand, retailers selling various cutleries, utensils, and electric appliances needed to bake the perfect bread can easily target them. 

Furthermore, SGE will focus on informational searches rather than transactional ones. This means Google will push back landing pages that aim for direct sales in favor of informative blog posts and other useful content that answers queries, not offer a product or service. True, this will make the sales department’s work much harder, but it will underline the need for high-quality infotainment.

Finally, SGE will focus on prioritizing user experience, so websites will have to be easily navigable, mobile-friendly, voice and image search optimized (more on that later), and, of course, have high-quality content. 

High quality is now a must

Yes, quality content will remain king. In February of 2023, Google made it clear that they won’t care if the content is AI-generated as long as it abides by their quality standards. Unfortunately, AI is not quite able to cover those entirely, as this includes personal experiences and added value that Chat GPT and other AI generators can’t produce. So, content writers can sleep soundly for now. AI is not taking your job anytime soon.

So, while an AI generator can create mediocre content by the ton, it can’t compete with genuine human-written texts, at least for now. However, what AI did was drive the quality standards higher than ever. Only ten years ago, keywords were enough to skyrocket you to the top of SERP. Today, you need to add high-quality images and videos, have perfect readability, and, of course, understand the material you are introducing.

So, how do you make sure you will retain your rankings in Google? Well, all you need to do is produce some genuinely high-quality content. To do that, you will have to either spend at least half a day writing your own blog or hire an SEO content writer to do it for you. Either way, you will have to make some new investments if you already haven’t. You will either spend money or time. The choice is yours. 

Expertise, Trust, and Authority are no longer enough 

Speaking of high-quality content, Google is no longer satisfied with showing your experience, trust, and authority on the topic at hand. The search engine is now fixated on experience as well. This means you need to showcase your personal expertise in solving the issues and queries of the users. In other words, the authority factor has transferred from industry to a specific topic. This push will become even more noticeable in 2024 as the focus shifts towards personalization.

Thus, to remain relevant, you need to follow the hub and spoke strategy. This strategy dictates creating dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller blog pieces, explaining specific aspects of a broader topic. Then, write a general topic and link all these smaller pieces inside to create a circle of knowledge. For example, writing on “Creating a digital marketing strategy” can be considered the hub. In this case, the spokes will be “how to build a winning landing page,” “how to create a compelling CTA,” and others.

Creating such cluster topics will be extremely time-consuming, but it will build an internal content ecosystem to keep users on your website longer, resulting in better ranking scores. 

Most importantly, however, learn how to write authoritatively, use proper data, and don’t mislead your audience. For example, citing unexisting research or quoting out of context to serve your own needs will be punished harshly by Google.

Finally, take your time to create your author’s bios. This will automatically give you some extra points and enhance your credibility in the community. 

Voice and image searches will be the focus

We’ve already mentioned it several times, but when it comes to SEO, it bears repeating. Voice and image searches are on the rise and soon will become the norm. Well, not in 2024, but still, there is a significant influx of people using those two methods to satisfy their queries.

 In 2024, voice searches are expected to reach 8 billion monthly. Another 12 billion will utilize Google Lens and image search as well. This trend is even more noticeable in the US, as about 85.4 million users utilize voice search on Google Assistant. 81.1 billion use Siri and about 73.7 billion use Alexa. 

Naturally, you must tweak your metadata to facilitate these changes in user behavior. People often speak differently than they type, so you need to account for that during SEO optimization and keyword research. 

Moreover, users most often use the voice-activated search mode to make a rapid search for a product or service.

The same goes for image searches. Google Lens is most often used to recognize a brand or an item and find out where the user can buy it. Naturally, high-quality pictures with properly optimized file names, tags, and alt tags are no longer recommended. It’s a must if you want to keep your top spot on Google and make sure that image searches will land precisely on your page. 

Still, when it comes to voice searches, people will use them to find a local solution to their problem.

Local SEO will become even more important

Local SEO efforts have been on such lists ever since 2018. Still, after the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive restrictions on traveling and moving freely, people finally realized how important it is to know your local market. So, today, around 46% of all Google searches have local intent. This means that half of all your organic traffic comes from people looking for a local solution to their problem. Furthermore, as already explained, most voice searches also seek a local solution.

Thus, in 2024, it’s a good idea to improve your local SEO so you can enjoy an influx of new customers. This includes optimizing your Google My Business profile. If you already haven’t, give as much information about your business as possible. Add a FAQ section and list your biggest benefits. In 2024, Google My Business should be on focus, and you must add posts regularly if you want to remain relevant.

Zero-click searches should be in the mix

2024 will be the year when zero-click searches will finally reach their potential. The zero-click search is practically a straight-away answer to a query that doesn’t need the user to click to receive. This information is above all results and often is the only thing that users will ever see. Unfortunately, zero-click searches, as the name suggests, won’t lead to traffic. 

However, it will do wonders for your branding. Users will see your brand as an authoritative website, leading to better credibility. Naturally, this will lead to increased sales in the long run, which is far more effective than just “cheating” the user to get on your website. 

Naturally, you need to answer Google’s call and make sure you can accommodate the user’s interest. As yourself, what’s the first question anyone would ask about your product? Give a straight answer within a blog post, preferably in the intro, and go for the lengthy explanations afterward. Naturally, some topics can’t be explained in 2-3 sentences. Still, if the question is which is the best hosting company, the answer HostArmada should be front and center, while the explanation of why can come later. And if the user is interested in your reasoning, they can go in and check it out.

Naturally, to qualify, you need nothing short of exceptional content. Research, quotes, and references are a must. But there’s more. You will have to make your content entertaining and easily scannable. This way, Google will be able to take snippets much easier, giving your website a better chance to be featured at the zeroed position.

Being fast will be more important than ever 

Finally, we have website speed. Now, website speed has always been an integral part of your SEO. Still, today, users are far more impatient, and even a one-second delay will tarnish your results significantly. It has been well-documented that site speed has a direct correlation with conversion rates, so naturally, the faster your website, the better your results will be.

The core web vitals you should always be on top of are the Largest Content Paint (LCP), the First Input Delay (FID), and the Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). LCP is the time it takes for the main content to appear on the screen. This can be an image, a text, or a video. FID refers to the time it takes for your website to respond to a user’s first Interaction. Finally, CLS are the unexpected movements on your page, which often leave the user frustrated and unable to complete an action. 

In 2024, the FID will be replaced by Interaction to Next Paint (INP). It measures the speed with which your website reacts to users’ actions. The faster your website responds, the better your ranking will be. 

So, you need to analyze these core vitals and tweak your website to meet and exceed the current standards. 

However, if nothing works, the problem might be in your hosting. In this case, all you can do is switch to HostArmada. Our cloud-based hosting offers lightning-fast website speed, robust security features, and 99.9% guaranteed uptime. This will significantly boost your SEO efforts, as speed, security, and reliability are among the cornerstones of user satisfaction. So, check out our plans and choose the one that suits your needs perfectly. Don’t waste time in taking this first and crucial step in upgrading your SEO in 2024.

The post 8 SEO Trends that will boost your Website Ranking in 2024 appeared first on HostArmada Blog.

Monetizing is a bit harder when you are a publisher or have a niche blog. You must find appropriate advertisers who’d like to have their banners on your website. This is time-consuming and, frankly, not that easy.

There is a better way – an easier way. All you need is Ezoic, the AI-driven ad platform that will help you monetize your writing efficiently, effortlessly, and practically in no time.

What is Ezoic?

Ezoic is a true game-changer in the world of online advertising. It utilizes cutting-edge technology to help publishers, bloggers, and other websites increase their user experience while at the same time monetizing their content. This platform is not just another network. It’s an AI-powered solution for finding and controlling ads on your website.

Ezoic has been helping digital publishers maximize their profits since 2010. While there are many ad networks out there, Ezoic is something more. It’s not an ad network per se, and it utilizes AI in its platform to accommodate each user’s specific needs.

What truly trusted Ezoic at the forefront of their industry is the AI-powered feature that allows ad optimization. The platform analyzes the webpage and automatically suggests the optimal number of ads. That’s not all, however, as it also means where the banners should be placed and what ads each individual visitor should see. While back in 2010, this was ground-breaking and not very efficient, 13 years later, due to the machine learning process, Ezoic knows how visitors react to different ads and their positions. As a result, today, Ezoic not only helps you with the initial positioning of the ads but also follows your readers and adjusts the ads so they can attract as many clicks as possible. Naturally, all of this is done automatically without needing your involvement.

Ezoic is not just about ads; it’s a comprehensive platform designed to enhance various aspects of your website. It can improve your site’s speed user experience and reduce bounce rates, all of which contribute to higher engagement and, ultimately, increased revenue.

However, the best part of Ezoic is its reach. The platform operates globally, with its ads attracting more than 1 billion clicks monthly.

Who is it for?

Anyone can benefit from Ezoic, but the platform was created with digital publishers in mind. So, if you are a professional blogger or content creator, Ezoic can be the difference between going full-time and remaining a part-time enthusiast. Ezoic offers more than just ads management. It is a powerful tool for leveraging advanced data science models for SEO, helping you reach higher search results rankings in engines like Google and Bing.

For major brands, Ezoic can be the tool that helps them take the next step in growing.

In short, Ezoic is for everyone who wants to monetize their website and grow their revenues through website ads.

Is Ezoic worth it?

The answer to this question is a resounding “Yes.” Still, as everything is good, there is a price to pay.

Though Ezoic is free to install, it does come with a cost. The platform will take 10% of your ad revenue. However, this shouldn’t deter you from using the platform. As a comparison, Google’s AdSense will offer you 68% of the revenues. However, most who trusted Ezoic were adamant that their revenues had doubled and even tripled. Thus, the benefits far outweigh the cost. Thus, the 10% fee is a small burden on their overall success.

Ezoic also offers a Premium program, which requires an upfront monthly payment. The premium accounts are expensive, and you should definitely consider your budget here. Still, if you have the means and you already know Ezoic’s powers, such an investment can be highly profitable, especially for large websites with huge audiences. The best part is that these premium earnings are only on top of your base Ezoic earnings, meaning the risk is even smaller.

Furthermore, Ezoic’s AI-driven optimization continually refines ad placements, further enhancing the potential for increased earnings over time. Ezoic also provides users with various subscription tiers, each tailored to different budget ranges, making it flexible and accommodating to a wide range of users.

For some, Ezoic Premium might be the key to unlocking even higher revenues, especially for those with substantial traffic. However, for smaller websites or those with less traffic, it might not yield the same lucrative results. So, if you are still new in the blogging niche, starting with the free version is more than enough.

Is Ezoic hard to use?

Working with Ezoic is effortless, mainly if you use WordPress as your CMS. For those users, Ezoic offers an actively developed and frequently updated plugin. This ensures the seamless integration with your website. With a dedicated blog that covers WordPress optimization in detail, Ezoic goes the extra mile to support users in their integration process.

Moreover, after the installation and start of the program, Ezoic takes control of the ads and automates the entire process.

So, if you are wondering whether you will be able to work with Ezoic, there’s really nothing to wonder about. The platform is intuitive and extremely easy to work with. Still, if you have any problems, the support will help you deal with them in no time.

What are Ezoic’s features?

While it is primarily known for its ad optimization capabilities, Ezoic also provides a suite of tools that can significantly improve your website’s speed, user engagement, and profitability. These features only enhance the user experience and make other plugins on your website redundant, thus making your website lighter and faster.

Speed optimization

Speaking of speed, any platform that offers integrating banners would surely have an impact on your speed. Still, it’s rare to see such a platform have a positive effect rather than slow your website down. Ezoinc has done its homework and offers tools for optimizing your website’s speed. These speed optimizations are a natural extension of Ezoic’s core function of placing ads on your website.

With Ezoic, you can enjoy the benefits of faster load times, ensuring a seamless user experience. The platform also promotes non-intrusive advertising to minimize the use of ad-blockers, ultimately helping you maintain your ad revenue.

LEAP

LEAP stands for Learning and Evolving Ad Placement. Clever indeed. This tool eliminates the need for third-party plugins to enhance the speed of your website. LEAP gives you a comprehensive report on what may slow down your website. It also offers site-wide settings for quick and automated performance enhancements, including optimizing fonts, scripts, ads, stylesheets, image loading, caching, and removing unnecessary code.

Moreover, LEAP offers an in-depth analysis of your site’s Core Web Vitals, helping you identify which areas require attention for optimal loading times. It also highlights input delays between clicks on your site, allowing you to fine-tune the user experience.

Caching Services

Yet another plugin has been deemed unnecessary, thanks to Ezoic’s caching feature. Naturally, this will boost the website’s performance further. The best part, however, is that you can customize your caching strategy without too much hassle.

However, exercising caution when clearing the cache is crucial, as this can temporarily impact ad revenue. Deleting cache data affects the Content Delivery Network (CDN), and income may decrease until the cache is refreshed.

Understanding cache ‘hits’ and ‘misses’ is essential, as ‘hits’ significantly increase ad revenue. This feature can result in a 25% gain in earnings, emphasizing the importance of efficient caching strategies.

Data Analytics

Ezoic truly offers an all-in-one experience with its comprehensive website data analytics features. While it duplicated a massive chunk of what Google Analytics does, it also adds some unique features. The platform offers an in-depth look at:

• Traffic sources and patterns.
• Visitor devices, browsers, and operating systems.
• Audience demographics, including language preferences and geographical locations.
• Bounce rates and visitor return frequency.
• Page loading times, caching, and other performance metrics.
• Visitor device usage and operating systems.

This extensive data can be invaluable for your growth strategy, understanding your customers better, and optimizing your content to become even more profitable.

Ad Tester

Controlling your ads is essential to maintain your brand image. It will give you the opportunity to customize how your readers see the ads. You simply need to agree to have your site monetized and set placeholders for ads on specific pages.

Ezoic’s AI-driven technology takes care of the rest. It automatically adjusts the placement, size, and density of ads for individual visitors based on their interactions. This dynamic approach results in higher ad revenue compared to traditionally placed ads, ensuring your site is optimized for both mobile and desktop users.

Ezoic Ad Charity

Ezoic’s Ad Charity feature is a unique addition that fills blank ad spaces with advertisements from recognized charities and philanthropic organizations at no cost to you. This benefits charitable causes and positively impacts your site’s reputation and Google Core Web Vitals, contributing to improved search engine rankings. Moreover, it gives your authority, credibility, and public image a significant boost.

Native Ads

Ezoic offers native ads that lead to other websites with content similar to yours. These sponsored ads or recommendations can help expand your audience’s interests, potentially increasing your ad revenue by up to 10%.

GDPR Compliance

If you are targeting the EU with your website, then you must be GDPR compliant. Now, there are several handy plugins for WP to handle this, but why add another plugin in the mix when you can simply use the already added Ezoic? Ezoic automatically defaults to optimal settings for compliance but allows you to customize various privacy-related elements like cookies, consent pop-up messages, and privacy policies.

Video Player

To top it all off, the platform offers a video player. This allows you to host and upload videos on your website. Now, you’d be wondering why you would place a video on your website when you can simply embed one from YouTube. It’s all about the ad revenues. By hosting your own video, you don’t have to share the profits with YouTube. Moreover, you are in control of the ads that will play on your video, which will increase your profitability.

Ezoic is a multifaceted platform that goes beyond ad optimization. Its features cover various aspects of website management. So, if you’re looking for a well-rounded ad network that could enhance your website’s performance, there is really no doubt whom you should trust.

How to start

Starting with Ezoic is truly seamless. The whole process takes several minutes, and the setup is anything but complicated. As an official partner of Ezoic, we at HostArmada created an easy step-by-step tutorial for our customers. Check Ezoic, and don’t hesitate to monetize your website immediately. The sooner you start, the sooner the money will start dripping. And, after all, what’s the point of having a website if it won’t bring you any revenue?

The post Why is Ezoic a must for monetizing your website? appeared first on HostArmada Blog.

Of course, big brands also have an advantage on the Internet, as their higher budgets allow them to create stunning customized websites that attract users with their interactivity and design. Fortunately, WordPress has leveled this playing field with its easily customizable and gorgeous themes. Not all themes are created equal, though. Some are built to support freelance portfolios, while others to complement business websites. Thus, today, we will focus only on those themes that eCommerce users can utilize to boost their sales. But before we get to the ten best options, let’s first answer the big questions.

Why do you need an eCommerce-ready WordPress Theme?

Since WordPress is the most popular solution for building websites right now, there are hundreds of thousands of visual themes out there. However, not all are ready to take on your eCommerce website since not all are capable of providing all the tools, features, and enhancements your online store will need. So, If you want to build a great eCommerce website, it’s best to use a visual theme that was created specifically for this exact purpose.

Let’s briefly review the other possible scenario – using a standard WordPress theme. Typically, WordPress themes that are not designated as suitable for certain use cases (like eCommerce, Blogging, News, etc.) do not provide specific design elements or functional components that will enhance the particular use case. For example, using a simple Blogging theme for your eCommerce website will not enhance the design of the page where the product can be reviewed in detail. Or, using an eCommerce theme for your Blogging website might end up adding several additional plugins that you do not need. That might potentially slow down the loading speed of your blog.

How do you pick the best theme?

Picking the best theme is not that complicated. In general, you need to have several key features in mind.

• Attractive Design – The theme should correspond with the needs of your industry. For example, if you offer a single product, a design highlighting more than one product on the home page would not suffice your needs.
• Resonance with your target audience – Do your research, check your competitors, and determine what visual or functional components your website should have to accommodate your audience.
• Responsiveness – This is now the norm, so finding any theme that’s not mobile-friendly and responsive would be quite surprising. Still, before you go ahead and choose your template, make sure it is up to the current standards.
• Additional mandatory components – Compatibility with payment gateways, social media integration, and inventory management tools are essential. While extended features like sliders, widgets, and translation readiness can save time and add value for your visitors, it’s crucial not to overload your website with too many add-ons or plugins, as this can impact speed negatively.
• Maintenance – By this, we mean the theme should have regular updates to be reliable, safe, and compatible with the newest WordPress versions. You don’t want a theme that will become outdated in a few months.

Now that you have a general idea of what to look for let’s get to our picks for the ten best WordPress themes that will help you boost your sales and website traffic.

1. Astra

When it comes to top-quality eCommerce WordPress templates, one can hardly do better than Astra. This theme has gained immense popularity and boasts numbers that other WP themes can only dream of. Its exceptional speed and clean design put it at the forefront whenever someone’s looking for a simple yet sophisticated-looking website. With 2.4 million downloads and a remarkable 5,600 five-star reviews, Astra can definitely brag about its numbers.

One of the key features of Astra is its speed. In a world where 2 seconds is the norm for a page to load, Astra delivers a high-speed solution thanks to its minimalistic design. This ensures a magnificent customer shopping experience and a low bounce rate, improving your search engine standings.

Another benefit of this theme is its compatibility with the most used page builders, such as Elementor, Visual Composer, and Beaver Builder. Moreover, it already has more than 240 ready-for-use templates, making building your first website as easy as clicking on a few buttons.

Most importantly, Astra seamlessly integrates with WooCommerce and offers specific templates for online stores in different industries. The theme’s compatibility with WooCommerce ensures that your store is equipped with the essential tools for managing inventory, processing payments, and engaging customers effectively.

To top it all off, Astra is quite flexible due to supporting self-hosted Google fonts. This allows the website owner to maintain their unique brand identity. It’s no wonder more than 2.3 million active websites use Astra. It’s simply the best.

2. OceanWP

OceanWP is a formidable contender to Astra’s eCommerce WordPress Theme dominance. The theme offers a multitude of features and has an impressive track record of being reliable and easy to use. This is enough to capture the hearts of many WP web designers, especially those sick of using Astra as the go-to theme.

OceanWP is unmatched when it comes to speed and performance. The theme is built for efficiency and loads lightning-fast. This is crucial when operating an online store, as customers rarely stick around for more than 3 seconds. Naturally, the fast load speed not only increases customer satisfaction but also plays a crucial role in your SEO efforts.

Like all other themes on our list, OceanWP is mobile-friendly and responsive, making sure your online store will look just as mesmerizing on a small screen as it will on a big one.

Like Astra, it seamlessly integrates with page builders like Elementor, Visual Composer, and Beaver Builder, giving website owners the power to create unique landing pages.

Additionally, OceanWP offers a host of native eCommerce features, such as a cart pop-up, floating add-to-cart bar, and product quick view displays. These features enhance the shopping experience and boost conversions, making it an excellent choice for online retailers.

OceanWP’s user-friendly approach extends to its live customizer, where users can easily tweak header styles, backgrounds, colors, navigation menus, and more to align with their brand identity. The theme also provides built-in templates for creating custom landing pages, simplifying the process of crafting unique content. With a stellar rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars on WordPress.org based on 5,305 reviews, OceanWP has garnered widespread acclaim for its performance, versatility, and user-friendly features. Unsurprisingly, more than 6.6 million websites use it to build their stores.

3. Divi

Divi is the brainchild of the renowned independent WordPress theme store Elegant Themes, and it is definitely worth checking out. Its versatility and powerful design make it an excellent choice for many online stores.

Divi wouldn’t be so successful if it weren’t for its seamless integration with WooCommerce. With over 25 dedicated WooCommerce modules and 20+ online shop-focused layout packs, Divi empowers users to effortlessly create stunning and dynamic product pages. The Divi Builder is renowned for its efficiency. However, it does have a slight learning curve despite the relatively simple drag-and-drop editor. Naturally, it does not support other popular builders like Elementor or Beaver Builder, so if those are the ones you are comfortable working with, Divi won’t do you any good.

On the other hand, Divi allows users to design their own cart and checkout page with utmost precision. This is crucial for branding and creating a flawless customer journey. Moreover, the building process is made even easier thanks to over 200 design modules. They can help website owners with zero development knowledge create truly stunning eCommerce pages.

The best feature Divi offers, however, is the Divi Marketplace, where one can further enhance their theme’s capabilities with third-party modules, templates, and layouts. This allows website owners to build a tightly niched-website.

On the downside, Divi is not free like most other themes here. Still, with 4.8 out of 5 stars, Divi has earned accolades for its user-friendly interface and powerful design capabilities. Users consistently praise Divi for its WYSIWYG editor, support for multiple languages, animations, and bulk editing features. So, if you are in a tighter industry niche, giving Divi a chance might be the best choice.

4. Flatsome

Flatsome has rightfully earned its reputation as the best eCommerce WordPress theme, standing out as a versatile and feature-rich choice for online businesses. With a plethora of benefits, it’s no wonder this theme has garnered a devoted following.

One of its most renowned benefits is the extensive customization options. The theme comes with the powerful UX Builder. This user-friendly, drag-and-drop page builder boasting over 30 content, nine shopping, and five layout elements allows users to get creative with their designs even when they have little to no web designer skills.

Moreover, Flatsome offers a treasure trove of pre-designed layouts, sections, and elements. This allows owners to make one truly spectacular online store. But more importantly, it allows them to meet their industry standards when it comes to design. This flexibility is paramount for more obscure industries with specific designer requirements.

Still, Flatsome has its drawbacks. The biggest one is its learning curve. Some beginners will feel intimidated by Flatsome’s customization options. Moreover, it has no free plan, so if you are just starting and you are not in a very specific niche that requires high customization, Flatsome will probably be a bit too intimidating for you.

Still, with its capabilities and vast customization options, Flatsome is definitely among our favorites despite its drawbacks.

5. StoreFront

Being the WooCommerce official theme should be enough to make our point about why StoreFront deserves a spot on this list. But there is so much more.

First and foremost, StoreFront integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce and all its products. This is a goldmine for anyone using the most popular WordPress plugin for their eCommerce website. As the official WooCommerce theme, it ensures that your online store operates effortlessly with the WooCommerce core, offering a harmonious eCommerce experience.

Moreover, StoreFront is entirely free, making it perfect for new businesses with limited budgets. Designed to be lightweight and accessible, the theme provides countless customization options. Altering the online store’s design, functionalities, and feel is effortless, making it perfect for website owners without coding knowledge. Moreover, the platform uses standard coding practices, which helps you enhance your SEO performance. This ensures a solid foundation for your search engine optimization efforts.

Despite all of this, StoreFront still has some limitations regarding customization. Users seeking highly specific and unique design elements may find themselves wanting some more flexibility in their customization options. Furthermore, the clean and straightforward design may look good, but from a branding standpoint, it’s a bit tricky, as some more flamboyant brands may find themselves stuck with a boring and sterile online store.

Still, StoreFront is a perfect choice for beginners who want to spring into action as quickly as possible.

6. Hestia

With over 3.7 million downloads and an impressive 96% rating based on 531 reviews in the WordPress Theme Directory, Hestia is truly a force to be reckoned with. Arguably, its greatest strength is its versatility. It integrates seamlessly with popular page builders and offers an array of customization options. Users benefit from unlimited color choices, multiple layouts, a highly adaptable header, social media integration, and numerous navigation menu possibilities. These features give website owners immense control over their website’s look and feel. Best of all – Hestia is entirely free.

Moreover, Hestia is renowned for its parallax slider, one-page design, and outstanding support. This theme is simply exceptional for one-product stores that want to create a customer journey from the homepage to the gateway.

Best of all, Hestia integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, page builders, sliders, and video headers. With its real-time customization and settings for product styling, many consider Hestia the best eCommerce theme. However, if you want to hop on that bandwagon, you must consider some of the theme’s drawbacks.

For starters, Hestia needs a variety of additional plugins for advanced eCommerce functionalities. This poses a considerable security risk. Still, if you are after a simple online store, Hestia is an outstanding choice on par with Astra and OceanWP.

7. TheGem

If you are looking for a theme that can give you vast creative power, look no further than TheGem. Its versatility and modern, innovative design make it an attractive choice for those looking to build a professional website with a creative edge.

With over 100 pre-made websites and 400+ multipurpose demos, users can access an extensive array of templates that focus on UX trends and incorporate impressive animation effects. Additionally, TheGem Blocks, a free plugin bundled with the theme, offers over 300 available page section templates, allowing users to mix and match their favorite sections and customize the look and content effortlessly.

Thanks to features like video parallax sections, which seamlessly integrate videos from YouTube and Vimeo, TheGem creates one genuinely inspiring shopping experience.

Moreover, TheGem has received positive reviews for its design, customizability, and excellent support, making it a well-rounded choice for online retailers. It supports popular drag-and-drop website builders like Visual Composer and Elementor, allowing users to create layouts that match their preferences and needs. The theme’s beautiful storefront design with rollover effects and lightweight nature further add to its appeal.

Still, despite these immense benefits, TheGem has its downsides. The price is one of them. If you are a newcomer on the market, you probably wouldn’t be able to afford TheGem. Moreover, all of these features make the theme a bit clunky. To top it all off, users may need additional third-party plugins to extend their eCommerce potential.

Regardless, if you have the money and you are after a creative solution for your online store, TheGem is probably your best bet.

8. Botiga

Botiga may not be among the most famous themes out there, but it definitely deserves its spot on this list. With its beautiful, minimal, and modern looks, it’s a genuine masterpiece of web design.

Botiga’s main benefit is its clean, SEO-friendly code, which contributes to the website’s outreach. Naturally, the load times of this theme are extremely good, which immensely enhances the user experience. But where Botiga truly shines is its customization. The theme allows users to fully tailor category layouts without the need for additional plugins. The premium version offers valuable additions like wishlists, one-step checkout, and product swatches.

Its compatibility with Gutenberg and Elementor further enhances the creative possibilities and ensures a smooth website-building experience.

Still, Botiga has some drawbacks. Though the free version is quite useful, you need to unlock the pro version to utilize the theme’s full potential. This, however, will cost you significantly above the average for such themes. So, if you are on a tight budget yet need enhanced eCommerce options, Botiga won’t suffice. Moreover, the straightforward design of Botiga is definitely not for the more flamboyant websites, so be mindful of what your industry expects of your website before you pay the hefty price for Botiga’s pro-version.

Regardless, the theme’s minimalist design and deep WooCommerce integration make this theme a perfect choice for those looking for a straightforward yet modern and stylish online store.

9. Zakra

Many would argue that Zakra has no place in a list like this. Still, considering the benefits and the fact that it’s among the rare themes with perfect scores, one can easily argue that Zakra is truly a hidden gem.

One of the key strengths of Zakra is its impressive performance. With over 50,000 downloads and a perfect rating of 5/5 based on 559 reviews, it has gained admiration within the eCommerce community. This lightweight theme integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, focusing on speed and delivering an excellent shopping experience. That’s more than enough for any beginner who just wants to spring into action.

Moreover, Zakra offers over 50 pre-built design demos, providing users with a vast collection of free theme options. This versatility allows for easy customization and adaptation to various types of online stores.

Of course, Zakra has its limitations. For example, some more advanced customization options, especially the mobile menu layout designs, are only available in the premium version. Still, if you have the spare funds, Zakra will give you more than enough to build one genuinely stunning online store.

10. Shopkeeper

Finally, we have Shopkeeper, undoubtedly one of the premier eCommerce WordPress themes. It boasts a plethora of benefits that establish it as a prime choice for online retailers.

One of Shopkeeper’s standout features is its beginner-friendly nature. With a quick and straightforward setup process and an extensive library of demo content that is automatically imported, users can kickstart their WooCommerce store without delay. Furthermore, the built-in Catalog Mode is a valuable addition, allowing the temporary suspension of orders or strategic marketing tactics like offering previews of upcoming collections.

Shopkeeper’s rich feature set includes 80+ pre-built page templates, 15 WooCommerce-specific block elements, four product page templates, and multilingual and multi-currency functionality support. The theme’s ability to cater to users seeking an efficient and hassle-free WooCommerce store setup makes it a standout choice.

However, some downsides should be considered. While Shopkeeper offers a free 6-month support period, extending it to 12 months incurs an extra fee. Additionally, while extensive, the theme’s customization options require familiarity with its settings to make the most of them. This may prove to be a difficult barrier for complete beginners to pass.

Still, Shopkeeper excels in customer satisfaction with its responsive design, seamless navigation, and stellar shopping experience. So, it’s a great choice if you envision fast growth with your business so you can allocate the funds and prolong your subscription.

So, which one’s the best?

Well, as we said earlier, it all depends on your needs. However, in general, choosing Astra or OceanWP as your initial eCommerce themes, especially if you have a tight budget and little knowledge of how to build an online store, is best. All other choices either need a substantial investment or cater to specific needs.

Regardless of your choice, for your theme to be efficient, you need one outstanding web hosting service. This is where we join in. HostArmada is the best solution if you are looking for a fast, reliable, and safe hosting service. And if you are planning on having customers 24/7 and dealing with their private data, all of these features are a must. So, check out our plans and choose the one that best fits your business plan. If you need help with choosing the right one, just contact our support team, and we will happily assist you.

The post Top 10 eCommerce WordPress Themes that will drive your sales up appeared first on HostArmada Blog.

What is a Bounce Rate?

Bounce rate is the percentage of people who leave your website after visiting a single page. In practice, this means that a person has entered your website and left without any interaction. Your bounce rate shows the quality of your website and its usability. Moreover, it may be an indicator of your website having a problem. The bounce rate can also point to various issues with your ad. So just ignoring this metric is definitely not in your best interest.

Furthermore, bounce rates are tightly connected with your SEO efforts. You will struggle to rank on Google’s top page if you have a high bounce rate. Despite Google not using Google Analytics data in its algorithm, they follow the user from their search engine. If they return quickly, it would mean they haven’t found what they were looking for, meaning your usability score would be hindered.

Naturally, these all mean a lower bounce rate would spell better results, more conversions, higher profits, and lower CPC, thanks to the better ranking. So, you should aim to be somewhere around the average or even below it.

What are the averages?

As you can imagine, bounce rate will differ depending on the industry. For example, the bounce rate would be very high for a website that provides just information without monetization. On the other hand, a website that offers a product or a service should have a much lower bounce rate.

Needless to say, you can’t get rid of the bounce rate altogether. Theoretically, if you create the perfect ad, which converts every single person who reaches your website, you can get a 0% Bounce rate. However, in practice, that’s impossible. So the averages are very important numbers, as they will determine where the Goldilocks zone is.

The average for an e-commerce website

E-commerce ads are usually targeted at a hot audience, which should be ready to finalize the purchase. So naturally, the bounce rate on such landing pages is significantly lower. On average, the bounce rate is somewhere around 20-40%.

Diagram: Backlinko

B2B websites

If your target audience is another business, you should expect once again a somewhat lower Bounce rate, as most often, when companies look for something, they are interested in finalizing the deal. It’s much rarer for such clients just to browse. Still, a bounce rate of 25-50% is acceptable.

Lead Gen pages

Lead generation campaigns also enjoy relatively high interest with a somewhat lower bounce rate. Nevertheless, it’s normal to have at least one-third of your visitors leave the webpage without any interactions.

None-e-commerce websites with content

Those content-driven websites are targeting a bit cooler audience. Thus, naturally, not all of them are ready to buy. A bounce rate between 35-60% is nothing to worry about in such cases.

Blog and news-driven websites

These types of pages usually have educational and informational purposes and rarely have the goal of ending up in a sale. But, naturally, people looking for information would come in and leave once they get their info. So on such pages, a bounce rate of up to 90% is something completely normal and would mean you actually accomplished your goal perfectly.

Is a low bounce rate always good?

Having barely any bounce rate is also not something you should celebrate. As we previously mentioned, a too-low bounce rate might mean you have some problems with your Google Analytics setup. If you have a 0% bounce rate, you certainly have a problem. You either messed up with the website setup, or no one is actually visiting your page. A healthy 20% bounce rate is the bare minimum you should expect, regardless of your page’s goal.

There are several places where you might have messed up the Google analytics implementation into your website. Duplicated analytics code in your header is the most common, as it’s easy to paste the code twice if you are not using a WordPress plugin. However, if you are using WordPress, the problem might come from another plugin that prevents Google Analytics from implementing correctly. Usually, you will get a notification.

Incorrectly implemented event tracking is also common if you don’t have experience with configuring your GA.

Nevertheless, a low bounce rate might be achieved by a specific website design that prevents people from living without taking at least one additional action. This includes redirects to other web pages. However, we wouldn’t recommend using such tactics, as that’s not particularly user-friendly. Forcing users to do anything usually is a bad idea.

How to set up your own baseline?

As you might imagine, using others’ averages is not the best way to follow your progress, so a better tactic may include creating your own baseline. This is especially true if you are presenting a unique service or product. Each product has its own bounce rate, as whether people are ready to make a purchase is dictated by many factors.

To set up an accurate baseline, you will need information on your potential customer’s interest level. This would mean you will have to go blind for a time and set a baseline based on that. Luckily for you, the common averages depending on your page’s purpose, will suffice at this stage. After you’ve gone through several campaigns in which you are using the basic average as a set point, you can determine your own average. Naturally, you will need to collect the data and analyze it.

Once you have some baseline, you can start improving your content, so your bounce rate will decrease.

If your bounce rate increases or you can’t reach the industry average, you might start to panic. However, remember that panic never solves anything, and you might as well just check where the problem might be.

Why is your bounce rate so damn high?

High bounce rates are worse than having some problems with your setup. While not getting the right metrics via Google Analytics is terrible for future decision-making, it does not hinder your conversion rate and profits. On the other hand, a high bounce rate will reduce your traffic, your sales, and your revenue. Moreover, it will take a toll on your SEO efforts.

The good news is that a high bounce rate is easily fixable. But before fixing the problem, you first need to define it. Several issues with your webpage or ad can cause a high bounce rate.

Slow loading speed

Speed is crucial for your website, as people lose interest quite quickly. According to researchers, each second of delay reduces your customers by 16%. On average, websites with a load time of 2 seconds have a bounce rate of 9% due to page load speed. On the other hand, a page that loads for 5 seconds has more than a 38% bounce rate due to the speed. This shows that people don’t waste time waiting for your website to come around. Instead, they go elsewhere to spend their money. While website loading speed often depends on the website setup, displayed content and used technology stack you can definitely benefit from the speed optimizations offered by your web hosting provider as well. Fortunately, here at HostArmada, loading speed issues caused by the web hosting service will not affect your website!

Content with low quality

Content is king. Yes, we tend to repeat this often, but we do it only because it’s true. Having bad-quality content is a recipe for failure, especially when you’ve hyped your website in the promoted ad. When your users come to a website with low-quality pictures, content with grammar or spelling mistakes, and questionable design, they tend to lose their confidence in your product and leave your website without even trying to understand what you are offering.

Errors

The only thing worse than bad content is no content at all. Promoting a page only for the URL to lead to an Error 404 page is what keeps UX experts and QA awake at night. Most often, users who stumble upon such a result would leave immediately, never to return. The bounce rate is not the only problem with missing pages, as they would instantly bring down your SEO score, leading to additional loss of traffic, customers, and revenues.

Targeting the wrong audience

Just like you won’t go into a gardening shop when you are looking for a beer, the same way the wrong audience won’t stay on your website if you don’t offer what they need. Naturally, this separation should be done much earlier by your ad’s copy. However, if your copy is not great and you haven’t implemented the right keywords in your content and metadata, you might attract an audience with little or nothing to do with your product or service. Naturally, they won’t stay around for long, and your bounce rate will skyrocket.

Bad backlinks

In today’s world, our content is anything but private. Anyone can share a link to your website for various reasons. Maybe they are trying to associate with you because you are an authority figure in your industry, or they just found some information exciting and are sharing you as the source. Regardless, you must know who is sharing your website and why. From time to time, low-quality websites may share and send you traffic that’s not interested in your product, leaving you immediately without further interacting with your website. Naturally, this would lead to an influx in your bounce rate by no fault of your own.

Responsive design

With 92.1% of users regularly using mobile devices to surf the internet, it’s not hard to imagine why this would be a problem. Whether it’s a mistake or you just decided to skip making your design interactive, your results will suffer. The best thing about this problem is that you can pinpoint it quite easily. For example, if your page has excellent results on desktop but has a high bounce rate on mobile, you can easily deduce what is most likely the issue.

No CTA

If you haven’t put a Call to Action on your page, what are the users supposed to do next? Having an audience that reads between the lines and understands hints is wishful thinking. You must tell your audience exactly what to do 100% of the time. Whatever your goal, just add a simple button at the bottom of your page, and don’t let them guess what’s next. Make sure, however, that your CTA is leading to the correct place, as mistakes would instantly ruin your dependability.

How to improve your bounce rate

Improving your bounce rate is almost always one truly effortless task. All you need is to be concentrated when preparing your landing page and to address all the problems that may occur promptly. So, let’s go through the solutions to all the issues we listed above.

Increase your loading speed

The best way to increase your website’s speed is by finding a reliable, fast, and secure hosting service provider. We love when we can be the perfect solution to a problem. Host Armada has outstanding offers that are tailored to your needs. We guarantee fast loading speed, significantly decreasing your bounce rate caused by low page speed.

Invest time in your content

Content is king for a reason. You can’t just copy and paste anything from the internet and expect great results. On the contrary, with bad content, you are inviting bad results. Invest some time and money into your content. Learn a bit more about writing for your audience, and if you have the budget, hire a professional content writer to help you achieve your goals. Each landing page segment has a specific target, and customizing it with your audience and goals in mind will get much better results, not only for your bounce rate.

Stay on top of Errors.

Errors happen. After all, we are human, and we tend to make mistakes. So just in case, make sure you create a fun, lighthearted Error 404 page that will lead your audience to a different page on your website, where they might find a suitable substitute. At the same time, you should regularly check your Google Search Console (GSC) for broken links and problems with your page. Once you see there is such a mistake, fix it immediately, or if there is no quick fix, stop the running ad, as it will do much more harm than good.

Double-check keywords and targeted audience

Having 20,000 visitors per day is amazing. Having them from the wrong place is a waste of money since they will all leave without ever consuming your content. For example, if you offer cowboy hats in LA, and for some reason, you target Dallas Cowboys fans, you won’t have much success. You will probably get several thousand visits and just as many bounces. So, follow your Google Analytics and GSC closely to stay on top of such small but crucial mistakes.

Remove bad links

GSC will help you with this one as well. That’s the tool you can use to find out who’s sharing your links and what anchor text they are using. You can go even a step further and check the quality of the website that’s shared your link. If the quality of the website is bad, or if it sends you bad leads, just sever the link.

Be mobile friendly

It’s really not that hard to make your design interactive. Most modern website builders do this automatically, but even if you have a custom web design, making it interactive is a piece of cake. Your first step, however, would be to see if your website is mobile-friendly. Go to the GSC mobile-friendliness test and see if your page needs improvements on this end.

Add CTA

We doubt that this solution is a surprise. Adding a CTA will improve your bounce rates significantly, as people will no longer wonder what’s next. Creating a simple CTA will bring you a long way, and all you need is just a compelling copy that will seduce your audience to take the next step in their journey.

Improve your general user experience

If none of the above helps, then the problem is in the user experience you provide with your website. The solution – invest in a better UX for your web pages.

Conclusion and our advice

Bounce rate is a very important metric that needs to be measured. No matter what measuring tool you will use, inspecting your website’s bounce rate at least once a month is a must. A high bounce rate is alarming, and the sooner you locate and fix the cause, the faster your page ranking in various Search Engines will improve. So adding this to your monthly routine of maintaining your website is definitely a good idea.

Our advice when you face such a situation is to investigate. Since you have the issue defined, you must dig deeper and see where that rabbit hole will land you. Often locating the root cause of the high bounce rate shows many issues with your landing pages or your ad copy so investing time and effort is the best thing you can do!

The post Why is your bounce rate so damn high? appeared first on HostArmada Blog.

Why are lightweight images vital for the success of your website?

The main reason you’d want to optimize your images is, of course, the website’s speed and performance. The pictures and videos on your website are typically the heaviest files that need to be loaded for the website to show. Heavy imagery means longer load time, and longer load time leads to fewer visitors. Using lighter images will immensely improve the user experience, and while it won’t necessarily bring you more customers, it will certainly prevent any loss.

Moreover, heavy images take a toll on your SEO score. Using weighty imagery is almost as bad as using low-quality ones, as Google is all about user experience, and both cases situate a problem that the search engine can’t ignore. So using lighter and SEO-friendly images (with included Alt text) will help you immensely with your SEO efforts.

The lighter images are more appropriate for the responsive design, which has become the standard in recent years. Naturally, you can’t afford to disregard any devices on which your website might be seen, as about 5.34 billion people on the planet have a smartphone, and about 60% of them have contacted a business directly using a search result.

Finally, there is the aesthetic point. You want your website to be as eye-pleasing as possible, so you need to know how a file format will change the image display.

As you can see clearly, having well-optimized images is not simply a whim that you can ignore but a highly valuable operation that will bring you a lot of benefits in the long run.

Five to-dos before you consider changing image formats

Before we get to explaining the different types of image formats and their pros and cons, for well-optimized website imagery, you need to take at least five steps beforehand. Let’s dive right in!

1. Use caching technologies

The cache of your website is what enhances the user experience the most. We can logically separate the caching technologies into three layers – Server Side caching, Application caching, and CDN caching.

Server Side Caching is a caching mechanism that aims to cache your website’s static and dynamic content on the Web Hosting server. That reduces the time your website needs to prepare the content for visitors.

Although part of the web hosting server, Application Caching is a caching mechanism integrated within the code of your website. For WordPress, that means using caching plugins like LS Cache or WP-Rocket, for example.

CDN Caching, on the other hand, is a caching mechanism that is not part of the web hosting server, however, it caches the static files (CSS, JS, HTML) of your website geographically closer to your visitors than the web hosting server is. This allows for faster loading speed in situations where the other two caching layers are not supported.

2. Compress the images you use on your website

Try always to use compressed images. They are smaller in size without compromising the quality of the visual. There are tons of plugins for WordPress that can do the job for you, or you can use a third-party program to do so. The important thing is not to load any data that won’t help you with your website’s appearance.

3. Use Lazy Loading

Typically when a person comes to a website, he wants to see the header and the Hero section, which appear on his screen. Almost no one scrolls immediately down, making the immediate load of images “below the fold” time-consuming and unnecessary. With Lazy Loading, you deliberately prevent these images from loading when your website is open, but instead, they load only when the user scrolls down. This means that via Lazy Loading, you can increase the website’s speed several times, depending on how heavy is your main (title) image.

4. Edit your images

Naturally, if you want your website to run fast, you need to customize your images according to their needs. This means you must cut off all parts of an image (or video) that simply won’t be shown due to the required dimensions.

5. Replace GIFs with HTML video

Animation brings your website to life, and many people add gifs to create one genuinely spectacular page. However, gifs are not particularly speed-friendly, as they are one of the heaviest file formats you can add to your website. The solution is to use HTML videos instead since they are way smaller in size and are better in almost every aspect. They reproduce more colors, offer more explicit pictures, and, most importantly, are quite effortless to insert on the webpage.

If you follow these steps, all your picture optimization will be immensely more potent and will allow you to make your website faster and more user-friendly.

While we are talking about image optimization, we need to address the elephant in the room and go through the best file formats WordPress loves, so you can choose the one that best fits your needs.

If you follow these steps, the image optimization will be immensely more potent and will allow you to make your website faster and more user-friendly.

While we are talking about image optimization, we need to address the elephant in the room and go through the best file formats WordPress loves, so you can choose the one that best fits your needs.

The fastest Image File Formats

Ordered from the most optimized, here are our top picks for image file formats you should use on your WordPress website.

1. WebP

WebP is a relatively new image format created by Google. Naturally, like anything created by the King of Search Engines, this formatting is way more SEO-friendly, and it’s quite a bit popular among website owners who use lots of imagery on their websites. Of course, suppose you are going for a website that predominantly uses pictures to communicate with its audience. In that case, you will need an image format that can handle compressions without affecting the quality of the image. In this regard, WebP is far better than PNG or JPEG. Moreover, the format usually uses smaller full-size photos, and it will take up far less space on your web hosting plan.

2. SVG

48% of all websites use SVG image format. Whenever you see vector drawings that have been quite popular in the past few years, they are SVGs. The main idea behind this format was to create a markup language that would render these images right into the browser. Unlike raster images, SVG doesn’t rely on pixels. Instead, it uses XML text to form a shape, much like mathematical equations result in graphs. Naturally, this means that SVG files are easily formatted and can be scaled up or down without negatively affecting the picture’s quality. Moreover, it’s supported by all known web browsers and can be implemented efficiently on almost any WordPress website.

The downside is that the format is not ideal for more complex pictures and intricate visuals. However, SVG remains the go-to format for logos, icons, and illustrations.

3. PNG

PNG is another raster graphic format, which allows for compression with a relatively small loss of quality. This is amazing when you need a responsive design with quality and detailed imagery. One of its best features is its text readability, making it perfect for memes and other text-heavy images. Naturally, this makes PNG the go-to format for websites that want to add infographics, screenshots, graphs, and banners.

The only downside is the relatively big file size, which, although compressed, may cause your website to slow down, especially if you overuse it. So if your website is full of high-resolution pictures, PNG is not the format you’ve been looking for.

4. JPEG

One of the most popular formats on the entire internet is JPEG. Nearly three-quarters of all websites use this format, as do Social Media giants like Facebook and Instagram. The format reduces the file size and quality, although not significantly. The most significant advantage is the relatively small file size you get, especially for the quality, although it’s not ideal if there is text on the images. The file format is supported by all known browsers and is the perfect choice for blog pictures, portfolio headshots, and product images. 

Which one is the best?

As usual, there is no conclusive answer to this question. There wouldn’t be a dozen file formats if they all did the same thing. It all depends on your needs and preferences.

For example, suppose you are using images to enhance your SEO goals further, and you are targeting people who rarely use Safari (for example, iOS users). In that case, WebP is the format you’ve been looking for. On the other hand, if your content is heavily vectorized and you only use icons, logos, and simple illustrations, then SVG is the better choice. Finally, you should look for PNG if you want a regular website with memes, banners, infographics, and other text-heavy images.

So probably the best answer here would be to use different formats depending on your needs. However, if we have to pick one, then WebP is our go-to format. Whatever you choose, please remember that the images are only one small variable in the big website loading speed equation. The most significant improvement comes from your web hosting provider. HostArmada is where you will find the best offers if you want a high-speed web hosting alternative.

The post The best lightweight image formats you should use on your WordPress website appeared first on HostArmada Blog.

The majority of users of web hosting services are enterprises, with the number of individual users projected to grow significantly from 2019 to 2027.

Source: Allied Market Research

So, judging by its exponential growth, it’s no wonder that the number of web hosting providers has grown to over 330 000 individual companies.

Aside from its exponential growth, new technologies have been introduced to the web hosting world. Today, we’re going to focus on one such technology – cloud hosting, compare it to traditional web hosting, see what the differences are, and discuss why cloud hosting is the better option.

So, let’s begin.

What is Traditional Web Hosting?

Traditional web hosting means that your application or website is hosted on one physical server. Each user rents space on a physical server where their data and files are stored. The two main types of traditional hosting are dedicated and shared hosting.

With traditional dedicated hosting, users get a whole server to themselves and do not share resources with others. However, dedicated hosting is quite expensive, and not everyone can afford it. However, users have complete control of their resources.

With traditional shared hosting, users get resources from a single server and share those resources with other users that use the same server. It’s the cheapest option available, doesn’t require too much maintenance, and the servers’ management and maintenance are in the providers’ hands. However, traditional shared hosting is quite limiting because users get a fixed amount of resources and cannot scale their websites and change the number of resources they use on-demand.

According to WebTribunal, shared hosting has a CAGR of 10.3%, while dedicated hosting has a CAGR of 5.6%.

Pros and Cons of Traditional Web Hosting

The main drawback of traditional web hosting is that ‘you put all your eggs in one basket.’ You are relying on a single server. So, what happens when that single piece of hardware fails? Worse yet, what if a cybercriminal enters the environment? What if other websites exceed their usage limits consuming a higher percentage of the fixed resources? You suffer; your website speeds and performance slow down, your security and user data are on the line, and you experience downtime.

What is Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting deploys applications and websites via cloud resources. It uses a network of connected virtual and physical cloud servers to host applications and websites, increasing flexibility and scalability. All types of hosting, including shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, etc., can be deployed using cloud solutions.

With cloud hosting, the providers take care of the setup, infrastructure, security, maintenance, etc. All resources are available online via an Internet connection. This means that customers do not need to have on-premise physical servers and do not need to manage and operate their own data centers because all the resources come from the provider.

Cloud hosting services are delivered on-demand, and users only pay for the resources they use, meaning they only purchase as many resources as necessary. Cloud hosting uses virtualization to split a physical server into multiple virtual machines or VMs, i.e., cloud servers that are used to host one website.

A cloud solution can be deployed using one of the five different deployment models:

• Public cloud
• Private cloud
• Hybrid cloud
• Community cloud
• Multi-cloud

According to Statista, around 49% of users intend to switch to a hybrid cloud model in three to five years. Also, the use of traditional data centers is set to decrease from 18% in 2020 to 2% in 2025.

Additionally, private cloud usage is expected to decrease from 22% in 2020 to 7% in 2025. So, hybrid clouds are set to be the most popular deployment method among users by 2025.

Source: Statista

Cloud hosting services are increasing in overall popularity in European countries as well. As a whole, the use of cloud services in Europe has risen from 36% in 2020 to 41% of enterprises, according to Eurostat. The most significant usage increases for cloud hosting services are in the Netherlands, where it rose from 53% in 2020 to 65% in 2021, the Czech Republic from 29% in 2020 to 44% in 2021, Slovakia from 26% in 2020 to 36% in 2021, Cyprus from 35% in 2020 to 50% in 2021, and Serbia from 19% in 2020 to 29% in 2021.

Source: Eurostat

Pros and Cons of Cloud Hosting

Cloud Hosting vs. Traditional Web Hosting

Resource Allocation

• Cloud Hosting – websites use resources from multiple servers, so if one server is down, websites continue working because they get resources from another server. Also, cloud hosting covers traffic spikes efficiently and easily
• Traditional Web Hosting – even though there are multiple options with traditional web hosting, all of them host websites on one server, so resource allocation is not as flexible. Also, in most cases, you get a fixed number of resources depending on the plan you purchase, which means you cannot change the number of resources you need on-demand (if you do, you are likely to pay pesky overage fees)

Performance

• Cloud Hosting – in most cases, performance is fast and stable due to the network of servers that providers use to deploy resources
• Traditional Web Hosting – performance depends on the hosting plan you choose and where the server you use is located

Website Traffic

• Cloud Hosting – the server infrastructure for cloud hosting is perfect for handling big spikes or any fluctuations in traffic
• Traditional Web Hosting – most traditional web hosting plans come with fixed traffic limits, making them unable to handle traffic spikes, which can cause your site to be unavailable for a long time. Of course, you can buy a traditional dedicated hosting plan to prevent this, but those are quite expensive, as mentioned above

Control

• Cloud Hosting – as mentioned, users have limited control over the servers and backend because the providers are responsible for virtually all technical aspects of the website. Still, reputable cloud hosting providers grant users a bigger say in their website operation, usually through root access or a beginner-friendly user interface, such as the popular cPanel control panel.
• Traditional Web Hosting – some types of traditional web hosting offers more control to users, like VPS and dedicated hosting, but most of them limit the control users have over their websites

Scalability

• Cloud Hosting – websites can easily and quickly decrease or increase the number of resources they use on-demand to accommodate traffic spikes or drops and to satisfy any other needs they might have
• Traditional Web Hosting – scalability is a bit challenging with traditional hosting plans and needs to be planned in advance because most of them come with fixed amounts of resources that cannot be changed on-demand

Technical Expertise

• Cloud Hosting – the setup is done and overseen by the provider, so users do not need to be tech-savvy to start using cloud hosting. However, some technical knowledge is needed if you want to customize it
• Traditional Web Hosting – while shared hosting is perfect for new users that are not tech-savvy, other options like VPS and dedicated hosting require significant knowledge and expertise

Cloud Hosting vs. Traditional Web Hosting: Key Differences

Is Cloud Hosting Better and Why?

Cloud hosting is better than traditional hosting because it supports dynamic growth and doesn’t limit users regarding resources. Also, it has a more efficient pricing system because users pay only for the resources they use.

Additionally, cloud hosting’s scalability is unmatched because users can increase and decrease the number of resources they need when they need them. Moreover, users do not have to manually remove or add server space like they do with traditional web hosting.

Cloud hosting works for anyone anywhere, and it isn’t dependent on location. Users can access cloud hosting services globally, on any device, both PC and mobile. On the other hand, location plays a significant role in traditional web hosting, and you need to be careful when choosing a server location because the further away the server is, the slower the loading speed of your website will be. Well, that’s until you have a Cloudflare CDN included in your plan.

So, if you have a growing or large business that needs flexibility, scalability, global access, and high loading speeds and uptime, cloud hosting is the perfect choice for you.

When to Choose Cloud Hosting

• If your business is experiencing traffic spikes or traffic is increasing in general, then you should switch to cloud hosting because it is built to handle any amount of traffic, and you won’t experience downtime
• If you have a site that experiences constant fluctuations and you are looking for more flexibility and scalability, go with cloud hosting
• If you experience a lot of power outages and slower speeds with your current plan, then you should upgrade to cloud hosting to prevent this from happening
• If you don’t know exactly how many resources you need and want to be able to change the number as you go, the right solution for you is cloud hosting

Summary

As we have seen from the data provided in this article, it is no secret that cloud hosting is on its way to becoming the future of web hosting. The number of enterprises and individuals that switch to cloud hosting continues to grow year in and year out, and that is not likely to change in the near future.

Cloud hosting works for everyone, from smaller businesses to anyone who can afford to spend a bit more than for traditional shared hosting but significantly less than for traditional dedicated hosting.

So, if you and your business need an affordable, highly flexible, easily scalable, fast, and reliable web hosting solution, you should definitely go for cloud hosting!

The post HostAdvice Research – Why Cloud Hosting Is Better Than Traditional Web Hosting? appeared first on HostArmada Blog.

Whether you are new to website building or an old-school webmaster, you have undoubtedly heard of the PageScore metric. There are loads of tools out there that help you measure it and ultimately help you optimize your website, making it faster. A fast website is a site that Google will rank higher in the search results and visitors will have a smooth browsing experience with, thus, making it their top choice when consuming the content you produce.

But what is common between website speed and PageScore? Are they related, and does having a 100/100 score will make your website fly? There is no ultimately correct answer, it is at the same time “yes” and “no”. 

A higher score will unquestionably result in better performance. However, you do not need to be stressed or obsess over raising it. The only real metric which is essential is website speed! You could have a bad score(according to some tools), but your website can still load very fast. As we mentioned above, Google does not care about the score – it cares about Speed!

Common Webmaster Practices

So, what is the first thing you do when you create your website and host it somewhere? Of course, you go to a speed checking tool, such as PageSpeedInsights, GTmetrix, or PingdomTools. So far, so good. 

Suddenly, you feel your head getting heavier, your pulse increasing, and a bitter taste in your mouth! The results are meager. The yellow, orange and red warnings are a lot more than the green ones! What happened here? At this point, you probably hate the world, you hate your hosting provider, and maybe even hate yourself a little bit. 

We urge everyone who sees a low page score for their site to remain calm! Having low scores is not the end of the world! Ultimately, no search engine or visitor will care about the score, as long as the Speed of your website, its design, and its content are excellent.

If you are reading this article, and the above description is very familiar, please take a deep breath and continue reading, as we got you covered!

In this post, we will go over the most widely used website performance tools. We will explain which scores are relevant and will result in a considerable speed improvement.

We will also cover the ones that you should ignore. In 99% of cases, fixing those will require coding knowledge concerning HTML, CSS, JS, and PHP. Additionally, addressing them will improve your site’s Speed by a negligible margin and is not worth it.

The Myth about PageScore

Surely, you have read many articles out there and watched many YouTube videos of gurus and experts explaining the importance of having a high page score. Most of them are either made by developers who have a deep understanding of their website’s code and optimize sites for a living or by people who have no idea what they are talking about.

This polarity we are talking about can be confusing, and many people get bent on the idea of looking for that 100/100 score, and they eventually go nuts in the pursuit. Our advice – ignore those false claims and focus on delivering the best content, most fantastic design, and speed for your visitors.

You can associate PageScore with grading in school. Having lower grades than some of your classmates does not necessarily make you unclever, as many intelligent people have bad grades in school, whereas a lot of people cheat on tests and can get higher results – does this make them smarter?

Before we proceed further, let’s explain something about page loading speed.

Perceived versus Actual Loading Speed

You may have come across the terms Actual and Perceived loading speed. The Actual loading speed of a page is the time it takes for the browser to show everything on it – this includes videos, photos, external scripts, texts, and pretty much all of the content there is. 

The perceived loading speed is the user’s perception of how fast they feel the website loading. Of course, this is a matter of perspective, as for someone, a site could load very quickly, whereas, for a different person, the Speed will seem slower. Naturally, performing optimizations on the Actual loading speed of a page will bring benefits to the Perceived Speed. However, it is much harder to pull off, as it will require development, technical, and financial means to achieve (in most cases).

Let us give you a vivid example that will explain what we mean.

Suppose you go to work and use the bus. Usually, the time it takes you to go to work is around an hour. To “speed” this process up, there are two actual things that need to happen:

1. The Speed of the bus itself has to increase
2. The distance to your job has to decrease

These two things are far harder to pull off, as they require a complete road infrastructure overhaul or a new bus with a brand new engine and more horsepower. 

Now, the question is, how can you make this trip feel faster. It is pretty simple, really – what you need to do is make the journey more pleasant for you, and this will reduce your perceived time. 

How can you do that? For instance, you can start carrying a book with you and read while you travel. You could also use your mobile data and browse around social media, listen to music, or watch a movie on your phone or tablet. Of course, any activities you do on the bus are up to personal preference. These activities affect your perceived time to get to work and make your experience a lot more entertaining.

Here are useful ideas of how you could apply the same concept for your website and improve the “Perceived” Speed of your pages:

1. You could use the lazy-load tech for images if you have a lot of them on your page. This addition will gradually and progressively load them as the user scrolls down.
2. Load the most significant content in the area “above the fold” on your page. This content is the first thing the user will see and will grab their attention while the rest of the resources are loading in the background.
3. You can add progression indicators (loading bars, spinning circles, or any animation that signifies progression). You may find them online as “preloaders“.

These are just some of the standard “illusions” used by web designers and webmasters to conceal the actual loading speed and make the user experience more pleasant.

The problem with the tools that usually measure loading Speed and PageScore is that they show only Аctual Loading Speed results, and these little tricks that improve UX are considered bad practices, and the site will typically get bad grades in terms of Speed and size.

My WordPress is Slow How Can I Speed It Up?

If Speed is what you are truly after, then be sure to check our Speed Reaper hosting solution. We have integrated the famous LiteSpeed web server as a drop-in replacement for Apache. Not only does it serve content a lot quicker than its counterparts, but it also makes your website more stable, allowing it to handle far more traffic than it can on a typical Apache server. 

It does not end there! As we offer LiteSpeed for our customers, they can integrate their websites with the LiteSpeed cache plugin, depending on their app. It blends perfectly with the webserver, taking the performance of every website to the next level!

Considering how famous WordPress has become in the last few years, we have invested the majority of our time and effort in fine-tuning our environment for WordPress and also provide our users the tools, know-how, and support they need to make it as fast as possible.

If you have a WordPress website that you think can use that extra speed it needs to outperform your niche competitors, be sure to take a look around in our blog’s optimization category. We have many articles that target the world’s most widely used application and more specifically – how you can improve its performance:

• WP-Rocket and it’s how it can sky-rocket your website
• Swift Performance – a free optimization plugin with a premium option
• Autoptimize & Cache-Enabler partnering to increase your website’s speed

If you are a customer of HostArmada and you wish to expand your website’s maximum potential, be sure to reach our technical support team over the ticket and request a review! Our experienced experts will surely provide great insight on how to speed up your WordPress and make you very happy!

Popular Tools to Measure Performance

We will go over three tools that we believe are widely used by website owners. We will explain how they work, their pros and cons, and which we recommend to measure performance. Note that you could use other tools available out there as well. Most of them work similarly and will show the same results. Of course, the practices we recommend in this post will apply to them too.

PageSpeed Insights

PageSpeed Insights is a popular tool by Google, which many webmasters use to weigh their website’s performance. Since November 2018, PSI uses LiteHouse technology and separates the analyzed data into two categories.

Field Data is a historical report of how your website performed throughout a given timeframe. It represents unbiased performance records from all the users who visit the website inside this timeframe from different devices and network conditions. This means that it may show faulty results in this category depending on the user’s ISP, their machine, and hardware. Additionally, if you have just built the website or transferred it over to a different hosting provider, note that this will change, and if you are getting bad scores now, you may see an improvement or decay in the upcoming months.

Lab Data, on the other hand, tests the page as it is right now, and it views a fixed set of conditions. Performing multiple tests in a row may show different results in that department. Most of the points it will make will be related to different types of resources on your site – JS, CSS, HTML, external resources, image sizes, encoding, etc. 

Things to note when using PSI:

• You are likely to see a low score on mobile because the tool performs the test using a suppressed 3G connection.
• PSI does NOT show you how fast your website is. 
• The location from which the tool performs the test is unknown. The location is a pretty big deal when doing a test, as it is natural that a website you host in the US will show worse results when visited in Asia.
• The device on which PSI performs the test is mid-tier and hardly represents mobile devices’ performance in general. Of course, people with older phones will have a worse experience than people using the latest flagships.

Despite the above, PageSpeed Insights gives you good advice regarding fundamental issues and can quickly fix them. For example:

• Properly scale your images: You need to make sure that you reduce your website’s images’ size as much as you can, without hindering their quality. This process will reduce the size of the page and, in that process, make it faster. If you are hosting your site with HostArmada and using WordPress, the LScache plugin offers a free option of scaling your images using quic.cloud!
• Minify CSS & JavaScript: Minification will remove any whitespaces, unneeded characters, or anything inside your CSS or JavaScript files that could increase their size. Fewer characters = less size = more speed! We recommend using Cloudflare for JavaScript and CSS Minification. It is a free CDN service you can register for right now! If you are using HostArmada servers, our technical team will be happy to help you set this up!
• Server images in the next-gen format:  Instead of using PNG or standard JPEG, you could use WebP for your image files, which offers excellent compression without sacrificing quality. 
• Enable text compression: This will notify you if you are using a compression method for your static content. Any standard hosting server should provide either gzip or brothli.
• Server Response Time: This is an important metric you need to ensure is as low as possible. HostArmada offers a wide variety of data center locations that guarantee a fast server response time for your visitors!
• Add DNS prefetch: To enable this, you add the “preconnect” or “dns-prefetch” tag inside the files where you fetch third-party resources.

The rest of the recommendations are generally related to the site’s content that requires coding. It would be best if you ignored them unless you are familiar with programming code and have a deep understanding of the application you are using.

Pingdom Tools

This tool is similar to the PageSpeed Insights, and it calculates identical metrics.

If you use this tool, you will notice two things that PSI lacks: the website load time indicator and the “Test from” option. If the “Load time” box gives you a value under 3 seconds, then you are excellent. Studies have shown that after 3 seconds of waiting, the user loses interest and is very likely to leave the website.

When selecting the location, you should pick the one closest to your targeted audience. If the results are not pleasing, consider switching to a data center near the visitors you want to attract. HostArmada offers 9 datacenter locations across the world, and you can pick whichever you want during the sign-up. If you are an existing customer, be sure to contact our technical team over a ticket and request a migration, which is COMPLETELY free of charge.

We recommend using this specific tool to measure performance as it gives you the most relevant information – loading speed!

GTmetrix

A recent update to GTmetrix integrated Litehouse tech, and they use a very similar method to track website performance as PSI. They separated the scores into two categories: GTmetrix Grade and Web Vitals, which are practically the equivalent of “Field Data” and “Lab Data” we mentioned above. Instead of using Numbers, they use percentages from 1 to 100, which is generally the same.

Let’s go a quick rundown of the most important metrics you should look at in GTmetrix. We will use a website hosted with us, but we will not show the client’s domain for privacy’s sake.

Summary Tab

• TTFB (Server Response Time) – The infamous TTFB(Time to First Byte), which you need to make sure is as low as possible because this is the ONLY metric Google and the rest of the search engines will consider when ranking the site. While this parameter does depend on the server where you host the site, in many cases it is hindered by the website’s content, even if the server itself is exceptionally optimized and polished. Another thing that can also affect the TTFB is the location from where you test the site. For instance, if you host the site in the US and perform a test from Asia, your application will have a higher TTFB. Additionally, the Server Response Time may be high under the following circumstances:
  • Page Size: The content on your pages, such as images, text, scripts, ads, and videos, form the so-called “page size“. A well-optimized page should not exceed 1 – 1.5MB, as the larger the page is, the more time it will take to load (naturally)!
  • Number of Requests: Each resource you have on the website (such as the one mentioned above) will be “called” by the server each time you visit your site. The more resources it has, the longer it will take the server to load them up and the browser to render them. A well-optimized page should not have more than 120-150 requests.
• First Content Paint – This shows your website’s time to generate images and text on the tested URL. For instance, if this value is 1 second – this means that it takes your website that much time to render any content on the screen.
• Time to Interactive – This performance metric shows how much time it takes your site to become interactive – in short, how soon can a client click around on links, posts, products, etc.
• Largest Contentful Paint – This metric will display how much time it takes for the most significant piece of content to become visible on your site.
• Onload Time – You can view this as the time when the browser has loaded the page entirely. For instance – if the site’s Onload Time appears to be very fast, you can consider this as the actual site loading speed. This brings us to the last thing you will see on the Summary page – The “Fully Loaded Time“.
• Fully Loaded Time – This is the final line you will see on the Summary Tab’s performance graph. Now, you should not panic if you see a big number here, as this shows the time in which EVERYTHING loads on the page – this includes ads, external links, scripts, and pretty much everything there is. Note that your website could be fully active a lot sooner, and the rest of the content, such as the one mentioned above, could load while the user is browsing. This fact is why Fully Loaded Time should not be considered a good indicator of user-perceived performance, and your focus should be on optimizing the site’s content, such as images, codes, themes, and plugins, first and foremost.

Performance Tab

• Speed Index – This performance metric shows how fast your website loads the “above-the-fold” content, typically the content at the top of the website (header). This metric is tied to how well your javascript code is optimized.
• Total Blocking Time – This metric shows the whole time your page was not usable by the visitor and he was unable to interact with it. It highly relies on your JavaScript code, and if you want to improve it, you should review that part of the site.
• Cumulative Layout Shift – This performance metric will measure your web elements’ unexpected shifting while the browser renders the page. The incremental layout shift depends solely on your website’s code, so we highly recommend specifying the width and height for the site’s media files. Additionally, you can use CSS aspect ratios to achieve the same result.

We believe GTmetrix is a better choice than PSI because it gives you an option to select the location from which to perform the test and includes information about your website’s Speed. You will see a bar separated into a couple of areas. The one you should pay the most attention to is the Largest Contentful Paint. This parameter will show the time it takes for the largest piece of content to become visible for your user. Naturally, the rest of the resources, such as images, videos, and various scripts, will load in the background while the user is browsing, so their experience stays intact.

Conclusion

All three performance testing tools we listed in this post are useful and could be a great asset when you want to speed up your website. It is crucial to understand how they work and which metric is relevant to performance so that you do not waste your precious time and nerves trying to solve a fictional problem. The tool that gives the most relevant information and the one we highly recommend to our readers is Pingdom. It gives a very clean, easily readable output containing the most valuable information – Page Loading Speed! Advanced users and web developers who have great knowledge of programming and can apply the proper changes to their content and code should use GTmetrix, and PSI to address what these tools recommend. We hope that this article helped you differentiate the good from the bad and you now have a clearer perception of what to look at when testing your website.

The post Is PageScore an Objective Metric for Grading Your Website Performance appeared first on HostArmada Blog.

Typically to speed up a site, you need to review its code and content and optimize those areas to enhance its performance. Unfortunately, not every user can write or fine-tune code, thus, an alternative solution was brought to light – caching plugins.

This convenient method of speeding up WordPress sites allows everyone to enjoy a fast loading website without going through the hassle of hiring a developer or investing time in learning to code.

Caching technology is quite complicated and we will not go over all the technical details surrounding it. We will attempt to give you an idea of how it works, and we will include the benefits of implementing it on your WordPress-based website.

What is caching?

The caching tech revolves around storing data types of your website (commonly static files such as HTML, CSS, and JS) in a storage called “cache”, which you can imagine as a memory for intermediate data. When this technology is active, your website’s first visit will fill this storage with the respective data types. Each consequent request towards the already-cached page will not query the server directly for the resources needed to deliver it to the client’s browser. Instead, the data will be pulled from this temporary storage and returned to the viewer’s browser faster, ultimately resulting in a much quicker loading speed.

How does Caching affect WordPress site performance?

In addition to speeding up your website, there are other benefits of using caching plugins:

• Improves UX (User Experience) as they navigate more smoothly on your pages.
• Reduces the number of requests made to your server, thus making it more stable and able to handle more traffic.
• Lowers TTFB (Time To First Byte), which is quite an important metric, especially if you are aiming to increase your SEO and your ranking in Search Engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.)

In the next few paragraphs, we will be going over a few WordPress caching plugins that we believe can be a great addition to your site’s arsenal. We have installed and used each of the plugins from this list to give our readers an accurate idea of what they can expect from implementing them on their sites.

Which caching plugins should you consider for your WordPress website?

We have made a series of blog posts, each reviewing a specific WordPress caching plugin. Each post gives detailed know-how of the plugin and its settings, and you should check out the one that seems most appealing to you. To satisfy each type of WordPress user’s needs, we have included both premium and free solutions and more complex and easy to use plugins.

LiteSpeed Cache

LiteSpeed Cache is a popular plugin amongst the community and for a good reason. A solid choice, especially if your server environment is empowered by LiteSpeed webserver. Be sure to check our comprehensive tutorial series on the plugin.

Pros

• Multiple installation methods which make it very flexible for both new and experienced users.
• Extraordinary static content caching capabilities due to its integration with LiteSpeed webserver.
• A tremendous array of settings, making it ideal for developers and high experienced WordPress users.
• Object caching integration option allowing you to set up Memcached or Redis for your WordPress.
• Image optimization if you register and use the QuicCloud, a free WordPress CDN service with extra benefits if you are already on a LiteSpeed webserver.
• LazyLoad for images and iFrames.

Cons

• Requires a LiteSpeed-powered server to be used, otherwise, the majority of the functionalities will not work.
• It has a cache prebuild option, but it requires the LiteSpeed crawler enabled for you to take advantage of this feature. If you are using a shared hosting server, there is a good chance that this is not active, as the crawler tends to utilize many resources.
• The massive amount of settings makes it very overwhelming for new WordPress enthusiasts.

WP-Rocket

WP-Rocket is a fan-favorite plugin amongst WordPress enthusiasts due to its user-friendliness and effectiveness. Make sure to read our WP-Rocket – Premium and Well-rounded WordPress Plugin blog post for an in-depth look at the plugin.

Pros

• 80% of the speed benefits come with the base installation and require no additional tweaking, making this plugin an ideal candidate for new WordPress users.
• Database optimization capability allowing you to refine your database.
• WP-Rocket is one of the few plugins out there offering optimization for Google Fonts.
• WP-Rocket has an average number of configuration options that will satisfy the needs of advanced WordPress users who prefer having additional fine-tuning options.
• It has a preload option that builds up the cache of all your pages if you clear it. However, it could be more taxing on the server resources, especially if you have lots of pages.
• LazyLoad for images and iFrames.

Cons 

• It could prove harder to install for inexperienced users as you cannot directly install it from your WordPress Admin Dashboard.
• There is no free or trial version available, which may be offputting to users that want to test it out first. They offer a 14 days money-back guarantee, which is more than enough for you to get an idea if this plugin works out for you.
• It does not have a direct object caching integration through its interface.
• WP-Rocket lacks an image optimization feature, which may be a deal-breaker for some people as there are premium plugins out there that have this option available.

Swift Performance

Swift Performance has been rocking it hard the past few years and has found a stable place in the caching plugins ladder. Feature-full, it stands tall, and if you like to use it to its full extent, check our Swift Performance – Free or Premium solution for Robust WordPress Optimization blog post where you will comprehensive instructions on the installation and configuration process.

Pros

• Swift Performance has a free and premium version making it ideal for people who want to test before spending money.
• The plugin has a vast pool of configuration options, making it more appealing for advanced WordPress users.
• Preset configuration options that newcomers can choose from removing the need to go through the hassle of manually configuring the plugin.
• Swift comes with an Image optimization feature that is easy to use and can save you money for a separate image optimization plugin/service.
• The plugin has a cache preload option that builds up all your pages’ cache if you clear it. This feature can be somewhat taxing on your server, mainly if you use a shared hosting solution.

Cons

• Swift Performance does not have a direct object caching integration, and to use such, you need to resort to other plugins to achieve this goal.
• Naturally, the premium version of Swift Performance has a price tag on it, which is not necessarily a con, as you do get a lot out of it.
• Using its interface to enable settings on your own will seem overwhelming if you are new to WordPress optimization.

Simple Cache

Simple Cache is a newcomer in the WordPress caching plugin pool, which has been gaining popularity steadily. While it may not have the depth of the other plugins in this post, it is a solid choice if simplicity and ease of access are what you want. If this is your choice, please check our Simple Cache – Free, yet Effective WordPress Optimization Plugin blog post explaining all there is for this plugin.

Pros

• Very easy to install and get started with it.
• Simple Cache is free and extremely easy to set up.
• Great static content caching build into its core and requiring no additional configurations.
• Despite its simplicity, Simple Cache allows the integration of object caching directly through its interface.

Cons

• Simple Cache has no preload option meaning that you may experience more inferior performance if you clear the cache before it generates it again. 
• No image optimization feature, which means you need to use external sources/plugins to do so.
• There is no flexibility to fine-tune the plugin, which will seem lack-luster to advanced users.

Cache Enabler & Autoptimize

A great duo that works in perfect unison with each other. The Cache Enabler will make sure that all your HTML files are cached, while Autoptimize will bring minification for both JavaScript and CSS along with other significant optimization tweaks. We would like to welcome you to check our Autoptimize and Cache-Enabler – the perfect combo for WordPress optimization blog post dedicated to these two WordPress plugins to find out more about their capability.

Pros

• Easy to install and set up, giving you fantastic performance even with baseline settings.
• Both Cache Enabler and Autoptimize are free.
• Both plugins have a moderate amount of balanced features, and both new and advanced users can use them intuitively.
• Solid caching & minification capabilities as each of the plugins excel at its respective niche.  
• This plugin combination is superb for new users who have just finished building their site.
• Cache Enabler is one of the few plugins out there that uses unique technology to serve WebP images, so if you use an image optimization plugin that can convert images to WebP format, you can get an even better result with this combo.

Cons

• As both plugins are free, they do not offer image optimization features.
• Advanced users may prefer other plugins with more configuration options available.
• There is no object caching integration through either of the plugins, and if you want to use it, you need to use other means.
• Both plugins do not offer cache preload.

Final Words

We hope our blog post helped you understand the importance of using a caching plugin for your WordPress website and choose the most suitable option according to your needs and knowledge. We realize that this concept could seem complicated for the average user, and this is why we have attempted to provide accessible information and options for both advanced and new users. 

Note that we at HostArmada have made our mission to help people who wish to use an affordable, secure, and fast service without any gimmicks. Our technical support team is 24/7 available and will be more than happy to install and configure the desired plugin for you. If speed is your primary concern, consider signing up for our Speed Reaper hosting plan. In conjunction with either of the above plugins, the LiteSpeed webserver will surely take your WordPress website’s performance to a whole new level!

The post HostArmada Top Choice WordPress Caching Plugins for 2020 appeared first on HostArmada Blog.

Thankfully, the WordPress community’s vastness gave birth to unique technologies and plugins to increase your site’s speed without editing any code. These plugins are commonly referred to as “cache plugins”, and there are quite a few options out there, which may all prove very potent in your quest for a faster site.

In this post, we will talk about a caching plugin, which is quite intriguing. Аfter personally testing it, we can confidently say that the widespread belief that it is one of the best on the market is on the spot!

Swift Performance Overview

One of the great things about Swift Performace is that it has a Lite version, which is entirely free! If you want to give it a shot, you can start with the free version, and if you like the results, you can upgrade and take the pro version for a spin!

The Lite version includes all the typical features a standard caching plugin comes with, such as the standard caching for static files, CSS, JS, HTML minification, and LazyLoad. You will also encounter a unique functionality in the face of the “Plugin Organizer”. It will let you control your plugins’ behavior on specific pages (backend or frontend) and to disable them when they are not needed.

The Pro version will include powerful niche features, such as Image Optimization, Database Optimizations, and more precise optimization for CSS and JS files powered by an API, which will also reduce the CPU usage on your server. The last-mentioned feature is exceptional for shared hosting servers and could potentially decrease your expenses by eliminating the need for upgrading to a higher and more powerful hosting plan.

To show our readers the most accurate and real results, we have deployed a template from the popular Avada theme that comes very close to what a production website would look and behave like. We will perform the speed test using the performance testing website GTmetrix.

Plugin Installation and Configuration

The installation of Swift Performance is no different than installing any other standard WordPress plugin. In our tutorial on How to install and configure the Swift Performance plugin in WordPress, you will find detailed instructions on the installation process of the free and premium versions of the plugin.

One of the primary advantages of Swift Performance is that it supports two configuration modes – manual and automatic configuration.

The availability of more intuitive and straightforward auto-configuration is a great benefit for users who do not have much experience with website optimization, yet still want to get impressive loading speed results.

Whereas, users who are keed with optimization get the chance to adjust a long list of configuration options and tune the plugin precisely as required for the particular requirements of their website.

Once the plugin is installed and activated, you will be prompted to choose the preferred method.

In the above-mentioned How to install and configure the Swift Performance plugin in WordPress tutorial, we have prepared a comprehensive overview of every single setting the plugin holds and the optimal configuration for ensuring the best possible performance of your website.

Let’s take a little peek on what the plugin configuration holds. It is divided into five separate tabs, containing specific settings related to different aspects of website caching and optimization.

• Dashboard – The “Dashboard” tab is where you can clear or rebuild the cache, check the cache status and pages currently cached, as well as to review the rewrite rules and logs.
• Settings – Under the “Settings” tab, you will find all the optimization settings this plugin offers, and they are quite a few. The page itself is separated into six sections, each targeting a specific area of your site to improve.
• Image Optimizer – Swift Optimizer is one of the few plugins that come with an integrated image optimization tool. The “Image Optimizer” tab is where you can find it and perform optimization to your image files.
• Database Optimizer – As the name suggests, the “Database Optimizer” tab is where you can tune the settings related to the database optimization.
• Plugin Organizer – Under the “Plugin Organizer” tab, you will be able to disable specific plugins on areas on your site where you do not need to load them.

Before Optimization Test

Let’s have some fun now and perform tests after applying the recommended optimization options. The screenshot below shows the site’s speed before the plugin installation and configuration.

The scores are between 70-80% and load speed of around 4 seconds, and TTFB is sitting at about 600 milliseconds.

After Optimization Test

After the installation, you can see the difference right away.

The loading time dropped down twice compared to the initial test, the scores went up, and the TTFB fell to about 80-100 milliseconds!

Final Words

The benefit of using the Swift Performance plugin is undeniable, and everyone looking to get similar results should definitely try it out.

Interestingly enough, even the free version packs a ton of optimization tweaks, which should appeal more to advanced users as there are few plugins on the market, allowing such fine-tuning capabilities.

Even if you are a complete newcomer to WordPress and optimization in general, but you like the plugin, you can go with one of the presets. We at HostArmada excel at helping our users achieve their goals. We believe that speeding up your website is crucial, and we recommend giving our fully managed hosting solutions a try. We offer free optimization services for our clients’ WordPress websites, and if you wish to use this plugin but do not feel comfortable enough applying the optimal settings on your own, feel free to contact our technical experts over the ticketing system in your Client Area. They will be more than happy to assist you.

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