Boost Your WordPress Site’s Speed with GZIP Compression

Does your WordPress website feel sluggish? In today’s fast-paced world, slow loading times can lead to frustrated visitors and lost business. Luckily, there’s a simple yet powerful technique to boost your site’s speed: GZIP compression.

 

What is GZIP Compression?

GZIP compression is a method that reduces the size of your website files by compressing them before they are sent to the visitor’s browser. This compression technique can shrink file sizes by up to 70%, resulting in quicker loading times and reduced bandwidth usage.

 

Why Use GZIP Compression for Your WordPress Website?

• Improved Page Load Speed: Compressed files load faster, providing a seamless user experience.
• Bandwidth Savings: Smaller file sizes mean reduced bandwidth consumption, which can lead to cost savings.
• SEO Benefits: Faster loading times can positively impact your search engine rankings.
  Enhanced User Experience: Quick-loading pages keep visitors engaged and satisfied.

 

Enabling GZIP compression in WordPress:

There are two main ways to enable GZIP compression on your WordPress site:

Using a plugin: This is the easiest method for beginners. Popular caching and performance optimization plugins like W3 Total Cache and WP Rocket often have built-in options to enable GZIP compression. Simply activate the plugin and navigate to its settings to find the GZIP compression option.

Modifying your .htaccess file : For more control, you can manually enable GZIP compression by editing your website’s .htaccess file. This requires access to your server’s files via FTP or a file manager. Here’s the code snippet you’ll need to add at the beginning of the .htaccess file:

<IfModule mod_deflate.c>

# Compress HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Text, XML and fonts
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/vnd.ms-fontobject
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-opentype
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-otf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-truetype
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/opentype
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/otf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/ttf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml# Remove browser bugs (only needed for really old browsers)
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip
BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
# Make sure proxies don’t deliver the wrong content
Header append Vary User-Agent env=!dont-vary
</IfModule>
</IfModule>

 

Adding function ‘ob_gzhandler’: Another easy and safe method to enable GZIP compression add the code below code in your theme’s functions.php

 

function custom_enable_gzip_compression() {
if ( ! is_admin() && function_exists( ‘ob_gzhandler’ ) ) {
ob_start( ‘ob_gzhandler’ );
}}
add_action( ‘init’, ‘custom_enable_gzip_compression’ );

 

By implementing GZIP compression, you can significantly reduce your WordPress site’s loading times, improve user experience, and boost your search engine rankings. With just a few simple steps, you can enhance the speed and performance of your website, ensuring that visitors stay engaged and satisfied with their browsing experience.