Why speed is very important?
Google back in 2010 revealed that they would be using the site speed in web search ranking.
At times, there are situations when you are using a theme and a number of plug-ins that are enabled and run on the same page.
However, it is not necessary that you use all of them in order to improve the speed of your website and make the HTML source code cleaner well for debugging purposes.
It is more advisable for you to prevent the styles and scripts from loading.
For example, you can decide to use the plug-in that will generate contact forms and loads its JS CSS files in all your pages instead of doing it only on the contact page.
Not only will you be able to have your site rank higher, but you will also be able to make your visitors happier and will at last end up having more conversions if you put emphasis on making your page load faster.
In most cases, you will be using plugins and themes that are loading a good number of Javascript files and CSS and end up having a slow pace due to the number of HTTP requests and the JS errors due to the conflicts between the unoptimized JavaScript files that are loading on the same page.
For example, you might decide to use a plugin that generates contact forms and loads its assets in your entire website page instead of doing it only on the contact page.
The WP Asset CleanUp will offer you a method you can unload all your assets that are not required in your pages.
It will be able to print all the files that are enqueued on WordPress and be able to decide the one that does not belong to that page.
What Makes Page Speed Slow Down?
Many factors can contribute to slow page speed. Some of the most common elements that negatively affect speed are:
Un-optimized WordPress plugins
Page speed can quickly drop depending on the type of plugins that the site uses.
Try and use only what is necessary to the site to keep the load times down.
Cheap web host
Saving a few pennies on a web host might seem like a great idea at first.
In reality, a cheap web host is usually a low-quality web host, which can ultimately slow down the entire loading process.
Complicated themes
Though the additional graphics, designs, and effects may look impressive, one of the most common issues with complex themes is that they take too long to load.
Embedded media
Including video clips can be a great way to enhance user interaction on your site, but it is also an excellent way to slow down page speed in the process.
Bulky code
Code can certainly influence page speed, as bulky coding will make for sluggish sites. In order to create optimum performance, code should be well-written and as clean as possible.
Lots of redirects
Having a ton of redirects to other URLs can double the total load time, resulting in a significant decrease in page speed.
This can be particularly discouraging for users on mobile devices, increasing site abandonment.
User Experience is Improved
Whether using SEO tactics to increase overall traffic or to keep users coming back with valuable and relevant content, user experience is critical.
Slow Pages Waste Crawl Budgets
Google puts aside a certain amount of time to allow each website to be crawled and indexed.
This means that there is only a brief span of time for a website to be analyzed and assigned a ranking slot in the search index.
Pages that don’t have performant page speeds will spend the majority of that valuable crawl budget trying to load.
This means that, rather than evaluating an entire site, the crawl budget will only have enough time to evaluate a few pages.
This could have a huge effect on whether a site is properly indexed.
When leveraging SEO tactics to improve rankings, a great way to improve rankings can be as simple as improving page speed.
Speed Is King
Let’s be honest, speed is one of, if not the most important, stat on your website. It keeps visitors happy and helps you rank higher on search engines. However, it can be tricky to figure out what is slowing down your site.
Thus, I recommend using a tool like GTMetrix to perform a WordPress speed test. Of course, just about everything you add to a site slows it down. This includes adding additional plugins or loading a page with a lot of images or video content.
One of the best ways to speed up your website is to remove unnecessary HTML code and that is exactly what the Asset CleanUp plugin does.
What Is Asset CleanUp?
Asset CleanUp is a frontend optimization performance plugin that helps optimize your WordPress site’s assets. It is a great way to improve the speed and performance of your site. This can help you reduce the size of your page payloads, so your visitors will experience faster page loading.
A free version of this plugin is available in the WordPress plugin directory. You can install it in just a few clicks. The pro version is also available at a low price if you want to get more features to enhance your WordPress website performance.
How Asset CleanUp Plugin Works?
Asset CleanUp Pro is a straightforward tool for optimizing & improving the performance of your WordPress website. The plugin allows you to modify and combine external files to improve website performance.
Besides. it combines, minify and cache scripts and stylesheets on the fly. It is designed to work with any WordPress theme and plugin.
You can use it to reduce the size of your pages, which is convenient for users with slow internet connections. This plugin reduces the number of HTTP requests and optimizes frontend pages.
Additionally, it speeds up your website by combining assets into fewer files. This is suitable for combining with backend page caching as well.
Overall, it’s a handy plugin that you should try if you want to improve the performance of your website, including speed and loading.
Top Features of Asset CleanUp Pro
- CSS & JavaScript files optimization
- General & files management
- Test mode
- CDN rewite Assests URLs
- Site-Wide unload for common CSS & JS files
- Remove unused elements from the <head> section (HTML source cleanUp)
- Local font optimization
- Google fonts: load optimizer
- Disable XML-RPC
- Plugin manager (Individual plugin’s script optimization)
- CSS/JS manager
- Minify / Combine loaded CSS & JavaScript files & more.
Ready to Install Asset CleanUp?
Installing Asset CleanUp
The Asset CleanUp plugin boasts that it will trim the fat out of your website and only load the scripts that are needed. In particular, it focuses on cutting out unnecessary CSS and Java, while reducing the actual HTML code.
This is a very good way to optimize your website for speed and the plugin makes it easy to do. Let’s begin.
Note: Asset CleanUp recommends using a caching plugin alongside to get better results. Combined, tools like this can increase website speed in WordPress while making it more efficient.
How to Install Asset CleanUp?
Installing this plugin in WordPress is not different than other plugins. However, if you are a first-time user and want to install the Asset CleanUp WordPress plugin, follow these instructions:
- Login to your WordPress Dashboard.
- Go to Plugins > Add New.
- Search for “Asset CleanUp” Plugin. (for the free version) [if you want to install the pro version, just simply click on the upload button, then upload file]
- Click Install Now, then Activate the plugin.
Now you are done.
How to Configure Asset CleanUp?
You already know that WordPress has tons of useful features and add-ons, such as widgets, themes, and plugins. But sometimes, they can slow down your site if you are not using a caching or performance plugin.
The process of configuring Asset CleanUp is not tricky. However, you should configure each option carefully to avoid unexpected problems.
To configure the main settings of Asset CleanUp, the first step is to visit the plugin settings page after activating the plugin.
Simply navigate to ‘Asset CleanUp Pro,’ then click ‘Settings,’ where you will find many options to configure. I will explore the most relevant settings in this guide.
Using Asset CleanUp
In the Asset CleanUp settings screen, you’ll have a variety of options for how the plugin works. For the most part, these options will depend on your site and what you need to accomplish.
Here is a brief breakdown of what these options do, and you should take your time making adjustments. It’s easy to break a site when you’re trying to increase website speed in WordPress while enhancing performance if you’re unsure what a setting controls.
Plugin Usage Preferences
This section manages the overall behavior of Asset CleanUp. Things like managing in the dashboard or front-end, Asset List layouts, usage tracking and more are found here.
Test Mode
In the Test Mode tab, you can enable the feature for debugging. This is useful if you’re trying to pinpoint exactly what CSS and JavaScript you want on the website.
Optimize CSS
The Optimize CSS portion gives you the chance to combine stylesheets to reduce the total page size of your site. It comes with minifying, deferring and combining options.
Optimize JavaScript
The JavaScript optimizing section works just like Optimize CSS above. You can minify, combine and inline JavaScript as necessary. However, inlining is locked in the pro version.
Site-Wide Common Unloads
If you have elements on the site that are unnecessary, you can unload them from here. You can disable emojis, oEmbeds, Gutenberg CSS blocks and other elements.
HTML Source CleanUp
In HTML Source CleanUp, you can remove tags in the <head> section of the website. For instance, you can remove RSD tags, Windows Live Writer and WordPress version tags.
Local Fonts
If you use local fonts on your site, you can set them to preload. This can cut a few MS off of your time depending on the fonts you have.
Google Fonts
While Google Fonts are great for adding style to a website, they also slow it down in some situations. In this section, you can combine, preload and preconnect to improve performance.
Disable XML-RPC
If you need to disable XML-RPC, Asset CleanUp makes this easy. You can choose to leave it, disable pingbacks only, or disable XML-RPC altogether.
NOTE: Some of these options may be disabled if you have another optimizing plugin installed. For instance, W3 Total Cache also has minifying options. Asset CleanUp will let you know if this is the case.
Check Your Load Times
It is very difficult to tell if your website is actually faster without a tool. I strongly recommend using GTMetrix to run a speed test on your website. It will also list what it found wrong on the page and potential ways to fix it.
Regardless of what testing app you use, the data is valuable if you want to increase website speed in WordPress.
However, if you notice that something is wrong, remember to use your backup to fix it.
Which scripts did you disable with the Asset CountUp plugin? Did you notice faster load times afterwards?
In Conclusion
In general, the Asset CleanUp is an excellent plugin for optimizing WordPress sites, especially for those who are suffering slow loading & core web vital issues.
Furthermore, it also speeds up the WordPress website by removing all unnecessary files and scripts.
Based on my research and practical experience, Asset CleanUp’s settings and configuration are a bit complicated, but that doesn’t matter since they have an excellent beginner’s guide for each option of the plugin.
Aside from that, you’ll know how to use it quickly and easily. As a result, I recommend configuring all possible settings (that need to improve your site speed) of Asset CleanUp so that your WordPress site will be faster than before.
