Many WordPress website administrators recognize the frustration of sluggish website performance. You may have already implemented fundamental optimizations, like image compression, caching mechanisms, and typical speed enhancements; however, page load times remain unsatisfactory.
Often, the underlying issue stems from an easily addressed problem: websites transmitting excessive and unnecessary data.
Technically, this is referred to as the ‘network payload,’ which represents the total data volume needed for a page to fully load. This encompasses text, images, videos, CSS stylesheets, JavaScript files, fonts, and various other code elements.
Fundamentally, decreasing the volume of data for download translates directly into quicker page loading speeds.
If your aim is to boost your website’s loading speed, then you’ve arrived at the perfect resource!
This guide details precise methods for minimizing file sizes and preventing excessively large network payloads within WordPress.
Why Are Enormous Network Payloads in WordPress a Problem?
Have you ever used a tool like Google Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights to check how fast your website is?
Occasionally, you might encounter a notification indicating, ‘Avoid enormous network payloads.’
In essence, it signifies that your webpage is excessively large, akin to an overpacked and cumbersome suitcase. Loading a large webpage consumes more time, which can lead to user frustration.
A webpage’s network payload is the aggregate size of all its constituent elements. These elements include:
- Text: The words you read on the page
- Images & Media: Pictures and videos you see
- Code: The CSS and JavaScript files that make the page look good and work correctly
- Fonts:The custom styles applied to your text.
- Along with any other custom elements present on the page.
Consequently, the greater the combined size of these elements, the longer it will take for your web page to load fully.
What constitutes an excessive size? Here’s a straightforward guideline:
- Good:If the total size of all elements on your web page is below 2 MB, it’s akin to carrying a light bag. This indicates good optimization, resulting in quick loading times, so there’s no immediate need for concern.
- Needs improvement:A web page size between 2 MB and 4 MB suggests some weight that could be reduced, similar to carrying a slightly heavy backpack. Google will likely offer suggestions for improving speed.
- Enormous:A web page exceeding 4 or 5 MB is comparable to carrying an oversized, overflowing suitcase. This will noticeably slow down your website for visitors, making optimization crucial.
If you encounter the ‘Avoid enormous network payloads’ message, expand it to view a detailed list of all resources contributing to your web page’s size.
Notice that the largest files are listed first. Prioritizing the reduction of these larger files, or removing unnecessary ones, will yield the most significant gains in WordPress performance.
Reducing the size of these files decreases the data required to view the web page, leading to faster loading times.
Now that you understand the implications of large web pages, let’s examine strategies for avoiding them in WordPress. The following eight tips will be discussed:
- Make Your Images Smaller
- Embed Videos the Right Way
- Use Lazy Loading on Images and Videos
- Decrease JavaScript and CSS File Size and Count
- Compress Files via Gzip
- Leverage Browser Caching for Reduced Redownloads
- Minimize Font Usage or Switch to System Fonts
- Steer Clear of Performance-Hogging Plugins
- Frequently Asked Questions About Network Payloads in WordPress
Ready to begin? Let’s get started!
1. Optimize Your Images for Size
Large images are a primary driver of substantial network payloads.
Modern cameras produce high-resolution images with large file sizes, but these are often unnecessary for web display.
Image optimization can shrink files by up to 80% with minimal quality loss, substantially reducing your website’s network payload.
At CanadaCreate, image optimization is a standard practice before uploading, including resizing and file size reduction using specific tools.
Refer to our guide detailing our image optimization process for web performance without quality compromise; it’s based on our exact workflow.
2. Use Proper Video Embedding Techniques
Careful video display is crucial if you incorporate videos on your site.
Direct video uploads can inflate network payloads and degrade site speed, especially with autoplay enabled.
Embedding videos from platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo is the recommended approach.
☝ NoteWe stream videos on YouTube. Find our WordPress video guides on the CanadaCreate YouTube channel.
This lets you show videos on your site, but they reside on another server, not affecting your network payload.
This is helpful because your server avoids heavy data transfer. Platforms deliver videos efficiently, adapting to visitor internet connections.
Video players from these platforms often load video only when clicked, minimizing initial data transfer.
Embedding videos on your site is simple using embed codes.
See our guide on why you should never upload a video to WordPress for more information.
3. Use Lazy Loading on Images and Videos
Lazy loading helps avoid large network payloads, especially for image or video-heavy sites.
Normally, a browser downloads all images/videos immediately when a page loads, even if unseen.
Imagine if a restaurant brought out all your courses at once instead of one at a time. It would be overwhelming!
This is what happens on a webpage if lazy loading isn’t implemented. Everything needs to be downloaded up front, even if the user can’t see it yet.
This is obviously not ideal, as it means that your website has a large payload, and you download lots of data even if the user doesn’t view the content at the bottom of the page.
The fix for this is called Implementing lazy loading techniques.
Think of lazy loading as a restaurant that only serves the next course when you’re ready.
With lazy loading, images and videos only load as a user scrolls them into view. This ensures the browser downloads only the necessary content, when needed.
This strategy cuts down on the initial network payload and overall data transfer.
Consult these guides to configure lazy loading on your WordPress site:
- How to Easily Lazy Load Images in WordPress
- How to Easily Add Lazy Loading for Videos in WordPress
- How to Lazy Load Gravatars in WordPress Comments
4. Decrease Javascript and CSS File Sizes and Quantity
A highly effective method for minimizing your website’s network payload is to decrease the size of your CSS and JavaScript files.
CSS files dictate your site’s styling, while JavaScript files manage interactive elements.
Frequently, these files contain unnecessary spaces and comments. Removing these elements safely reduces the file size.
The files will continue to function as intended, but users will download less data, improving page load speeds.
This process is known as minification. You can automatically minify files using a WordPress plugin like WP Rocket.
See our guide on how to minify CSS and JavaScript files in WordPress for more information.
Frequently, a website’s various sections will use distinct CSS or JavaScript resources. For instance, there might be a dedicated file for the header, another for the body content, and further files for specific plugins.
Numerous small files often perform worse than one larger, consolidated file. When loading many files, the browser separately requests each, increasing the overall download size. To improve this, merge these smaller files into a single, larger file.
Popular plugins such as WP Rocket (premium) and Autoptimize (free) can automatically combine and minify CSS and JavaScript files.
You can find detailed instructions on using these plugins in our guide focused on resolving render-blocking JavaScript and CSS issues within WordPress.
5. Shrink Files With Gzip
File compression represents another method for reducing website file sizes. Gzip compression can substantially reduce text-based files like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Gzip compression can often reduce file sizes by as much as 70% before sending them. This leads to a significant decrease in the amount of data that needs transferring.
It speeds up file downloads and contributes to faster WordPress website loading times. After receiving the compressed data, the visitor’s browser automatically decompresses the files, showing them on the screen.
Gzip compression is compatible with all widely used web browsers, so you don’t need to verify individual browser support.
Many effective caching plugins, such as WP Rocket, WP Super Cache, and W3 Total Cache, include Gzip compression support.
CanadaCreate previously benefited from using WP Rocket. Consult our WP Rocket review for complete details.
WP Rocket activates Gzip compression automatically if your server uses Apache. Other caching plugins may require you to enable it within their settings.
Refer to our guide explaining how to enable Gzip compression in WordPress for step-by-step directions.
6. Implement Browser Caching to Minimize Redundant Downloads
To further minimize the network payload in WordPress, particularly for sites with returning visitors, consider implementing browser caching.
Without proper caching, visitors would have to re-download every element of your website with each visit, resulting in a very slow experience.
Upon a first visit, a browser downloads all necessary components: images, CSS, JavaScript, and other resources. Browser caching allows the browser to store these files locally.
Subsequent visits trigger the browser to check its local cache before requesting the same files from the server.
If a cached copy exists, the browser uses it instead of re-downloading. This significantly lowers the network payload and provides returning visitors with a faster and better experience.
Of course, if your website content changes frequently, like a news website or a blog that’s updated regularly, then you’ll need to tell browsers when to re-download the latest versions of your files. This will make sure everyone gets the most up-to-date content.
You can control this by adding Expires headers in WordPress. These headers tell the browser when a saved file should be considered old and needs to be updated.
7. Use Fewer Fonts or System Fonts
Fonts can make your website look great and improve how easy it is to read. Using custom fonts can make your website unique and encourage your visitors to spend more time browsing.
But imagine if you had to download lots of different fonts each time you visited a website. It would take a while to show everything on the page.
The key is to use a small number of fonts on your website. We recommend sticking to just two main fonts and using them across your entire site. This reduces the total number of files your visitors need to download.
Even better, you can use system fonts instead of custom fonts.
System fonts are fonts that are already installed on people’s computers. Think of it like using the standard fonts on your computer, such as Arial or Times New Roman.
If you choose system fonts for your website, then your users don’t need to download any extra files at all! This significantly reduces the size of your network payload and makes your website faster for visitors.
For more information, see our guide on how to disable Google fonts on your WordPress website.
8. Avoid Slow Plugins
Plugins can negatively impact website speed and enlarge the network payload due to the inclusion of excessive JavaScript and CSS files.
Consider plugins as tools for your site; some are efficient, others resource-intensive. Overuse of heavy plugins inflates your website’s download size.
Identifying slow plugins isn’t always obvious, so investigation is necessary. Consult our guide on identifying WordPress plugins slowing down your site for further details.
Once you have identified the plugins contributing to larger page download sizes, several choices are available to you.
You can contact the plugin creator to explore efficiency improvements, or seek an alternative, faster plugin offering similar functionality.
For plugin suggestions, refer to our guide on selecting the best WordPress plugins.
👉 Related Post: If you’re hesitant about contacting a plugin developer, our guide on properly requesting WordPress support (and receiving it) can help.
Occasionally, essential heavy plugins are unavoidable. However, you can still boost site speed by selectively loading the plugin only on relevant pages, rather than site-wide.
The Plugin Organizer plugin (free) lets you disable plugins on unneeded pages, thus reducing the network payload on those pages.
💡 Need Professional Help?
If you lack the time to resolve the ‘Avoid enormous network payloads’ issue, consider having WordPress professionals manage it.
Our Site Speed Optimization Service includes image compression, lazy loading, caching setup, and more. We’ll even provide a before and after performance report so you can see the improvement!
Frequently Asked Questions About Network Payloads in WordPress
Below are some frequently asked questions about reducing network payloads within WordPress. The provided answers should improve your understanding of the technical and implementation aspects.
1. What exactly is a network payload and why does it matter for my WordPress site?
A network payload is the total amount of data (images, CSS, JavaScript, HTML, etc.) that your website sends to a visitor’s browser when they load a page. Large payloads slow down your site because visitors have to download more data, which is especially problematic for mobile users or those with slower internet connections. Google also considers payload size when ranking websites, so optimizing it can improve your SEO.
2. How do I determine the current size of my network payload?
Tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, and your browser’s developer tools can be used to assess your network payload. In Chrome, press F12, access the Network tab, and reload the page. The total size will be displayed at the bottom. Aim to maintain a total payload under 1-2 MB for best performance.
3. Will reducing network payloads affect my website’s functionality or design?
When implemented correctly, optimization focuses on refining and compressing existing content, not eliminating features. You retain full functionality and visual appeal, but deliver content more efficiently. Still, test all changes on a staging site before applying them to your live site.
4. How frequently should network payloads be optimized?
You should monitor your payloads monthly and optimize whenever you add new content, plugins, or themes. Set up regular audits using tools like Google Search Console to track your Core Web Vitals. Major optimizations might be needed quarterly, but ongoing maintenance should be part of your regular WordPress maintenance routine.
5. Is it possible to reduce network payloads without deep technical skills?
Yes, various optimization methods can be done using plugins like WP Rocket, Smush, or Autoptimize. These tools manage image compression, file minification, and caching automatically. However, a developer or WordPress expert may be needed for more complex optimizations.
Bonus: Expert Guides Related to WordPress Performance
We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to avoid enormous network payloads in WordPress. You may also want to see some guides on other ways to improve WordPress performance:
- The Ultimate Guide to Boost WordPress Speed & Performance
- Why Is WordPress Slow? Learn How to Fix It
- How to Speed Up Your eCommerce Website
- How We Boost Page Load Speed on CanadaCreate
- How to Properly Run a Website Speed Test
- Best WordPress Caching Plugins to Speed Up Your Website
- Explore the benefits of using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for your WordPress blog.
- Learn effective methods to minimize the number of HTTP requests on your WordPress site.
- Discover how offloading your WordPress media files can significantly enhance your website’s loading speed.
- Understand the importance of WordPress database maintenance and how to optimize it for performance.
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