Please inspect my site

  • hi,

    I would like some WP expert to inspect my site, I have solid tech knowledge and work in SEO and this is bugging me so much, so here’s a small recap….

    I have a rather small site that is [ redundant link deleted ] which I use for posting my photos and for some other stuff, here are the specs:

    – shared server, hosted in UK
    – latest WP version
    – Gridsby theme (free version)
    – Cloudflare enabled but I switched it off since seems to be worse?

    then I have the following plugins installed:

    add-to-any
    advanced-cron-manager
    better-wp-security
    cookie-notice
    create-and-assign-categories-for-pages
    glue-for-yoast-seo-amp
    google-analytics-dashboard-for-wp
    log-cleaner-for-ithemes-security (on demand)
    really-simple-ssl
    w3-total-cache
    wordpress-seo
    wp-smushit

    all updated to the latest version

    The thing that is driving me nuts is that on FIRST LOAD the site is extremely slow, as in takes me up to almost 4 seconds. If you load it right away after again it’s blazing fast. I am in Amsterdam right now.

    the other strange thing is that on Google PSI test I get now 81 on mobile and 98 on desktop that is very good. Web Page Test all A’s except the no CDN – when cloudflare is off.

    Server load is OK. server is not running out of space.

    is it the TTFB the problem?
    is it the server reacting slowly?
    is it the theme?

    I also checked redirects and the site does only one 301, I checked chains with screaming frog and even on a non https request it does only one hoop which is the way it’s supposed to be.

    Anyone can help?

    thank you,
    Gabrio

    • This topic was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by Jan Dembowski.

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

  • I lost count but you have 30+ images on that first page…

    That takes time to render them yet the site actually loads fine it’s just that initial pause that is bothering you but people like me who enjoy a decent picture or several usually don’t mind the wait. Your images are worth the wait.

    There are tricks to getting around the initial delay by loading a low-resolution image or even a placeholder image in grayscale for each image but that’s not a WordPress function.

    As to the Cloudflare proxy… sometimes it slows things down a bit initially. Over time it often compensates for that initial slowness by Proxying content out on its edges. I’d let it unless the actual numbers dictate otherwise.

    Cloudflare considers itself a CDN and in the strictest sense it is but a true CDN will usually store most static content it finds and never needs to download it again under normal circumstances.

    Do keep the Cloudflare active (with the proxy turned off if you wish) as that is one of the absolute best DNS services you’ll find.

    You might try something like ‘Lazy Load’ which will keep images in the off viewport areas from loading until the visible images load. It’s almost magic or a mind trick in my book but it does work in some instances.

    https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/rocket-lazy-load/

    I see you are running W3 Total Cache… keep that! It helps control your site’s caching activities across the whole web all the way to your visitor’s browser even.

    Thread Starter gab81

    (@gab81)

    thanks for you reply and feedback about my photos, I used to work as pro photographer back in the day now more of a hobby eh eh…

    I gave a go to the rocket lazy load you suggested and actually something weird is happening, just like when I used autoptimize which is also very good by the way, have a look at this :

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/p2aymxcah70cpo7/lazyloadON.png?dl=0

    maybe I need a new template altoghether….

    Thread Starter gab81

    (@gab81)

    looks like it’s the theme, I switched to the 2020 temporarily and it’s quite fast… what you suggest? any nice free theme for displaying photos with tiled effect?

    im gonna do some browsing later… ??

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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