Want to make your WordPress website faster and more durable? Then the WP Rocket plugin is a convenient solution. Because a fast and optimized website generates fewer emissions. Find out in this article how to create a sustainable website with WP Rocket.
Disclaimer: using WP Rocket is a way to make your site greener at a rapid pace. This is especially useful for existing websites. Are you going to create a website from scratch? Then consider a sustainable website from the beginning. Want to know how to do that? Read here how to make your own sustainable website.
Having a fast website is important. It keeps people on your website and makes your site more findable in search engines like Google or Ecosia. And in addition, a fast website is also good for the environment because it has lower CO2 emissions.
What is WP Rocket?
Now there are numerous cache plugins, but WP Rocket stands out head and shoulders above them in terms of features. For example, this plugin also allows you to host Google Fonts locally. That means that only the fonts you choose will be loaded and not the entire library of hundreds of typographies right away. Not only good for your speed and the environment, but also for the privacy of your visitors!
A cache plugin is one way to make your website faster. Check out other ways to speed up your WordPress website here.
Who developed WP Rocket?
How much does WP Rocket cost?
How do you make your website sustainable with WP Rocket?
Still, you can optimize and make your site even more sustainable with WP Rocket. Below you can see how different features contribute to an even faster and more sustainable website with WP Rocket.
1. WP Rocket: optimizing files
Optimized website files reduce data traffic and processing power on the visitor’s browser. This therefore generates less CO2 emissions with each page visit.
Important: Know what you’re doing, because your website could break. If you are not familiar with this, then I recommend skipping this step or hiring a web designer or developer.
2. Lazy loading for images
Applying lazy loading loads only what is really needed, reduces data consumption and saves energy.
You can optimize images even further, for example in the modern webp format. Find out here how you can optimize your images without loss of quality.
3. Host fonts locally
Hosting fonts locally can also be found under dashboard > settings > WP Rocket > Media. You tick, WP Rocket automatically creates a new folder on your server where the respective Google Font is placed.
By the way, did you know that hosting fonts locally is also privacy-friendly? That way you can be sure that your font is on your European server and not somewhere in the US where they have different privacy standards.
4. Removing revisions
Once you remove hundreds of revisions, the number of KBs per page usually really goes up. And the lighter your pages and blogs are, the smaller your carbon footprint. That contributes directly to a sustainable website with WP Rocket.
How do I know if my web pages are sustainable?
By taking advantage of the above features, you can significantly reduce the number of KBs per page. To check this, you can use the Digital Beacon tool. This measures exactly the number of KBs to the decimal point. Above all, try to keep your total page weight below 1 MB. In fact, the consensus among sustainable webdesigners is that a sustainable webpage weighs less than 1 MB.
Keep in mind that this is a trial-and-error process . You’ll probably spend some time with this. You’re checking and unchecking things and monitoring the KB count in the meantime. Are these going down? Then you’re good to go. If these go up, then you’d best take a different approach by working with a different function.
By the way, did you know that a sustainable website starts with sustainable hosting? Read here all about sustainable hosting.