My WordPress site waiting for other sites to load: 👁️👄👁️

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Happy Friday, hope you had a chill week.

There are so many cool designs out there that never get seen because the site they’re on is sloooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

And so, I want to give you my set up for any new site I work on.

Here's exactly what I install in the first 10 minutes of any new WordPress setup to never have to think about Core Web Vitals again:

1. Autoptimize - The All-in-One Speed Solution

Autoptimize is my favourite plugin to just cover all the “technical BS” for site speed.

Quick Setup:

1. Install Autoptimize

2. Enable "Optimize CSS Code"

3. Check "Inline and Defer CSS"

4. Enable "Optimize JavaScript Code" + "Force JavaScript in footer"

5. Enable "Optimize HTML Code"

6. Under Images, enable "Lazy-load images"

2. ShortPixel - The Image Optimization Powerhouse

And then ShortPixel is what I use to cover all image shenanigans on every site.
The free version is great, but I buy like $16 of credits per site and just never worry about it almost ever.

Quick Setup:

1. Install ShortPixel

2. Get an API key (free)

3. Set compression level (recommend "Glossy" for most sites)

4. Enable WebP image creation

5. Turn on automatic optimization for new uploads

That's it. Just two plugins, set up in under 10 minutes, and your WordPress site will consistently outperform competitors on speed metrics without any additional maintenance.

Why This Works So Well

When you set up these two plugins from day one (before adding content, themes, and other plugins), you're building on an optimized foundation rather than trying to fix problems later.

My typical results with this approach:

• New sites routinely score 85-95 on PageSpeed

• Load times stay under 2 seconds even as the site grows

• Bounce rates typically 15-20% lower than industry averages

• Mobile performance stays strong without additional work

These two plugins, when set up correctly, can significantly improve your WordPress site's performance. ShortPixel's free tier offers 100 images/month, typically reducing image sizes by 60-70% without visible quality loss. Autoptimize works well with HTTP/2 servers, making file combination less critical but still beneficial for certain WordPress sites.

Not affiliated with either, just my recommendations after 10 years of building websites.

Important Compatibility Note

While these plugins work flawlessly on 99% of sites I've worked with, I've had one instance where Elementor didn't play nicely with Autoptimize. If you're using Elementor and experience any strange behavior after installing, try disabling JavaScript optimization in Autoptimize first, or exclude Elementor's scripts from optimization.

Power User Tips

If you've mastered the basics and want to take your optimization even further, here are some advanced techniques for each plugin:

Autoptimize Power User Tips:

1. Critical CSS: Use the "Inline and Defer CSS" feature to generate critical CSS, improving First Contentful Paint scores.

2. JavaScript Optimization: Use the "Exclude scripts from Autoptimize" option to prevent specific scripts from being aggregated or minified.

3. Preconnect to 3rd Party Domains: Add important external domains (max 6) to improve connection times.

4. Async JavaScript Files: Specify certain external JavaScript files to load asynchronously for improved page speed.

5. Page-Specific Optimization: Enable "configuration per post/page" in Misc Options to control Autoptimize settings on individual pages.

ShortPixel Power User Tips:

1. Background Optimization: Use the new 'Background mode' to optimize images without keeping a browser tab open.

2. Custom Folders: In the Advanced section, add folders containing images you want to optimize outside the Media Library.

3. Cloudflare Integration: Integrate directly with Cloudflare using a Cloudflare Token for automatic cache synchronization.

4. HEIC Support: ShortPixel now supports HEIC file format, automatically converting and optimizing images from iPhones.

5. AI Data Mining Prevention: Use the new feature to control whether AI bots can use your images for machine learning training.

For Existing Slow WordPress Sites

Already have a WordPress site that's struggling with speed? Last year I built a comprehensive site speed prioritization dashboard that helps identify exactly which pages to optimize first (based on all the Google’s oen).

Several of you found it super helpful, and I'd be happy to update it with some new features. Reply to this email with "DASHBOARD" if you'd like me to share the updated version next week.

What's in YOUR day-one WordPress setup?

I'm always looking to improve my new site setup process. What plugins or settings do you install on day one of every WordPress build?

Hit reply and let me know - I'll compile the best ones into a complete "Day One WordPress Setup Checklist" to share in an upcoming newsletter!

✌️ Tim "console.log('blazingly fast')" Hanson
CMO @Penfriend.ai