Website Optimization to me has been a struggle since I switched from the traditional website to WordPress. I have been striving so hard for perfection, and get almost there, but end up ripping my hair out and doing more harm than good to my site.

I notice that with each theme update, I have new issues to fix. That’s not the fault of the theme at all, I am a big fan of the Hueman theme by Alexander Agnarson. I love it so much, it’s also on one of my other websites. Things out of my control in WordPress make me so frustrated as I struggle constantly for website optimization perfection.
The last few days, I have noticed mails sent to me through my website that my website optimization could be better and they could help me for a fee. It’s almost as if they can sense my frustration and the struggle to be perfect. After reading the mail that I got, I hit the usual sites that I use to check my site, GTmetrix and Pingdom
Here are my results.

Same problem I usually see from Pingdom. Â Specify a cache validator for http://stats.wp.com. Â I do not know how to fix that, but over all, I am happy with this result. Â 97 perf grade out of 100, and a load time of 1.28s.

Again, same problem I usually see from GTMetrix, need a CDN.  I do not see me getting a CDN anytime soon.  I don’t need one.  I don’t have the reader base, and to be honest, this site is an outlet for me, more of a hobby and a learning process. You never know, in the future, if I decide to monetize this blog, or do more with it than a creative outlet, I might consider a CDN.  The expiry headers issues you see there are all linked to wordpress.com and Gravatars.  I don’t know how to fix that either, but considering that I don’t own those websites, I don’t think I can.

Now here comes the frustration for website optimization for me. Â You may have noticed that Pingdom scored Leverage browser caching at 100, where as GTMetrix gave me an E. Â That’s like EPIC FAIL in my mind. Â The question is, why the difference? Â Why is one test saying I am PERFECT on this issue, while the other one mocks me and calls me a loser? Â Specify a Cache Validator, same as the Pingdom issue. Â Again, considering that I do not run wordpress.com, nothing I can do about it, maybe?
So what have I been doing in my quest for website optimization, you ask?
- Minimal plugin use.  I ditched a bunch that were taking up too much time. This also means DELETE THE ONES YOU ARE NOT GOING TO USE… I say that loudly because it is important and I am often guilty of forgetting to delete anything I am not using.  Net horder I guess?  I use P3 (Plugin Performance Profiler) for that.  I have heard some people say it doesn’t work, but it has helped show me the “error of my plugin ways”.
- W3 Total Cache  – Invaluable.  It has actually increased issues that I had previously on my blog, things like, minify for instance.
- WP Smush –Â Â Just in case I didn’t optimize images enough before uploading.
- Flushing the cache internally in my web host Control Panel. Â Granted, W3 Total Cache does an amazing job, but when I find my site getting B ratings, I go in and master flush the whole thing.
- A LOT OF RESEARCH! Â So many great articles around the web that can help you optimize WordPress. Â Google is your friend!
- Testing with different browsers and devices.  This is the only time I will open IExploder for the net. I also test my sites in Chrome, Comodo, Dolphin, Firefox, Opera, Konqueror (on my Slackware box).  Devices I use to test are my Nook Color, Galaxy S5, Galaxy S3 Tablet, and  a Wildfire.  Same things we used to do back in the good old days with traditional websites.
UPDATE April 9, 2018: While opimization is an ongoing struggle for so many of us, you can stop ripping your hair out trying to figure it out. I would like to direct your attention to a very helpful article 22 Tips To Speed Up WordPress Site Performance, written by Tung Tran over at Cloudliving.com.
What are your struggles with website optimization? Â What steps are you taking to fix the issues? Â Do you know how to fix my issues above, or have any other words of wisdom to share? Â Let us know all that and more in the comments section below.
I can see plugins taking time to load on a site. The optimization seems like quite a bit of hurdles to jump. Good luck!