Archives for March 2025

WordPress Performance Myths: What Actually Speeds Up Your Site?

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There’s no shortage of advice on how to make WordPress faster, but not all of it is accurate. Some so-called “best practices” are outdated, while others are just plain wrong. In this post, we’ll debunk common WordPress performance myths and highlight what actually improves your site’s speed.

Myth #1: “You Need to Use as Few Plugins as Possible”

Reality:

The number of plugins doesn’t matter as much as their quality.

The idea that fewer plugins automatically mean a faster site is misleading. What matters more is how well-coded and efficient your plugins are. A site with 50 lightweight, well-optimised plugins can run faster than a site with 10 bloated or poorly-coded ones.

What Actually Works:

  • Audit your plugins and remove those that are redundant or poorly maintained.
  • Use performance-friendly plugins that avoid excessive database queries or front-end bloat.
  • Avoid plugins that duplicate functionality—e.g., don’t install three different caching plugins.

Myth #2: “A CDN is Only Necessary for Large Websites”

Reality:

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) benefits almost any website by speeding up load times globally.

Even if your traffic is relatively low, a CDN can distribute your static files (images, CSS, JavaScript) to multiple locations worldwide, reducing load times for visitors far from your server.

What Actually Works:

  • Enable a CDN for basic performance and security benefits.
  • If you have high-resolution images or lots of media, consider a premium CDN service.
  • Use a CDN that integrates well with your caching solution to avoid conflicts.

Myth #3: “More Caching Plugins = Faster Site”

Reality:

Layering multiple caching plugins can actually slow things down.

Some users think that combining multiple caching plugins will make their site lightning-fast. In reality, caching plugins often overlap in functionality and can conflict with each other, leading to slower performance or even broken pages.

What Actually Works:

  • Use one well-optimised caching solution that matches your hosting setup.
  • If your host provides built-in caching (e.g., server-side object caching), you may not need an extra plugin.
  • Regularly test your caching setup with tools like GTmetrix or Google PageSpeed Insights.

Myth #4: “Optimising Images is Optional”

Reality:

Large, unoptimised images are one of the biggest causes of slow WordPress sites.

Uploading full-resolution images straight from your camera or design software can significantly slow down your pages. Even on high-speed connections, excessive image sizes add unnecessary load time.

What Actually Works:

  • Use image compression tools like TinyPNG, Imagify, or Smush.
  • Serve images in next-gen formats like WebP for better compression without loss of quality.
  • Implement lazy loading to defer image loading until they’re needed.

How We Handle Performance at The DMA

At The DMA, we take WordPress performance seriously. Here’s how we ensure our clients’ websites run at peak efficiency:

  • We use a CDN as part of our network stack, ensuring that content is delivered quickly to users worldwide.
  • We only use high-quality WordPress plugins, carefully selecting and testing each one to avoid unnecessary bloat and maintain top performance.
  • We optimise caching strategies to suit each website’s specific needs, avoiding conflicts and ensuring smooth operation.
  • We use full-page edge-of-network caching to maximise performance and reduce load on the origin server.
  • We leverage advanced image compression tools to optimise media assets, including automatic WebP conversion and lossless compression.

By focusing on these core elements, we build and maintain WordPress sites that are not just fast, but also scalable and reliable.

Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash

Speed Matters: How We Build Lightning-Fast WordPress Sites That Convert.

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Website speed isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a critical factor for user experience, SEO rankings, and conversion rates. At The DMA, we specialise in developing WordPress sites that load fast, perform flawlessly, and keep users engaged. Here’s how we do it.

Optimised Code and Asset Management

One of the biggest culprits of slow websites is bloated code and unoptimised assets. We take a meticulous approach to ensure every element of your site is as efficient as possible.

How We Optimise for Speed:

  • Asset Optimisation: We compress and defer unnecessary scripts to reduce page bloat.
  • Lazy Loading: Images and videos load only when needed, improving initial page speed.
  • Database Optimisation: We clean up unnecessary data to keep your WordPress site running smoothly.
  • Cloudflare Edge Caching: Leveraging Cloudflare’s powerful network ensures content is served from the closest server to your visitors.

SASS: Streamlining Styles for Speed

Another key ingredient in our speed optimisation strategy is SASS (Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets). SASS is a preprocessor that helps us write cleaner, more efficient CSS, which translates to faster load times and a better user experience.

How SASS Helps Performance:

  • Optimised CSS Output: SASS allows us to minify and combine stylesheets, reducing HTTP requests and improving page load speed.
  • Reusable Code: With mixins and variables, we cut down on repetitive CSS, leading to smaller file sizes and faster rendering.
  • Better Maintainability: A well-structured SASS setup means fewer bloated stylesheets, ensuring your site remains lean and efficient.

And When It’s All Done…

Once we’ve fine-tuned every aspect of your site for maximum speed, we host it on our lightning-fast managed hosting platform, powered by WP Engine. WP Engine provides:

  • EverCache Technology: An advanced caching system that dramatically reduces load times.
  • Global CDN Integration: Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) distribute your website’s assets worldwide, reducing latency.
  • Automatic Updates & Security: A slow site can often be a vulnerable site. The DMA team ensures WordPress core and plugin updates are tested and applied without breaking your site.
  • Optimised Infrastructure: Built specifically for WordPress, WP Engine’s infrastructure outperforms generic shared hosting environments.

Ready for a Faster Website?

A slow website means lost customers. If your site isn’t performing at its best, The DMA can help. Whether you need a full rebuild or performance optimisation, we’ll make sure your WordPress site is lightning-fast and conversion-ready.

📩 Get in touch today to see how we can boost your website’s speed and performance!

Google’s AI-Powered Search: Website owners need to keep an eye on this.

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Google is making some big changes to search by expanding AI-generated overviews and testing a new “AI Mode” that delivers AI-only results. These updates are designed to give users more detailed and conversational responses to their queries.

AI Overviews Are Expanding

Google first introduced AI Overviews as part of its Search Generative Experience (SGE) last year, and now it’s rolling them out to more searches. These overviews generate quick summaries at the top of search results, helping users get the gist of a topic without clicking through multiple links. They’re also integrating Google’s latest AI model, Gemini 2.0, which can handle more complex subjects like coding and maths. Another notable change is that AI Overviews are now available to teenage users in the US without any special sign-ups.

Introducing AI Mode

Alongside AI Overviews, Google is trialling an “AI Mode” that essentially turns search into a chatbot-like experience. Instead of traditional links, it provides AI-generated answers based on Google’s search index, with some links added for context. At the moment, it’s only available to Google One AI Premium subscribers, but it’s a sign of where search might be heading. There’s already some concern that AI-generated answers could reduce traffic to websites, which would have a big impact on publishers relying on search visitors for revenue.

What This Means for Website Owners

This is a space we’re watching closely. One way or another, change is coming, and how we, as website owners, adapt will be key to ensuring that traffic keeps flowing to our sites. Staying ahead of these shifts and adjusting content strategies accordingly could make all the difference.

For a deeper dive into the topic, check out the full article on Ars Technica:

Google is expanding AI overviews and testing AI-only search results.

Photo by Jevgeni Fil

The Hidden Costs of Cheap WordPress Hosting (And How to Avoid Them)

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Tempted to choose the cheap and cheerful WordPress hosting? Who doesn’t love a good deal? But what many business owners don’t realise is that the lowest-cost option can often come with a hefty hidden price tag. Let’s take a closer look at the potential downsides of cheap WordPress hosting, and how you can avoid them to ensure your site stays fast, secure, and reliable.

Slower Speeds = Lost Visitors

One of the first things you’ll notice with budget hosting is a drop in your site’s speed. While you might save a few dollar each month, slow load times could lead to visitors bouncing before your site even fully loads. In fact, studies show that 40% of people will abandon a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load. The longer it takes, the more customers you’re losing.

Good hosting doesn’t have to break the bank, but it does need to be fast and stable. Investing in quality hosting means your site stays responsive, keeping your customers happy and engaged. (Interested in WordPress performance? Read this to learn how our managed platform bring all the piece together.)

Security Woes

Cheap hosting often comes with limited security features, leaving your site vulnerable to attacks. When your hosting provider doesn’t offer solid security measures, you’re putting your business—and your customers—at risk. Regular backups, updated security patches, and firewalls are essential to keep hackers at bay.

Often cut price hosting options don’t provide any means to update WordPress and its ecosystem of plugins, once again leaving you open to security threats over time.

Lack of Support When You Need It Most

This is probably the kicker! Can you get someone one the phone when it really matters?

With low-cost hosting, customer support is often a hit or miss. Some budget hosts only offer limited support hours or rely on FAQs and automated responses rather than having real people to help. This can be a massive headache if something goes wrong, and you need a solution quickly.

Being able to talk directly to the team that built your site, that’s peace of mind!

Limited Resources That Can Cause Problems Later

Budget hosting plans often come with limited server resources, such as bandwidth, storage, and memory. While this might not cause issues in the early days, as your website grows, you might hit the limits of your hosting plan. This can lead to crashes, slowdowns, or even site outages—ultimately costing you more time, money, and frustration to resolve.

The Solution: Managed WordPress Hosting

So, what’s the solution? We might be biased, but we believe managed WordPress hosting is the way to go. With managed hosting, you get the peace of mind of knowing your site is optimised for speed, secured with the latest protections, and supported by a team of experts who know WordPress inside out.

At The DMA, we offer managed WordPress hosting that goes beyond the basics. We update your plugins, perform security checks, and keep your site running smoothly, so you can focus on what really matters—your business.

Our Managed WordPress Hosting Is So Much More Than a Platform

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Let’s be honest—almost every hosting company out there offers something they call “Managed Hosting.” They’ll tell you about automatic backups, security scanning, uptime monitoring, and maybe even some caching and performance tools. Sounds great, right? (actually those things all do sound great, and we have them covered!)

But here’s the problem: most of it is just software running in the background. There’s no actual human making sure your website is in top shape. And when things go wrong? You’re left dealing with a support queue, waiting for someone to tell you, “It looks fine on our end.”

Human-Powered WordPress Hosting

Our approach is different. We don’t just give you a platform with a few automated tools—we actively manage your WordPress site with real people who know what they’re doing.

1. We Don’t Just Update—We Test

Most managed hosting platforms offer automated plugin updates. Sounds convenient, but what happens when an update breaks your site? You’ll only find out after something stops working.

With our hosting, we personally update your plugins, test the changes, and ensure everything still works. No nasty surprises, no broken layouts, and no downtime because of a bad update.

2. Small Tweaks? We’ve Got You

Websites need constant fine-tuning—whether it’s fixing a layout issue, optimising performance, or adjusting something that’s “almost right” but not quite.

Instead of making you open a support ticket, we just take care of it. When completing our weekly scheduled maintenance our team often are making quick fixes to ensure everything is running smoothly.

3. Proactive Performance & Security Enhancements

Security scans and uptime monitoring are great, but they don’t fix problems—we do.

  • We optimise your site for speed, ensuring your visitors get the best experience.
  • We proactively check for potential security risks and patch vulnerabilities before they become a problem.
  • We make sure your WordPress setup is running at its best—not just running.

4.Plugin Licensing – We Have You Covered There Too

Many WordPress plugins come with annual licensing costs, which can quickly add up. Essential tools like Gravity Forms, Akismet (anti-spam), and page builders require ongoing subscriptions to stay updated and secure.

As part of our Managed WordPress Hosting service, we maintain a stock group of premium plugins that we use across almost all of our websites. We hold developer licenses for these plugins, meaning you get full access to their features without needing to purchase separate licenses yourself. That’s one less thing for you to worry about—and a cost-saving bonus!

With us, your site stays fully functional, updated, and secure without hidden extra costs.

A True Hands-On Approach

Every Friday, our team dedicates time to maintaining our portfolio of sites, ensuring they are up to date, secure, and running optimally. This consistent and structured approach means your website is always in top shape, with real people looking after it week in and week out.

When you host with us, you’re not just getting a WordPress-friendly platform—you’re getting a team that actively looks after your website.

We believe “Managed WordPress Hosting” should mean more than automated tools. It should mean real people, real support, and a WordPress site that runs smoothly without you having to lift a finger.

Want hosting that actually takes care of your site? Let’s chat.

Photocredit: Photo by Dominik Van Opdenbosch on Unsplash

A Plumber’s Dripping Tap: Finally Updating Our Portfolio!

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You know the old saying about the plumber whose own taps are always dripping? Well, that’s been us—busy crafting great WordPress websites for clients but a little slow in updating our own Portfolio. But that changes today!

We’re excited to share three of our latest WordPress projects, launched in 2024:

  • Emergence Insurance:
    A sleek, high-performance website for a specialist insurer, built for seamless user experience and to harmonise with new brand roll out.
  • Harrison Manufacturing:
    A robust, professional online presence for one of Australia’s leading industrial manufacturers.
  • CyberSuite:
    A cutting-edge cybersecurity platform showcasing innovative solutions in a clean, modern interface.

Of course, this is just the beginning—we’ve got more projects to add (2024 was super busy), so stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you’d like to chat to us about your website, chat our a friendly team, get started here.

Check out the full portfolio here!

How to Plan a WordPress Website Redesign Without Losing SEO Rankings

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Redesigning your WordPress website can be an exciting opportunity to refresh your brand, improve user experience, and boost conversions. But if not done correctly, it can also be a nightmare for your search engine rankings. A poorly planned redesign can lead to lost traffic, broken links, and a dip in visibility—something no business wants.

In this article we list some of the best practices around this process, things that we do in all of our projects where we are redeveloping an existing WordPress site.

Audit Your Current Website

Before making any changes, it’s crucial to understand what’s working and what’s not. Use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and SEO auditing software (such as Ahrefs or Screaming Frog) to assess your website’s current performance. Identify:

  • High-performing pages (so you don’t accidentally remove them or indeed change the URLs)
  • Top-ranking keywords
  • Traffic sources
  • Backlinks pointing to your site (again so you can avoid changing the URLs)

Create a 301 Redirect Plan

One of the biggest SEO pitfalls in a redesign is failing to properly redirect old URLs. If you change page URLs, make sure to implement 301 redirects to point them to the new locations. This ensures that search engines and users can still find the content they’re looking for, preserving your rankings and preventing broken links.

On our platform we do this on the server infrastructure (ie before the traffic hits our WordPress stack) to make the redirect execute quickly without affecting WordPress’ performance.

Maintain On-Page SEO Elements

During your redesign, ensure that crucial on-page SEO elements remain intact, including:

  • Page titles and meta descriptions
  • Header tags (H1, H2, etc.)
  • Alt text for images
  • Internal linking structure
  • Schema markup (if applicable)

If you’d like more info on WordPress SEO – check out our article here.

Implement a Staging Site

Never make major changes on a live site! Set up a staging environment where you can test the redesign before pushing it live. This allows you to check for issues, test redirects, and ensure everything is functioning properly without affecting user experience.

Again, on our Managed WordPress platform this is easy to do but there are plugins and options for other hosting systems to create a staging (a copy) or your website to work on.

Optimise for Speed and Mobile

Google prioritises fast-loading and mobile-friendly websites. As part of your redesign, ensure:

  • Images are optimised for web
  • Caching is enabled and optimised
  • CSS and JavaScript are minified
  • The site is responsive across all devices (think mobile phones, tablets etc..)

Test Before and After Launch

Once your redesigned site is ready, conduct thorough testing before going live:

  • Crawl the site using a tool like Screaming Frog to check for broken links and missing meta tags
  • Compare page speed before and after the redesign
  • Ensure all 301 redirects are working correctly
  • Monitor Google Search Console for any indexing issues

Track Performance Post-Launch

After launching your redesigned site, keep a close eye on your SEO performance. Use Google Analytics and Search Console to monitor traffic, rankings, and any potential issues. If rankings drop, identify and address the causes quickly.

Need help with a WordPress redesign? Get in touch with our team, to chat about your needs.