Learn to Reduce HTTP Requests in WordPress

A few years ago, we were searching for the best methods to enhance the speed of the WPBeginner website. That’s when we discovered that reducing HTTP requests could significantly improve our page load times.

Each time a visitor accesses your site, their browser sends requests to your server for the necessary files to render the page, such as images, stylesheets, and scripts. Unfortunately, each of these HTTP requests adds to the overall loading time.

When there are too many requests, the server becomes overburdened, which can slow down your site’s performance. This slowdown can negatively impact both user experience and SEO.

In this article, we’ll share practical tips on reducing HTTP requests in WordPress to enhance your website’s performance.

Table of Contents

Why Reducing HTTP Requests is Important for WordPress

Each page on your WordPress site typically includes several components like images, CSS and JavaScript files, videos, and more.

When a user visits a page, their browser must load each element individually. The more elements your site has, the longer it will take to load, especially if you use many images or other resources.

In addition to the files hosted on your server, your site may also pull in resources from external sources like Google Analytics, social media widgets, or ad scripts.

Although these elements are helpful for enhancing functionality, they can slow down your site if not properly optimized.

Impact of Slow Websites on User Experience

Slow websites can frustrate visitors, causing them to leave before the page has finished loading. According to a study by Strange Loop, a one-second delay can lead to:

A 7% decrease in conversions
11% fewer page views
A 16% drop in customer satisfaction

Reducing HTTP requests is one of the most effective ways to improve site performance, and it’s a strategy we use to speed up WPBeginner.

How to Identify HTTP Requests

Before we dive into methods for reducing HTTP requests, let’s discuss how to identify them.

You can view the HTTP requests made by your site using your browser’s developer tools. This tool shows all the files that need to be loaded to display the page.

For example, in Google Chrome, you can access the developer tools by going to View > Developer > Inspect or right-clicking on the page and selecting Inspect. Then, go to the ‘Network’ tab. Reload the page, and you’ll see a list of all resources, including both internal and external HTTP requests.

To focus on external HTTP requests, you can use the ‘3rd-party requests’ filter. To analyze specific file types that may impact load time (such as JavaScript or CSS), use the available filters at the top.

Look for slow-loading files by checking the ‘Time’ column, which shows how long each resource takes to load. You can sort the list by clicking the column header. Additionally, the ‘Initiator’ column will sometimes show the plugin or theme responsible for the slow-loading file.

You can also use third-party tools like Pingdom for a more detailed analysis.

Best Ways to Reduce HTTP Requests in WordPress

Now, let’s cover some of the best strategies for reducing HTTP requests, improving site speed, and enhancing both the user experience and SEO.

Combine CSS and JavaScript Files
Combining multiple CSS or JavaScript files into a single file reduces the number of HTTP requests required to load the page. This can significantly improve loading times. Tools like WP Rocket and Autoptimize can automate the process and even minify your code by removing unnecessary characters, such as whitespace.
Lazy Load Images and Videos
Lazy loading ensures that images and videos are loaded only when they are about to enter the user’s view. This improves page load times by preventing the browser from loading all media at once.You can enable lazy loading for images, videos, and Gravatars in WordPress using plugins like WP Rocket.
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A CDN stores copies of your website’s files on servers around the world. When users visit your site, they’re served files from the server closest to them, reducing the time it takes for files to load.Cloudflare is a popular CDN option that we use here at WPBeginner. Setting up a CDN can be done easily by following our step-by-step tutorial.
Leverage Browser Caching
Browser caching stores resources (like images and stylesheets) on a visitor’s device after their first visit. The next time they visit your site, the browser uses these local copies instead of downloading the resources again, reducing HTTP requests and speeding up page load times for return visitors.You can configure browser caching in WordPress by setting expiration dates for files, ensuring that users get the latest content when necessary.
Minimize the Use of External Resources
Many plugins and themes load resources from external sources (such as Google Fonts, Google Analytics, or social media widgets), which can slow down your site. Reduce the number of external HTTP requests by minimizing or eliminating unnecessary external resources.When selecting plugins, ensure that they don’t add too many external files that could impact performance. You can also use plugin management tools like Plugin Organizer to selectively load plugins only where needed.
Bonus: Enable Gzip Compression
Enabling Gzip compression reduces the size of files sent from your server, speeding up their transfer. While this doesn’t directly reduce the number of HTTP requests, it can improve loading times by reducing file sizes.

Optimizing HTTP requests and improving WordPress site speed may seem overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. Consider working with professionals like those at WPBeginner to help you optimize your site’s speed. Book a free consultation today!

ere are some helpful guides that can further assist you in optimizing images, improving PHP & MySQL performance, running speed tests, and more:

1. How to Optimize Images for Web Performance Without Losing Quality

Why it’s important: Images can be large and slow down your website’s loading time. Optimizing images ensures faster page loads and better user experience.
What you’ll learn: How to reduce image sizes without losing quality, and the best formats and tools to use for image compression.

2. How Fast PHP & MySQL Can Boost Website Speed (Beginner’s Guide)

Why it’s important: PHP and MySQL are the core technologies behind WordPress. Optimizing them can lead to significant improvements in site performance.
What you’ll learn: Tips on improving PHP performance, upgrading PHP versions, optimizing MySQL databases, and using caching mechanisms.

3. How to Properly Run a Website Speed Test

Why it’s important: Speed tests help you assess your website’s performance and identify areas for improvement.
What you’ll learn: How to run a website speed test, which tools to use, and how to interpret the results to make informed optimization decisions.

4. How to Stress Test a WordPress Website

Why it’s important: Stress testing helps you simulate high traffic and identify performance bottlenecks before they affect real users.
What you’ll learn: How to perform stress testing, the best tools for this process, and how to optimize your site to handle more traffic.

5. How to Use GTmetrix Plugin to Improve WordPress Site Performance

Why it’s important: GTmetrix is a powerful tool that provides detailed reports on your site’s performance and suggests improvements.
What you’ll learn: How to use the GTmetrix plugin for WordPress to analyze your site’s performance, view detailed metrics, and implement changes to speed up your site.

6. The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Speed and Performance Optimization

Why it’s important: A comprehensive guide that covers all the essential aspects of optimizing WordPress speed, from caching to database optimization.
What you’ll learn: Techniques for improving server response times, reducing page load times, optimizing images, and other advanced performance tactics.

These resources will help you optimize your WordPress website for better performance, faster load times, and a smoother user experience.