"Motivate Thyself" + A Faster Server = Blogging Bliss!

If you’ve been clicking around the pages of “Motivate Thyself” for the past few months you are probably used to the slow load times that accompany the experience.  In some cases it may have felt slower than most, while other times it might have just felt average, but the fact is, IT WAS SLOW!  I felt like I was on dial up, clicking on a link and then making a cup of tea while I waited for the new page to load.  OK, maybe not THAT bad, but it was far from what I desired as a ‘surfing experience’ on my own personal blog.

So I decided this weekend to bite the bullet and make the move to my Virtual Dedicated Server that I’ve been using for a different blogging project.  I must say that it was a sometimes nail biting experience (at one point, typing motivatethyself.com in a browser brought up one of those delightful, “Sorry buddy, there’s nothing there.” kind of pages.)  But I quickly resolved any of the glitches and got it all working smoothly.

Now at first, I was happy with the boost the new server gave me, but it wasn’t HUGE like I expected.  So I then went through my LONG list of active plugins and found about 8 that I wasn’t using at all.  Once I deactivated those, THEN the speed kicked in.  AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!  It was like I had just crested the peak of a great ascent and was now coasting down the other side, the cool breeze on my face and the sound of song birds in the distance.  OK, maybe not EXACTLY like that, but it was FREAKING SWEET to finally have my blog zip right along!

Some POSSIBLY useful information.

First, let’s look at the server change.  I had been using a common ‘shared server’ which is what 95% of bloggers use.  They cost about $6/month and do the job pretty well.  Also, most of the setup is automated and easy enough for the non-geeks out there.  What I moved to was a Virtual Dedicated Server which usually cost between $30-$50/month and require a significant amount more know how to setup.  But the HUGE upside is that you gain a bunch of speed, more security, more control and the ability to handle HEAVY traffic.  Even if you don’t get ‘server crashing’ traffic flow on a regular basis, one Digg front page and ‘SEE-YA LATER!’.  I’m not trying to say that most of these bloggers really NEED more than a ‘shared server’ can offer, just that these are the advantages if you ever think about taking the plunge.

Like I said, I already had this server setup for another project, so it wasn’t something I did JUST for “Motivate Thyself”.  But MAN am I glad I did it!  If you go to some of the higher traffic blogs like zenhabits or Think Simple Now, you’ll notice faster than average load times.  You get that ‘pop!’ to the next page.  These blogs are running off of these ‘higher end’ servers so they can handle the larger ‘bursts’, but they also benefit from the speed boost which doesn’t hurt.

Other factors to consider.

As I mentioned, it wasn’t JUST the server move that made the difference.  I apparently had a few too many plugins that were bogging my blog down.  Sometimes it can even be one particular plugin that can create huge speed issues.  So one thing you can do to seek greater speeds is to reduce your active plugins and weed out any troublemakers.

Also, too many high resolution images can certainly increase load times.  And this goes for the theme design as well.  Some themes,  Thesis for example, are squeaky clean and generally make for a fast’ish blogging experience.  While others may be super flashy, but also super slow when you’re surfing their pages.

A few other minor changes.

I went ahead and used this move as a chance to make a few changes here and there.  I changed my subscribe icons, for example.  Just some minor adjustments to ‘change it up’ a bit.

So I hope you’re “Motivate Thyself” surfing experience is now a bit more pleasant and efficient.  Let me know what you think or if you’re just thinking, “Dude, I don’t notice any difference.  What the heck are you talking about?!”  If that’s the case, then I’ll just shut up now.