Every year I share my own experiences using WordPress plugins to run Windmill Networking to help you make your own website more social media optimized, SEO friendly, and even help convert more of your visitors into new leads. I say “website” because WordPress is not just for blogs: As a CMS,WordPress powers one of every 6 websites on the Internet, nearly 60 million in all, with 100,000 more popping up each day.

Everyone’s particular experience with WordPress will be different, but since I’ve always run a content-heavy site, I’ve become obsessed with increasing the performance of how quickly this website runs for the average user. Speed is important for many reasons: In the words of one SEOMozer:

“In my world, if you really care about SEO, you need to care about how fast your pages load. Speed may not be the most important ranking factor, but it’s a factor nonetheless. As long as Google’s search algorithm remains a mystery, you’ll never know what type of optimization tipped your site from page 3 to page 1. For some sites, faster pages could be that tipping point.”

Speed has been a factor in Google search rankings since 2010.  While some might question how important of a factor it is, there is a greater purpose for having a faster website as detailed by Geir Ellefsen in his WordPress Performance And Speed Optimization Tips post:

• Source: The 17 Best WordPress Plugins for Social Media, SEO, and Better Visitor Engagement in 2013