WP Engine Launches New Tool to Optimize WordPress Sites

WP Engine has launched optimization tool Page Performance as the first product of its Performance Intelligence project to help with the delivery of enterprise-level WordPress websites, the company announced Tuesday. Page Performance is integrated with the user dashboard, from which it provides website performance data and recommendations.

Page Performance delivers reports showing metrics including cacheability, render start, visitor complete and render complete over time. It offers actionable recommendation along with a library of support materials to help enterprises not just identify, but implement, the necessary changes for optimization.

“WP Engine Performance Intelligence is our ongoing commitment to develop tools and insights to help our customers win online,” said Heather Brunner, CEO of WP Engine. “A website’s speed affects nearly every metric a brand or agency might care about from page views to conversion rates. Our Page Performance product gives you specific recommendations to do just that.”

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WP Engine cites surveys by Akamai and Gomez showing that a one second increase in page load time results in significantly fewer page views, lower customer satisfaction, and a reduced conversion rate. Bob Buck, VP of Technology for Deep Information Sciences explained some of the causes and risks associated with slow page load times for the WHIR in January, and specifically mentioned the potential performance challenges of running a demanding enterprise load on WordPress. Enterprises are finding way to deal with the limitations of the open-source content management system through third parties like WP Engine that enable enterprise-grade performance, founder Jason Cohen told the WHIR in March.

“The managed WordPress platform space has grown significantly over the last few years, with increasing adoption of WordPress among enterprises,” said Liam Eagle, senior analyst at 451 Research. “As WordPress pushes deeper into the enterprise, and consequently more complex sites, the need for services that optimize the performance of those sites has grown. With the launch of Page Performance, WP Engine becomes the first managed WordPress platform to offer a product that addresses this need with a web page speed performance tool integrated into the user dashboard, enabling customers to quickly make adjustments that improve the performance of their sites.”

Media Temple launched a competitor managed WordPress offering for enterprises and agencies earlier this month, as enterprise WordPress demand grows.

Source: TheWHIR