If you publish on the web, then you will be completely aware of your search engine results positioning (SERPS) for specific keywords. However one of the newer aspects of the Google algorithm is called Caffeine, where Google now considers the performance of your site as a major contributor to user experience, and so it should. If you use wordpress to publish like me, then understanding the fact the trade off with having a great publishing engine is performance. WordPress is database driven and noticeably slower than a pure html driven website.

Here are some advanced tips for getting your publishing performing:

W3 Total Cache – Caching your blog is the most important improvement you can make. Super Cache is a good tool for this, but WP Total Cache is even better. It integrates with a content delivery network (or even your own), and enables gzip and minify on all static content. Brilliant! Its also a classic wordpress install so should take you 2 minutes tops to implement. (Just remove Super Cache first if you have it)

Install Thesis – Installing a new theme may be a big change, but its worth it if you move to Thesis. Not only is it well optimised for SEO, it allows every customisation to be done through its point and click interface. Where is really scores is it completely separates design from content, so that any upgrades you do in the future for WordPress are completely supported and you will be confident that it wont destroy your blog.

Webmaster Tools from Google – Login to google webmaster tools and install the verification code on your site. Then check that the Google bot reads you site well and any bad redirects etc are dealt with. Its perfect for seeing your blog through Google’s eyes. In the labs section you will find the performance item, and here it will tell you how fast your site is running. Doing this will enable you to validate that your site is optimized and fast. If its on the dotted line or below – you should be smiling.

PageSpeed – Google seems to be using the PageSpeed algorithm and methods to judge the performance of the site and what needs optimizing. They list PageSpeed as a recommended install and I suggest you do it. Its very simple – find it from Firefox but make sure you install firebug first. Once you are viewing your site, you can run it via the Tools – firebug menu.

Get a VPS – Getting a website hosted is quick and easy nowadays. I use Hostgator simply because the support is amazing. I can go online any time of the day via chat and have an issue taken care of and believe me I’ve had issues. Most people use normal web hosting instead of VPS and cost-wise running an unlimited domain site should be well under a tenner a month. The problem is you are sharing the server with who knows what – and it could well be a spotty teenager providing info on the best hacks for Xbox – for which he’s getting millions of hits per day. The next logical upgrade used to be a dedicated server but now there is a step in between which is the future of cloud provisioning. A “virtual private server” – VPS is a slot on shared hardware that can be provisioned in seconds and to you its completely dedicated but most importantly the resources are dedicated to you as well. Being a virtual server allows you to grow it according to demand so if you become an overnight celeb by accidently twittering about the demise of Cheryl Cole you can recover quickly by extending the resources of the server to cope with the demand. VPS.net has a new service where its offering VPS nodes which are replicated so should one fail a new one can be provisioned instantly. This is what the larger companies do anyway and I run hundreds of virtual servers for my work. When I get setup with VPS.net watch this space, in the meantime I’ve gone with hostgator and you can too.

Content Delivery Networks – Content Delivery Networks are becoming alot more common place now especially as the price is so handy. Amazon and Akamai are the leaders in this market, but focus on the larger enterprise accounts. If you are like me and have a low volume blog which you want to speed up, then use MaxCDN. A CDN stores your static data on servers closer to your visitors than your website is. So to them in terms of performance, it looks like the site is next door. This will be a massive improvement on your overall site performance and something really worth doing. Most big blogs or sites you go to have this implemented (which is the main reason they’re so fast). (As I write maxcdn.com have a special of $10 and I’ve set this blog with them, so I would recommend you do to. It takes 5 minutes as long as you have W3 Total Cache – If you need help setting it up, let me know and I’ll do a HowTo.)

Want to find out more about SEO and Optimization, then visit Paul Bannister’s site on how to Optimize Blogs for your needs.