The collaboration between Upstaff and Rocket Digital, an Israeli marketing company, led to a substantial boost in Rocket Digital graphics-intensive website’s speed, improved interactivity and gave boost to search visibility. Through the implementation of various technical improvements, Upstaff enabled Rocket Digital to engage users more effectively and achieve higher engagement and search engine rankings.
Rocket Digital, Israeli marketing agency, set a goal to improve performance for their graphics-intensive website to improve user experience and increase search engine ranking. The challenges included:
- Improving the interactivity, loading time and accelerating response of a graphics-heavy website.
- Identify and apply optimizations, update modules and libraries.
- Optimizing technical SEO ensuring full support for modern security and performance standards.
Solution
After a thorough analysis and discussion with the client, it was decided to implement the solution in two phases to effectively address all identified challenges.
Phase 1: System Audit
In the initial project phase we conducted a comprehensive audit of the website’s infrastructure, tools, and settings to develop an effective optimization strategy. This process began with an in-depth analysis of the existing system to identify areas that needed improvement. We examined everything from server configurations to media files to ensure we could formulate a robust plan.
- Web Application Cloning and Migration: To safely test our optimization strategies, we created a secure staging environment. This allowed us to experiment with the changes without affecting the live website. By cloning the web application, we were able to assess various solutions in a risk-free environment.
- Security Hardening: In this phase, data privacy was a pivotal aspect to follow. We secured the test site by blocking search engine access to prevent indexation of temporary data. Additionally, we took steps to safeguard sensitive client information throughout the process, ensuring full compliance with privacy standards.
- Performance Optimization: Our next step involved a detailed review of the WordPress site’s themes, plugins, and configurations. By identifying outdated or redundant elements, we streamlined the infrastructure, which not only improved performance but also made future updates easier and more efficient.
- Proof of Concept (POC) Testing: We deployed 4 experimental environments to validate optimization hypotheses. These tests were critical in determining which optimizations were most effective before implementing them on the live site.
- This thorough analysis helped uncover several critical areas for improvement, including outdated plugins, inefficient caching mechanisms, and gaps in media optimization that were affecting site speed.
Phase 2: Website Technical Optimization
Once the analysis was complete, we began implementing the identified optimizations. We focused on several key areas:
- Migration to an Optimized Server Environment: The site was moved to a more robust and optimized hosting setup, which improved server performance and speed.
- Performance Enhancements: We configured caching plugins and optimized render-blocking resources. In addition, we compressed large media files and optimized server configurations, resulting in faster load times and improved overall performance.
- Security and SEO Improvements: We enhanced site security by configuring firewalls and integrating a Content Delivery Network (CDN). Additionally, we optimized SEO settings, including implementing necessary redirects and fixing 404 errors to improve site indexing and search engine rankings.
Final Testing and Documentation: After implementing these optimizations, we conducted comprehensive testing to ensure that all improvements were functioning as expected. Finally, we provided thorough documentation and post-deployment support to ensure a smooth handover to the client.
Team
- Full-Stack Web Engineer
- WordPress Developer
- DevOps Engineer
Tech Stack
- Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
- Backend: PHP, MySQL
- Optimization Tools: Google PageSpeed, Uvicorn
- Security & Infrastructure: HTTP3, HTTP2, QUIC, CDN
- SEO Tools: Google Analytics, Search Console, CDN integrations
Key Outcomes
Our technical optimizations resulted in the following:
- Google PageSpeed Desktop Improvement: Increased from 11-66 to 90-99 (2.75x improvement).
- PageSpeed Mobile: Improved from 32-73 to 86-99 (1.75x improvement).
- HTTP and Security Headers Rating: Enhanced to A+ from F.
- SSL Security Rating: Upgraded to A+ from A.
- Modern Standards Support: Achieved HTTP3, HTTP2, and QUIC support, improving page performance by up to 216%.
Achievable vs Now: Page Performance Metrics
Final Results:
Rocket Digital experienced significant website performance, which allowed them to:
- Improve user experience with faster site load times and increased SEO efficiency;
- Achieve higher audience engagement through improved search engine rankings.
About the Client
Rocket Digital is a marketing agency that assists small and medium-sized enterprises in Israel to promote their businesses online and, therefore, strengthen their presence on social media. The company offers services in internet and social media marketing, website development, and graphic design. It also has a dynamic photo-rich platform that needs a lot of work in order to boost its technical performance and thus strengthen its SEO.
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