optimizing jekyll mediumish for faster load times

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Why Speed Matters for Jekyll Blogs

Website speed is a crucial factor in both user experience and search engine ranking. A faster loading blog keeps visitors engaged and reduces bounce rates. Even though Jekyll produces static sites which are inherently fast, the theme design and assets can impact overall performance.

Common Performance Bottlenecks in Mediumish

  • Large Images: High-resolution images without optimization slow page loads.
  • Excessive CSS/JS: Including many unused styles or scripts increases file size.
  • Fonts: Using multiple or heavy font files can delay rendering.
  • External Resources: Fonts or scripts loaded from third parties add latency.

Step 1: Optimize Images

  • Use srcset to serve responsive images for different screen sizes.
  • Compress images with tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim before adding them.
  • Use modern formats such as WebP when supported.

Step 2: Minify and Combine CSS and JavaScript

Minify CSS and JS files using tools like cssnano and terser. If possible, combine multiple CSS or JS files to reduce HTTP requests.

Step 3: Use Lazy Loading for Images

Add the loading="lazy" attribute to post images so they load only when near the viewport.

Step 4: Limit External Requests

Host fonts locally or choose system fonts to reduce requests to Google Fonts or other CDNs. Also, avoid unnecessary third-party scripts.

Step 5: Enable Browser Caching and Compression

Configure your web host or CDN to serve compressed files (gzip or Brotli) and set cache headers for static assets.

Step 6: Use a CDN for Assets

Serving your images, CSS, and JS via a Content Delivery Network helps reduce latency by delivering content from locations closer to users.

Performance Testing Tools

Case Study: Improving Speed on a Mediumish Blog

By applying these optimizations, a personal marketing blog reduced average page load time from 3.5 seconds to under 1.5 seconds. The blog saw better engagement and a slight ranking boost for targeted keywords.

Conclusion

Optimizing your Jekyll Mediumish blog for speed is an ongoing process but yields significant benefits in SEO and user satisfaction. Start with image optimization and minimal external dependencies, then iterate with performance testing to reach your best results.