WP-Spamshield only required on pages with contact forms?

Hi ac1643,

I’ll be happy to answer your question.

No, you would not be correct in thinking that WP-SpamShield only needs to load on contact form pages. It cannot be removed from other pages for a number of reasons. It protects a lot more than contact form pages (please see documentation for full list of features). Also, remember that it is not just simple JavaScript…There are two layers of protection, so in addition to the JavaScript, it has an algorithmic layer. Things won’t function correctly if you stop it from loading as it’s designed to.

However, you don’t need to worry about site speed with WP-SpamShield. The plugin is extremely well-optimized already, and no further optimizations need to be made to it. I do realize that not all plugin authors keep site speed optimization in mind…but we definitely do.

Keep in mind that just because a script comes up on a list of scripts from an automated analysis tool labeled as “render-blocking”, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is actually slowing down your site.

Installing WP-SpamShield actually helps speed up a site on the whole.

We cover all the specifics in depth in two FAQs – please give these a read:

• Q: I’m trying to optimize my site for speed, and Google PageSpeed and/or Yahoo YSlow are telling me I should move the
  wp-spamshield/js/jscripts.php file to the footer. Should I be concerned about this script slowing down my page?
• Q: Will WP-SpamShield slow down my site, and is there anything I can do to optimize my site for it?

This will answer your questions in detail. ??

Let us know if we can help with anything else.

– Scott

Thanks Scott, I’ll read through the articles. I actually thought about removing it because I thought it might help to improve the google pagespeed insights score (rather than the load times) and help with ranking and seo.

You’re very welcome. I understand.

Keep in mind that those scores were developed as a guide to help site owners improve the page load times.

The actual scores themselves mean nothing, if not tied to site performance.

So the goal is improved page load time, not improved score. The higher score can lead to a better page load time, but not necessarily. There are plenty of sites that have high scores and terrible load times.

There are a number of speed issues that automated evaluations like these cannot properly address (such as database issues, PHP errors, page caching, and other backend issues).

They are giving you a list of things that typically slow down a site. This is general advice and not every item will be applicable to every site.

You can follow all their advice and still have a slow site if you have other undiagnosed issues on your site, yet they could give you a high score. Conversely, you can ignore some of their advice and improve your actual speed more than if you follow it exactly.

When you’re talking about page load speed affecting SEO, Google and friends will be more concerned with the actual load speed of a site than the scores. Again the scores are meant as a guide to help site owners…they are not for Google. Even with that said, the speed factor is still a much smaller part SEO algorithms than the basics of building links to your site and developing interesting & relevant content.

Speed improvements should be prioritized first and foremost for site users, not search engines…you lose customers/clients with a slow site. (Amazon did studies on this.) On the other side, a fast site provides a much better experience for users, and they will love you.

Hope that helps!

– Scott

Many thanks, appreciate your input on this

You’re very welcome. ??