Slow WordPress site: I find what's dragging it down

Where the time goes

A slow WordPress site usually has one or two main causes and a few minor ones. The most common:

• shared hosting at its limit, running an old PHP version;
• too many plugins, or a single one making dozens of database queries on every page;
• images uploaded at full size, 4000 pixels wide and several MB each;
• a page builder that produces very heavy pages;
• a database full of revisions, drafts and leftovers from plugins removed years ago;
• third-party scripts (chat, maps, social) that block the page while they load.

Installing an optimisation plugin without knowing which of these weighs most is a shot in the dark.

How I work

1. I measure: server response time, page weight and Core Web Vitals, on the pages that matter to you.
2. I work on a copy of the site and look at which plugins and database queries slow down page generation.
3. I fix things starting with the biggest cause, and measure again after each change.
4. I send you the before and after numbers, with a list of what I changed.

Changes reach the live site only after they've been tested on the copy, with a fresh backup in place.

When the answer is different

If the site is built on a theme or page builder that produces huge pages by itself, at some point it's better to rebuild the most important pages than to keep trimming. If the server is the problem, I can host the site on mine: see Servers and hosting. Either way, I tell you first, with the numbers.

Why it slows down again

Every plugin added and every image uploaded without resizing adds a little weight. With maintenance I update the site every week and check it works after every update, so a slowdown shows up early.

Frequently asked questions

Isn't a caching plugin enough?

Sometimes it helps a lot, sometimes it hides the problem. If the server is slow to build pages, caching hides it from visitors, but the admin area and the checkout stay slow.

Do I need to change host?

Only if the measurements point there. Often a lot of time comes back by sorting out plugins, images and the database on the same host. If the server really is too small, I'll show you the numbers.

Does a faster site rank better on Google?

Speed is one of the signals Google uses, through Core Web Vitals. It counts for less than content, but a slow site loses visitors before they read anything.

Will it stay fast?

Until someone adds heavy plugins or images. With maintenance I keep an eye on that too when I update the site.

Read more

• The service: Website maintenance
• More pages like this: Websites with a problem