Why Speed Matters
Every second of load time costs you:
- 7% drop in conversions per second
- Lower Google rankings
- Higher bounce rates
- Frustrated visitors
If your WordPress site takes more than 3 seconds to load, you're losing business.
Let's fix it — safely.
Before You Start
Back Up Your Site
Before any optimization, create a full backup:
- Files and database
- Store off-site (not just on your server)
- Test that you can restore it
Plugins like UpdraftPlus or BlogVault make this easy.
Measure Current Performance
Test your site with:
- Google PageSpeed Insights
- GTmetrix
- WebPageTest
Record your scores. You'll measure again after each change.
Step 1: Upgrade Your Hosting
If your Time to First Byte (TTFB) is over 600ms, hosting is your bottleneck.
Cheap shared hosting: $3-10/month, TTFB often 1-2 seconds
Quality managed hosting: $20-50/month, TTFB under 300ms
Recommended hosts:
- Cloudways (VPS, great value)
- WP Engine (managed, premium)
- Kinsta (managed, fast)
- SiteGround (managed, mid-tier)
This single change often cuts load time in half.
Step 2: Install a Caching Plugin
Caching serves saved versions of your pages instead of generating them fresh.
For beginners: WP Super Cache (free, simple)
For better performance: WP Rocket ($59/year, worth it)
For tech-savvy: W3 Total Cache (free, complex)
What to enable:
- Page caching
- Browser caching
- GZIP compression
Step 3: Optimize Images
Images are usually the biggest files on your page.
Compress existing images:
- Install ShortPixel or Imagify
- Bulk optimize all existing images
- Enable automatic optimization for new uploads
Use modern formats:
- Enable WebP conversion (ShortPixel does this)
- Serve WebP to supported browsers
Resize images:
- Maximum width: 2000px for full-width images
- Don't upload 5000px images for thumbnails
Enable lazy loading:
- Built into WordPress 5.5+
- Or use a lazy load plugin
Step 4: Minimize Plugins
Every plugin adds:
- Database queries
- JavaScript files
- CSS files
- PHP processing
Audit your plugins:
- List all active plugins
- For each one, ask: "Is this essential?"
- Deactivate what you don't need
- Delete deactivated plugins
Replace heavy plugins:
- Social sharing buttons → Simple links or lightweight plugin
- Contact form → WPForms Lite or Contact Form 7
- Page builder → Consider a lightweight theme instead
Find problematic plugins:
- Install Query Monitor plugin
- Check which plugins add the most load time
- Replace or remove the worst offenders
Step 5: Clean Your Database
WordPress databases accumulate junk:
- Post revisions (every save creates one)
- Spam comments
- Expired transients
- Orphaned metadata
Clean it up:
- Install WP-Optimize
- Delete revisions, spam, transients
- Schedule weekly cleanups
Limit revisions: Add to wp-config.php:
define('WP_POST_REVISIONS', 5);
Step 6: Use a CDN
A CDN serves your files from servers closest to your visitors.
Free options:
- Cloudflare (free tier is excellent)
Paid options:
- BunnyCDN ($1/month for most sites)
- StackPath
- KeyCDN
Setting up Cloudflare:
- Create free account
- Add your domain
- Update nameservers
- Enable caching rules
Step 7: Optimize CSS and JavaScript
Minification: Removes whitespace and comments
Combination: Merges multiple files into one
Deferral: Loads non-critical scripts later
WP Rocket handles all of this. If using a free option:
- Autoptimize (free, good for basics)
Be careful: Aggressive optimization can break things. Test after each change.
Step 8: Update PHP
Using PHP 7.4 or older? You're leaving performance on the table.
PHP 8.1+ is significantly faster.
Check with your host — most make upgrading easy. Test in staging first.
Step 9: Optimize Fonts
Web fonts slow down rendering.
Best practices:
- Limit to 2 font families
- Use font-display: swap
- Host fonts locally (vs Google Fonts)
- Preload critical fonts
Plugins like OMGF help with local font hosting.
Step 10: Monitor and Maintain
Speed optimization isn't one-time.
Monthly tasks:
- Run PageSpeed Insights
- Check for slow plugins
- Clean database
- Update plugins and themes
Set up monitoring:
- UptimeRobot (free uptime checks)
- Google Search Console (Core Web Vitals)
Expected Results
Following this guide, expect:
- 50-70% reduction in load time
- PageSpeed score improvement of 20-40 points
- Sub-3-second load time (often sub-2-second)
When to Consider a Rebuild
Sometimes WordPress can't be optimized enough:
- Heavy page builder (Elementor, Divi)
- 50+ plugins
- Bloated theme
- Need for sub-1-second loads
In these cases, a Next.js rebuild might make more sense than endless optimization.
Need Help?
WordPress optimization can be tricky. One wrong setting can break your site.
If you'd rather have an expert handle it — or explore whether a faster platform makes sense — let's talk.