There are few things more frustrating in the modern era than a website that takes forever to load. In the early days of the internet, slow load times were common. Today, users expect a site to load quickly - and will exit out quickly if it doesn’t.
If you have a WordPress website, there are a number of reasons why it may be lagging. Our WordPress developers have taken the time to outline some of the most common problems that WordPress sites experience, such as heavy themes and too many plugins. We also have included relatively simple ways to fix any issues that may be slowing down your website.
At Inclind, our award-winning website designers and developers work together to build and maintain WordPress websites. We have experience with all aspects of WordPress sites, including identifying and solving the things that might cause your site to load slowly, crash, or experience other issues. If you’re interested in learning more about our WordPress website services - including support and maintenance - reach out today to talk to one of our experts.
Reasons Why Your WordPress Might Be Slow - and How to Fix It
A slow website isn’t just annoying - it can affect your bottom line. Website users expect fast loading times (ideally under 3 seconds). If your website takes too long to load, visitors may leave before they have the chance to make a purchase, donate, or sign up for something. A slow load time can also lead to lower crawl rates and delayed indexing, which can affect a site’s technical SEO ranking.
If your WordPress site is loading slowly, you may be at a loss for what to do. Fortunately, there are several easy ways to check for potential sources of slow site speed - and many plugins that can help you fix the problem.
You Aren’t Using Compression
Compression is a method of reducing the size of data in which files are compressed before they are sent. Once the files or data are received, they are decompressed. Using GZIP, Brotli, or deflate compression can significantly decrease the time it takes to transmit certain files.
You can check if you are using compression by running an audit of your site using a tool like PageSpeed Insights. If you see a warning to enable text compression, your site isn't compressing data. You can enable text compression using a plugin designed for caching or performance optimization. You can also enable GZIP compression directly on your server if you have some familiarity with coding.
Your Theme Is Too “Heavy”
A WordPress theme is considered “heavy” if it uses complicated design elements, too much code, and/or large file sizes. The theme is the framework of your website, so if it is heavy, then it will cause longer page load times, increased bounce rates, and even SEO penalties. Changing to a different theme can help with speed and other issues.
If you want to find out if your theme is causing issues, you should assess its performance. Start by creating a new WordPress installation without any content and then installing the theme you've chosen. After that, you can use a tool like PageSpeed Insights to check its speed. If the key performance indicators (KPIs)—such as total page loading time—show a problem, you may need to modify or adjust the theme.
If you want to keep your existing theme, go into the settings and turn off some options that may be slowing down your site. After doing this, run the speed test again. If it is still slow, then you might simply need to choose another theme.
Your Pages Aren’t Cached
Caching is a type of data storage where static copies of a web page are stored so that the website doesn’t need to regenerate content for each visitor. This helps to deliver content much more efficiently, especially for pages that are accessed frequently - like a home page.
To check if your page is being cached, you can open the developer Chrome tab from the administration panel. You should then choose “view source” and scroll down to check for an activated cache plugin. If you don’t have one installed or activated, then you will need to choose a WordPress cache plugin and install it on your site.
You’re Running an Outdated PHP Version
PHP is a scripting language that serves as the backbone for WordPress websites. If you are running an older PHP on WordPress, then it can slow down your site performance. Your site should run on the most recent PHP version. You can check the most recent version on the PHP Group’s website.
To check which PHP version is running on your site, go to your WordPress dashboard and visit site health (under Tools). Go to the Info tab and then look at the server. This will show which PHP version is being used.
If your site is running an outdated version, go to your hosting provider site from the cPanel. Go to Site Tools, then Devs, and then choose “PHP version” from the PHP manager menu. You can then choose which version to run.
Your Site Has Too Many External HTTP Requests
An HTTP request involves a browser connecting to a server and either asking for a resource or sending data to it. If you have too many HTTP requests, it can slow down speed by taking up time and resources.
You can check the number of HTTP requests that your page is receiving by inputting your URL into a tool like GTMetrix and running an audit. You can then go to “page details” and look at the total page requests. If you have more than 50 HTTP requests per page, then it is probably slowing your page down.
You can fix the issue by optimizing your code, enabling lazy load on images, and loading scripts only when needed. A WordPress speed plugin - that you may already be using to optimize code - is the best way to do this.
You Need a Different Hosting Plan
Every website requires a host and a hosting plan. If you don’t have the right type of plan for your website, then it could slow down your site. In many cases, low-quality hosting is the main culprit for a slow site. Generally, dedicated hosting will be faster than shared or managed WordPress hosting - but it is also the costliest.
Your hosting plan may also have limits on bandwidth and storage. If your site has a lot of videos or images, then you need a plan without those limits. It may be necessary to switch your hosting plan or provider if you need more bandwidth or other features.
You can check your hosting provider’s speed by going to its website and performing a speed test on it using a tool like PageSpeed Insights. If its own website is slow, then the issue might be with its servers. You can compare this to your own page’s performance, looking specifically at the Time to First Byte (TTFB). If the TTFB is 0.8 seconds or higher, then the hosting company may be the issue.
You Aren’t Optimizing Your Code
Code optimization is a technique that can speed up your website by reducing file sizes. There are three main ways tooptimize code:
- Delay non-critical JavaScript, which loads this code after first loading the page.
- Minification, which removes unnecessary characters.
- Remove unused CSS, which eliminates styles from the site’s stylesheet that aren’t being used.
You can check to see if your code is optimized by running a performance audit using your website’s URL on PageSpeed Insights. If you see warnings about unused JavaScript and CSS, then you will need to optimize your code. If you have coding experience, you can optimize your code manually. However, the easier solution - and one that will prevent loss of site content - is to use a WordPress plugin that will handle all 3 optimization tasks automatically.
You Have Too Many Plugins
Plugins are a great way to customize your WordPress site, but if you have too many, it will slow down loading times. Of course, some plugins are necessary - including for site speed. But if you have too many - or if the ones you have are too “heavy” - then it will slow down your site.
You can figure out which plugins are slowing down your site by disabling them one by one, and then checking your site performance using PageSpeed Insights. You can also use a plugin like Query Monitor to detect poorly performing plugins - but remember to delete it when you’re done using it.
In the future, you can avoid this problem by being careful about the plugins that you install. Read the reviews and check the number of installs. You can also look at the plugin’s documentation and support.
You Aren’t Using a Content Delivery Network
A Content Delivery Network - or CDN - is a service that distributes certain content (like images and CSS) to servers around the world. When a website loads, the data is delivered from the closest server - which can increase speed.
If you don’t have a CDN installed on your WordPress site, then it may affect loading times. You can install a CDN as a WordPress plugin to streamline the technical setup and get your site up and running as fast as possible.
Similarly, if your CDN isn’t being used properly, it can slow down your site. You can run an audit using a service like GTMetrix to check to see if the site is running slow in particular locations.
You Aren’t Optimizing Images
Images can slow down your speed, particularly if the data isn’t compressed. Optimizing images allows you to preserve quality while maintaining site speed. It involves techniques like selecting the right format, compressing the file, serving images to WebP (a newer Google format) and lazy-loading the images (which delays loading until they are about to be viewed).
To check to see if your images are optimized, run an audit on PageSpeed Insights. A warning about your images - such as “properly size images” or “efficiently code images” - tells you that your images aren’t optimized.
To fix the issue, you can simply install a WordPress plugin that reduces image file size such as Imagify. If you have already installed a site performance plugin, you can also check the settings on it to enable lazy loading.
You Aren’t Cleaning Your Database
Your WordPress database stores a lot of data - much of which is unnecessary, such as revisions, spam comments, and auto drafts. If you aren’t regularly doing database maintenance, it can slow down site speed.
There are a few ways to clean your database. You can do it using a WordPress plugin that will clean it for you. With a plugin, you can set up rules for database maintenance and schedule it to be performed on a regular basis.
You can also clean your WordPress database manually. To do so, you will have to access PHPMyAdmin through your hosting provider. Once you have signed in, you will have to select the tables that need to be optimized from the structure tab. If this sounds confusing, then your best bet may be a WordPress plugin - or asking your website design and development agency to handle website support and maintenance work for you.
How Inclind Can Help with a Slow Website
Most organizations have websites - but not all businesses and nonprofits have staff with the experience to maintain them. If your website is running slow, you might be aware that it’s a problem…yet not know where to start when it comes to fixing it. We’re here to help.
Based in Delaware, Inclind works with clients throughout the United States to help them design and develop WordPress websites. We also provide support and maintenance services to keep your website running exactly as it should - including with fast loading times. If you are experiencing speed issues with your site, we will diagnose and fix the problem for you - and help you avoid similar problems in the future.
We're here to chat if you want to learn more about our WordPress website design, development, and support services. You can call 800-604-8139 or fill out our online contact form to talk to one of our team members about your site.