Reasons for a slow WordPress site
It is common to have a slow WordPress site, but it is actually possible to solve rather simple. We have gathered a number of different options for you to try out – to make your website faster.
At GMEngine, we have optimized our servers for lightning speed processing, but it is not all hosting companies. Most companies uses an standard Apache server. This actually make sense. If you can host anything, the hosting company have no opportunity to optimize for a specific framework. We have decided only to support WordPress, with background in top-level support and fast hosting services.
Different hosting types
The most common one is shared hosting, where you share a server with many other websites. This is usually the cheapest option. If you are on a budget, this is a great way to start your website. But, as your traffic increases, your site will become slower and you might encounter some hosting challenges. Shared hosting is not recommended for high traffic sites or sites that require a lot of resources.
If you are expecting a lot of traffic, you should look into VPS hosting. VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a more powerful option than shared hosting, but it is still cheaper than dedicated hosting. With VPS, your site will be on a server with other sites, but you will have your own virtual space with dedicated resources. This means that your site will not be affected by the traffic on other sites.
Dedicated hosting is the most powerful and expensive option. With dedicated hosting, you will have your own server. This is great for high traffic sites or sites that require a lot of resources.
Factors that can slow down your WordPress site
Many other factors can contribute to a slow WordPress site. We will go through some of the most common ones.
Slow hosting – as we mentioned, shared hosting can be slow. If you are on a bit higher budget, VPS hosting is a option. If you are expecting a lot of traffic, you should look into dedicated hosting.
Too many plugins – WordPress is a great platform because it is so flexible. You can extend its functionality with plugins. However, too many plugins can slow down your site. Try to use only the plugins that you absolutely need.
Heavy themes – some themes are very heavy and can slow down your site. If you are using a theme that is slowing down your site, you should consider switching to a lighter theme.
Poorly coded plugins and themes – poorly coded plugins and themes can also slow down your site. If you are using a plugin or theme that is slowing down your site, you should consider switching to a different one.
Unoptimized images – large images can slow down your site. You should optimize your images for the web. You can use an image optimization plugin like WP Smush to help with this.
How to optimize your WordPress site
There are many ways to optimize your WordPress site. We will go through some of the most common ones.
Use a caching plugin – a caching plugin will create static HTML files of your pages and serve them to your visitors. This will reduce the load on your server and make your site faster.
We recommend using the W3 Total Cache plugin.
Use a content delivery network (CDN) – a CDN is a network of servers that deliver content to your visitors. This will reduce the load on your server and make your site faster. We recommend using the CloudFlare CDN.
Optimize your images – as we mentioned, large images can slow down your site. You should optimize your images for the web. You can use an image optimization plugin like WP Smush to help with this.
Minify your CSS and JavaScript – minifying your CSS and JavaScript files will reduce the size of them and make your site faster. You can use a plugin like Autoptimize to help with this.
Remove the disabled plugins
If you have any plugins installed that you don’t use, you should delete this. This is both because of website-spacing but as well because of speed. Any disabled plugin does not help with running your site and can even slow it down.
Automatic update of Plugins
Last but not least, developers update the plugins often, to reduce the security risk but as well based on optimizations within the plugins. You should make sure that your WordPress site is automatically updated so that you have the latest and greatest plugins running on your site. This can be done through the WordPress backend.
Conclusion
There are many factors that can contribute to a slow WordPress site. The most common ones are Slow hosting, too many plugins, heavy themes, poorly coded plugins and themes, and unoptimized images. There are many ways to optimize your WordPress site.
The most common ones are using a caching plugin, using a content delivery network, optimizing your images, and minifying your CSS and JavaScript files. You should also make sure that your WordPress site is automatically updated so that you have the latest and greatest plugins running on your site.
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