10 Easy Tips To Speed Up Your WordPress Site (2023)

Last Updated on July 19, 2023 by Jordan Alexo

Let’s cut to the chase. You’re here because you want your WordPress site to be faster than a cheetah on a caffeine rush. And why wouldn’t you? A slow website is like a party without music – it’s a total buzzkill.

Did you know that a mere 1-second delay in page load time can lead to a 7% loss in conversions, 11% fewer page views, and a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction? Every second counts.

In this guide, we will dive into ten actionable, no-fluff tips to speed up your WordPress site.

You’ll discover the right hosting provider, the power of caching plugins, minifying your site’s code, and optimizing images. So, let’s get started!

Key Takeaways

1. Hosting Matters: Your web host is like the engine of your car. If it’s clunky, your site won’t be winning any races. So, pick a host that’s built for speed. WPX Hosting and Kinsta are solid options.
2. Lightweight Themes are Your Friends: Heavy themes can slow down your site. So, go for lightweight themes like Kadence, Astra, or Generate Press. They’re sleek, stylish, and speedy.
3. Be Picky with Your Plugins: Plugins are great, but too many can slow down your site. So, audit your plugins, keep only the essentials, and always opt for the lighter ones.
4. Image Optimization is Key: Images can be a drag on your site’s speed. So, reduce their quality, choose the right format, compress them, and use lazy loading. Your site will be faster, and your visitors will be happier.
5. Keep Your Database Clean: A cluttered database can slow down your site. So, delete old post revisions, clean up spam comments, and optimize your database tables. A clean database is a fast database.
6. Speed is Everything: Your site should load in 1-2 seconds. Anything more, and you’re losing visitors and money. So, optimize, optimize, optimize. Your site’s speed can make or break your online success.

What Is A Good Website Speed?

When discussing having good website speed, it’s how fast your site loads up for your visitors.

Statistic	Detail
Ideal Website Load Time	1-2 seconds
Visitor Loss After 3 Seconds Load Time	53%
Abandonment Rate After 2-Second Delay	Up to 87%
Google’s Aim for Load Time	Under half-a-second
Average Load Time for Mobile Sites (3G)	19 seconds
Revenue Impact of 5 Seconds vs. 19 Seconds Load Time	Up to 2x more mobile ad revenue
Impact of Slow Load Time on Google Ranking	Negative
Impact of Load Time on Visitor Retention and Revenue	Every second counts

So, what’s the magic number? Well, the ideal website load time for mobile sites is 1-2 seconds. 

Yeah, you heard it right, just a couple of seconds. Why so fast?

Because people are impatient. If your pages take longer than 3 seconds to load, you will lose more than half of your visitors. And it gets worse!

A 2-second delay in load time can result in abandonment rates of up to 87%. That’s like 9 out of 10 customers leave. As you may imagine, that’s not good for business, right?

Even Google, the big G itself, aims for under half a-second load time. And if your site is really slow, it can even hurt your Google ranking.

So, if you want to keep your visitors happy and make more money, you must make your website load as fast as possible.

6 Factors That Slow Down Your WordPress Website

Before turning your website into a speed machine, we need to figure out what’s putting the brakes on your site’s performance. It’s like trying to win a race with a flat tire – you’re not going anywhere fast.

So, what’s slowing down your WordPress site? Here are some common reasons:

1 – Poor Hosting

Your hosting provider is like the foundation of your website. If it’s shaky, everything else will be too. A poor hosting provider can lead to slow server response times and a slow website.

See, some web-host are good to start with, but not good enough in the long run. Once you have more traffic, your website may struggle to handle the load.

For this reason, you must migrate to a web host that provides better performance. And the thing is, “You can follow all the advice here, and it will help.” But, if your web host is bad, then your site will still run slowly.

2 – Heavy Images

Often when most new bloggers start, they aren’t worried about their image sizes. But they can be a real drag on your site’s speed.

Because large, unoptimized images can take ages to load, slowing down your entire site.

3 – Too Many Plugins

Everyone loves plugins, they can turn your site to whatever you want, but they can also slow it down. Each plugin adds a bit of code that needs to be loaded, and some can even create database queries that slow down your site.

Besides, some plugins slow down your site more than others. Like Jetpack, it’s a fantastic plugin with a load of functionality.

However, it’s a heavy plugin that can dramatically impact your site’s uploading time.

4 – External Scripts

External scripts, like ads, font loaders, and others, can significantly impact your site’s performance.

These scripts often require additional network and CPU resources to execute, slowing down your site.

5 – Unoptimized Code

Bulky code, or code that’s full of unnecessary characters can slow down your site. This includes HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

6 – No Caching

Without caching, your site must generate a new page for every visitor. This can put a lot of strain on your server and slow down your site.

Now, don’t get overwhelmed. We’re going to tackle each of these issues one by one in this guide. By the end, you’ll have a lean, mean, speed machine on your hands.

3 Key Reasons Your WordPress Site’s Performance is Crucial

So, let’s examine why speed is such a big deal for your WordPress site.

Reason 1 – User Experience (UX)

See, speed is all about the user experience. Just imagine you’re in a restaurant, and it takes forever to get your order. Frustrating, right?

The same goes for your website. A slow site is like a slow waiter – it leaves a bad taste in your visitors’ mouths.

In fact, a study by Google found that 53% of mobile site visitors will leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. That’s half your audience, gone in the blink of an eye!

Reason 2 – SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Google has been using site speed as a ranking factor since 2010. That means a slow site can hurt your rankings in search engine results.

So, if you want to rank on the first page of Google, having a good uploading time is essential.

Reason 3 – Conversion Rates

Site speed can directly impact your bottom line. Most people nowadays don’t have the patience to wait too long for a site to upload.

That’s why if your site takes forever to open up, you’ll lose potential customers.

So, there you have it. Speed matters for your users, search engines, and your business.

3 Ways To Test Your Website Uploading Time

If you want to know all this optimization stuff is working, you must test it. It’s like trying to lose weight without ever stepping on a scale.

So, before you dive into all these speed-boosting strategies, take a moment to test your site’s current speed. Then, after you’ve made your optimizations test it again. This way, you can see the actual impact of your efforts.

Here are my favorite three tools to help you do that:

1. GT Metrix: This tool gives you a ton of information, including your site’s load time, total page size, and performance score. Plus, it gives you actionable recommendations for improving your site’s speed.
2. Pingdom Tools: Pingdom is another great option. It gives you a performance grade, load time, page size, and more. Plus, it lets you test from different locations around the world.
3. Google PageSpeed Insights: This tool provides you with your site’s speed on both desktop and mobile and suggestions for where you can improve.

10 Easy Ways To Make Your WordPress Website Faster

Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how to make your WordPress site faster than a speeding bullet. Buckle up!

Tip 1 – Choosing The Right Web Host Provider

Your hosting provider is like the engine of a car. If you’ve got a clunky old engine, it doesn’t matter how sleek your car looks. It won’t win the race.

So, how do you pick a hosting provider built for speed? Here’s the lowdown:

What’s A Shared Hosting?

Most people start with a shared hosting plan. Shared hosting is like living in an apartment building.

You’re sharing resources (like bandwidth and storage) with all the other websites on the same server. It’s a budget-friendly option, but it can come with some speed bumps.

See, not all shared web-host provide the same level of performance. I’ll explain later the best solution.

What’s The Downside Of Budget Shared Hosting?

The problem with shared hosting is that you’re at the mercy of your neighbors.

If another site on your server gets a traffic spike, it can hog all the resources and slow down your site.

It’s like trying to take a shower when everyone in the building is using the water – the pressure drops, and your shower turns into a trickle.

Also, often they have poor customer service, overcrowded servers, and unreliable uptime. Usually, these web hosts are only meant to get started.

But once you have some traffic, and want better performance, then it’s time to move on.

What’s WPX Hosting Or Kinsta Advantage?

That’s where WPX Hosting or Kinsta comes in. They offer managed WordPress hosting, which means they handle all the technical stuff, so you can focus on growing your business.

And here’s the cherry on top – WPX Hosting includes a content delivery network (CDN) with all their plans. A CDN can significantly speed up your site for visitors around the world.

Because your visitors can access your site from a server closer to their location, reducing latency and improving load times.

Tip 2 – Install A WordPress Caching Plugin

If you’re scratching your head wondering what the heck caching is, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered.

• Think of caching like your favorite fast-food joint. They’ve got a bunch of burgers ready to go, so when you order, you get your food fast.
• Without caching, it’s like going to a fancy restaurant where they cook everything from scratch. Sure, it’s fresh, but you’re going to be waiting a while.

See, caching works the same way for your website. It stores a ready-to-go version of your pages that can be served up fast instead of making your visitors wait while the page is generated from scratch.