17 Ways to Fix a Slow WordPress Website

Aug 16, 2023

17 Ways to Fix a Slow WordPress Website

Figuring out why WordPress is slow can be challenging. 🐌 Thanks to this video, it doesn’t have to be ⚡️
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🕘Timestamps

0:00 Intro
0:41 Switch to a Trusted Managed WordPress Host
1:16 Keep Your WordPress Site Updated
2:09 Optimize Your Website’s Images
3:12 Use Plugins Cautiously (and Only If Necessary)
3:35 Choose a Fast WordPress Theme
4:25 Configure Cache to Optimize Your Website
5:23 Reduce External HTTP Requests (and API Calls)
5:54 Minify Your Website’s Scripts and Stylesheets
6:48 Load Only the Necessary Scripts on Each Page Load
7:32 Speed Up Your Slow WordPress Admin Dashboard
8:03 Server Location and Configuration Matters
9:30 Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
10:17 Remove Unnecessary URL Redirects
12:52 Fix WordPress Mixed Content Warnings (HTTPS/SSL Errors)
13:57 Optimize Your WordPress Database Regularly
15:25 Choose a Cloud-Based WordPress Security Service
17:11 Upgrade to the Latest PHP Version

📚 Resources

https://kinsta.com/blog/wordpress-slow/

🛠 How to Speed Up Your WordPress Site (Ultimate 2022 Guide)
► https://kinsta.com/learn/speed-up-wor…

#WordPressSlow

Content

0.12 -> Hey guys, it's Alisha.

1.62 -> And today, I'm gonna show you 17 ways

5.34 -> to fix a slow WordPress website.

8.222 -> (upbeat music)

13.44 -> In this video, we're going to explore the potential areas

16.68 -> where you can speed up your slow WordPress site.

19.47 -> But before we get too far,

21.06 -> I wanna let you know that there will be links

22.95 -> to more resources in the video's description..

25.2 -> And remember, subscribe and ring that bell

27.99 -> to get notifications for future helpful content.

31.17 -> All right, now let's fix your slow website.

39.57 -> Typically, managed WordPress hosting

41.73 -> comes with multiple features to help WordPress sites

44.76 -> run efficiently, securely, and quickly.

48.06 -> All the technical know-how is left to the experts

50.67 -> letting you focus on running your business.

52.86 -> Plans for managed WordPress hosting are usually higher

56.04 -> than shared hosting or DIY VPS hosting,

59.64 -> but you get what you pay for.

61.68 -> No matter what you end up hosting your site with,

64.17 -> do your research right

65.73 -> and make sure it fits your website's requirements.

69.45 -> Kinsta offers free migrations

71.4 -> so you can easily migrate your current site

73.68 -> to a new host without any downtime.

76.02 -> An essential aspect of maintaining your WordPress site

78.87 -> is to keep it updated.

80.82 -> This may seem the most obvious take,

83.1 -> but it's worth a reminder nonetheless.

85.62 -> WordPress updates include security patches,

88.29 -> the latest features and performance fixes.

90.96 -> You can enable automatic updates for your site

93.42 -> in its wpconfig.php file.

96.45 -> We always recommend updating to the latest WordPress version

99.75 -> to keep your sites secure.

101.64 -> Kinsta doesn't force major updates

103.68 -> as each site should test these significant changes

106.26 -> before applying them.

108.3 -> You can easily do so in our staging environment.

111.78 -> However, WordPress automatically applies security patches.

116.07 -> Likewise, you should also keep

117.81 -> all your active plug-ins and theme updated.

120.6 -> If you find any plug-in or theme on your website

123.15 -> that hasn't been updated for more than a year,

126.03 -> it's time to reconsider its alternatives.

128.58 -> As per HTTP Archive from March 1st, 2022,

132.9 -> the median page weight of a WordPress site

135.33 -> is 2,408 kilobytes,

137.97 -> of which images make up almost 1,117 kilobytes,

142.2 -> nearly 50% of the total page size.

145.11 -> It's no wonder that large images slow down your website,

148.14 -> creating a less than optimal user experience.

151.05 -> Hence, optimizing images either manually or with a plugin

155.34 -> can drastically speed up page load times.

157.71 -> Lossy compression almost always hits the perfect sweet spot

161.16 -> between retaining image details

163.08 -> and having a smaller file size.

165.3 -> Choosing the proper image file format is critical.

168.33 -> PNGs are great for computer-generated graphics,

171.6 -> while JPEGs are superior for photographs.

175.05 -> There are many more image formats

176.73 -> such as GIF, SVG, JPEG XR, and WebP.

182.91 -> Some are universally supported by all browsers,

186.15 -> while others aren't,

188.01 -> so you have to research carefully before choosing them.

191.3 -> Unoptimized WordPress plugins

193.29 -> can drag down your site's performance,

195.39 -> increasing page load times.

197.97 -> Nevertheless, you can install dozens of WordPress plugins

201.69 -> without harming your site's performance,

204.09 -> but you also must ensure that these plugins are well-coded

207.72 -> and optimized for performance.

209.64 -> And more importantly,

210.84 -> the plugin developers should have optimized them

213.54 -> to work well with each other.

214.89 -> Choosing a fast WordPress theme is critical

217.71 -> for your website performance and user experience.

221.37 -> A theme's features like its layout, navigation menus,

224.85 -> color palette, fonts, and image placement

227.52 -> are the first thing your visitors will notice.

230.28 -> And if those features aren't optimized well,

233.16 -> you may have a pretty site, but also a pretty slow one.

236.82 -> Before selecting a WordPress theme,

238.95 -> list out all of the features you want on your website,

242.55 -> then research and jot down themes

245.19 -> that fit your requirements.

247.23 -> Always look out for trustworthy developers with high ratings

250.77 -> and excellent customer service.

252.72 -> We also recommend you avoid themes

254.85 -> that aren't updated often.

257.16 -> If you already have a live WordPress site,

259.59 -> we recommend setting up a staging site

262.17 -> and testing the theme before pushing it live.

264.84 -> Caching is a complex technology with multiple layers.

269.61 -> Caching is the process of storing

271.77 -> and recalling frequently served data to speed up websites.

277.08 -> WordPress runs on PHP and MySQL,

280.44 -> both of which can get bloated if you don't employ caching.

283.89 -> Hence, your site speed is a joint effort

286.5 -> between you, your host, and the caching.

290.07 -> Most managed WordPress hosts, including Kinsta,

293.88 -> take care of caching at the server level

296.34 -> so you don't have to implement it on your own.

299.4 -> However, if they don't,

301.32 -> you can always use a free WordPress caching plugin

304.35 -> like WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache.

308.64 -> At Kinsta, we already implement

310.74 -> different types of server-level caching,

312.99 -> which is much better than any plugin can do on a PHP level.

317.19 -> Hence, we don't allow any caching plugins

319.95 -> to avoid conflicts.

321.51 -> Your WordPress site's theme and plugins

324.3 -> may include external requests to various resources.

328.53 -> Typically, these requests are for loading

330.81 -> externally hosted files such as style sheets,

334.17 -> fonts, scripts, et cetera,

336.6 -> occasionally therefore adding functionality

339.45 -> like analytics, social media sharing, and more.

342.81 -> It's okay to use some of these,

344.61 -> but too many of them can slow down your site.

347.88 -> You can speed up your website

349.29 -> if you can reduce the number of HTTP requests

352.35 -> and optimize how they load.

353.97 -> Code minification is the process of removing

356.79 -> unnecessary elements from code.

359.55 -> For a WordPress site,

360.84 -> that mainly includes minifying JS scripts

363.81 -> and CSS style sheets.

366.36 -> These elements are part of the code

368.16 -> because it's easy to read by humans or web developers.

372.39 -> A simple example of such an element is code comments.

376.23 -> However, these elements aren't necessary

378.39 -> for the machine or web browsers.

380.82 -> By minifying your website code,

382.8 -> you have smaller sized JavaScript and CSS files.

387.36 -> Not only do they load faster,

389.19 -> but they're also parsed faster by the browser.

392.37 -> Together, they can improve

393.87 -> your page loading speed immensely.

396.18 -> If you are a Kinsta customer, you don't have to worry

398.67 -> about installing a third-party plugin

400.83 -> to take advantage of code minification.

403.56 -> You can do the same straight from your MyKinsta dashboard.

407.19 -> Most WordPress theme and plugin resources

409.92 -> often load and run on all the pages

412.95 -> even if they're not required on some pages.

416.22 -> For example, a contact form plugin

418.8 -> may load its assets on every page

421.56 -> rather than only on pages with a contact form.

425.34 -> Minifying and combining these scripts

427.53 -> may improve your site performance slightly,

429.99 -> but it's better to prevent these scripts and styles

432.57 -> from loading in the first place.

434.22 -> We recommend using the free Asset CleanUp plugin

437.25 -> for this task.

438.72 -> It will scan all the assets that are loaded on a page.

442.44 -> Asset CleanUp works best in combination with caching

446.13 -> as the optimized page doesn't have to be generated

449.1 -> repeatedly by the web server.

451.23 -> If you have a sluggish WordPress admin,

453.42 -> you can do the same in reverse.

455.37 -> Fixing your backend performance issues

457.5 -> may help speed up your site for visitors.

460.5 -> Using a server-level APM tool

463.2 -> is always handy for this scenario

465.69 -> as installing additional plugins

467.34 -> may further slow down your website.

469.02 -> One super feature of Kinsta APM

471.93 -> is that it works with any type of WordPress site.

474.99 -> Like with WooCommerce,

476.4 -> you can use it to find performance issues

478.59 -> with WordPress multisite, membership sites, and LMS sites.

482.88 -> Your web server's location and its configuration

486.06 -> can have a significant impact on your website's speed.

489.75 -> For instance, if your web server is in the United States,

493.5 -> your website will load slower to visitors

496.11 -> from Europe or India

497.76 -> than to visitors from the United States.

500.7 -> You can mitigate this by using a web server closest to you

503.94 -> and most of your site's visitors

505.83 -> and a CDN with broad global coverage.

508.77 -> At Kinsta, all the websites we host

511.41 -> are powered by the Google Cloud.

513.78 -> With its more than 30 global data centers

516.51 -> and more added regularly, you can choose between them

520.08 -> to place your web server closest to your visitors.

522.99 -> If your site attracts a worldwide audience,

525.75 -> you can further enhance its speed

527.52 -> by opting for a cloud delivery network.

530.73 -> At Kinsta, we use only the best technology,

533.73 -> from our server hardware to the software stack.

536.88 -> All our sites are hosted on GCP's compute optimized C2 VMs.

543.24 -> These machines provide unparalleled

545.25 -> single thread performance.

547.41 -> Most WordPress-related processes are single threaded.

551.19 -> As per Google Cloud,

552.63 -> they also provide the highest performance

555.45 -> per core on Compute Engine.

557.61 -> Combine those machines with state-of-the-art software

560.31 -> like NGINX Web Server, 8.1, LXD containers, and MariaDB,

566.34 -> your websites will load in the blink of an eye.

568.95 -> One of the easiest ways to speed up a website

571.59 -> is to use a fast and reliable CDN.

575.22 -> A CDN takes the load off of your web server

578.1 -> by delivering content directly to your visitors.

580.92 -> These are a network of servers, also known as POPs,

584.4 -> designed to host and deliver copies of your site's content

588.75 -> such as images, style sheets, fonts, scripts, and videos.

593.13 -> We recommend every website use at least some type of CDN

597.42 -> to speed up its performance.

599.04 -> At Kinsta, we secure all sites

601.59 -> with our free Cloudflare integration.

604.32 -> Not only does it provide an enterprise-level firewall

607.68 -> and DDoS protection, but it also speeds up websites

611.76 -> with its high performance HTTP/3 CDN.

615.72 -> If you're updating a website with new posts and pages,

618.93 -> you'll likely have changes to your URL structure.

622.38 -> In such cases, URL redirects are a blessing.

626.13 -> However, if you don't follow

627.75 -> WordPress redirect best practices,

630.06 -> you may negatively impact your site's user experience

633.12 -> and search engine optimization.

635.31 -> The most common issue

636.57 -> with improperly configured URL redirects

639.36 -> is causing a chain of redirects.

642.03 -> In some cases, this chain is an infinite redirect loop.

646.08 -> Such redirect chains will often lead

648.33 -> to increased page load times.

650.1 -> Sometimes misconfigured URL redirects

653.01 -> can also lead to Error 404 Page Not Found errors.

658.23 -> If your site generates a lot of 404 errors,

661.2 -> it can also impact your site performance

663.57 -> as these responses aren't typically cached.

666.66 -> Our MyKinsta dashboard includes an analytics tool

670.11 -> to help you see the exact amount of redirects

672.66 -> and 404 errors.

674.1 -> You can design a creative 404 error page

676.89 -> to get away with it,

678.09 -> but that will not help you in the long run.

680.04 -> Here's how you can avoid creating unnecessary redirects.

683.49 -> Use the proper URL prefix.

687.12 -> Keep or remove the www subdomain from the url.

691.95 -> Don't use post and page IDs in URLs.

697.5 -> Include the entire URL path,

700.86 -> and ensure your top-level domain

703.92 -> resolves within one redirection.

706.59 -> If your site is hosted with Kinsta,

708.63 -> you can also manage redirects from your MyKinsta dashboard.

712.68 -> This tool is a better way to set redirects

715.53 -> as the rules are implemented at the server level.

718.86 -> That also means one less third-party plugin

721.8 -> you need to install.

722.94 -> Go to the site you want to manage

724.86 -> and click the Redirects tab, then add a new redirect

729 -> by clicking the large Add Redirect Rule button.

732.18 -> At Kinsta, we try to minimize the impact of 404 errors

735.75 -> on site performance by automatically caching such requests

739.47 -> for 15 minutes.

741.3 -> If you create a new page within the same URL

744.3 -> as the cached 404 page, we'll immediately purge the cache

748.17 -> so your visitors will see the new page.

750.81 -> This protects your site from PHP and CPU spikes

754.47 -> caused by traffic to dynamic 404 pages.

757.5 -> If your web host uses an Apache server,

760.08 -> you need to edit its htaccess file to set up redirects.

764.4 -> For such a case, you can use the htaccess generator site

768.36 -> to generate the proper redirect rules for your site.

771.27 -> Running your WordPress site over HTTPS protocol

775.26 -> is a must today.

776.94 -> However, you can face several issues when migrating

780.06 -> from HTTP to HTTPS.

782.67 -> The most common one is the mixed content warnings alert.

786.93 -> A mixed content warning appears

788.97 -> when a page includes HTTP and HTTPS content.

794.22 -> Loading resources insecurely isn't just a security concern,

799.11 -> but also a potential performance issue.

801.69 -> If you get mixed content errors on your website,

804.63 -> you can use a free tool like Why No Padlock

807.96 -> to show you which resources are being loaded insecurely.

811.86 -> You can then perform a quick search

813.84 -> and replace to fix all the potential causes.

817.32 -> If you're a Kinsta customer,

818.91 -> you can use our search and replace tool

821.43 -> from the MyKinsta dashboard.

822.99 -> A simple search and replace

824.91 -> should resolve all your mixed content warnings.

827.82 -> But if it didn't, there are probably some hard-coded scripts

831.21 -> that you need to find and manually update

834.03 -> or hire a developer who can do that for you.

836.61 -> A WordPress site's database

838.32 -> stores all its critical information.

841.14 -> But without regular maintenance, it can slow down your site.

844.62 -> For instance, the WordPress database

846.81 -> can still have information from years ago

849.24 -> when you launched the site.

851.1 -> That includes post and page revisions,

853.65 -> drafts, trash, comments, and deleted posts.

857.52 -> While they may be helpful for editing

859.32 -> and publishing recent posts,

861.27 -> over time, the database will accumulate

863.82 -> lots of unnecessary data and become bloated.

867.3 -> Hence, optimizing your WordPress database is necessary

871.17 -> to improve and maintain your website's performance.

874.38 -> Also, some plugins and themes add data

877.11 -> to the WP options table to make it easier to configure them

881.04 -> and load settings automatically,

883.53 -> but auto-loading too much data

885.42 -> can slow down page response times.

887.52 -> You can use various techniques

889.14 -> to optimize the WordPress database.

891.51 -> One way is to use phpMyAdmin or Adminer

895.02 -> to clear out outdated database items manually.

897.81 -> Or you can use WordPress database optimization plugins

901.08 -> such as WP-Optimize, WP-Sweep,

904.41 -> and Advanced Database Cleaner.

906.84 -> At Kinsta, we automatically optimize your site's database

910.26 -> based on its needs.

912.06 -> Typically, it runs once per week

914.16 -> and ensures that your database is in tip-top shape.

917.91 -> If automated process finds something out of the ordinary,

921.39 -> it notifies your admin team who will look into it.

924.33 -> Thousands of WordPress sites get hacked every day.

928.68 -> Hence, security is a critical issue for WordPress sites

932.22 -> and you need to stay on top of it at all times.

936.06 -> You have two primary ways

937.68 -> to protect your WordPress site with a firewall.

939.9 -> One, choose a secure web hosting service

942.99 -> with a proven track record.

945.21 -> Or two, use a dedicated third-party security service

948.9 -> to protect your website.

950.25 -> The first option is clear cut.

952.77 -> A reliable WordPress hosting provider will take care

955.77 -> of most of the site security measures for you.

958.65 -> However, if you have to go with the second option,

961.8 -> you have two other choices.

963.81 -> One, opt for a WordPress security plugin like Wordfence,

968.61 -> or go for a DNS firewall like Cloudflare.

972.54 -> WordPress security plugins drain your website's resources

976.05 -> due to their always on and regular scanning requirements.

980.67 -> Instead, you can go with cloud-based

983.52 -> security solutions like Cloudflare.

986.58 -> They also provide extra protection against bots,

989.46 -> DDoS attacks, and proxy traffic.

992.85 -> At Kinsta, you are protected

994.98 -> by both server-level security measures

997.44 -> and a cloud-based firewall

999.9 -> thanks to our Cloudflare integration.

1002.99 -> Their enterprise-level firewall

1004.43 -> protects all the sites hosted at Kinsta.

1006.86 -> Additionally, we support two-factor authentication

1010.28 -> and IP geolocation blocking.

1013.22 -> We also ban IPs with six failed login attempts

1016.88 -> in under a minute.

1018.62 -> Furthermore, we enforce fully encrypted connections,

1022.19 -> require strong passwords on all new WordPress installs,

1026.78 -> and provide a hack fix guarantee.

1029.66 -> WordPress is mainly powered by PHP,

1032.66 -> a server-side programming language.

1035.15 -> Even its themes and plugins are primarily written in PHP.

1039.98 -> Typically, newer PHP versions are faster

1042.92 -> than their older counterparts.

1045.17 -> At Kinsta, we encourage our clients

1047.21 -> to use the latest supported PHP versions.

1050.42 -> They offer many performance improvements

1052.43 -> and are also more secure.

1054.89 -> If you're planning to upgrade

1056.3 -> a production site's environment to PHP 8.1,

1059.66 -> we recommend you test it thoroughly on a staging environment

1063.62 -> to ensure that it doesn't break.

1065.39 -> Nevertheless, if your server

1067.4 -> is still on PHP 7 point whatever version,

1071.12 -> you can update to PHP 8.0

1073.49 -> and reap most of the same benefits.

1076.13 -> Kinsta supports PHP 8.1 on all environments

1079.97 -> so you can thoroughly test your site on it before upgrading.

1084.02 -> If your host doesn't give you the option

1086 -> to update to the latest PHP versions,

1088.4 -> it's time to rethink your hosting provider.

1090.8 -> Let us know in the comments

1092.15 -> if you were able to fix your slow WordPress site,

1095.51 -> and make sure to check out our ultimate guide

1098.12 -> to speed up your WordPress site,

1099.83 -> which lists even more areas

1102.14 -> where you can optimize your slow website.

1106.46 -> Kinsta's WordPress hosting can speed up your website

1109.25 -> by up to 200%, and you'll get 24/7 support

1114.08 -> from our expert WordPress engineers.

1116.6 -> We offer two months free with any annual plan,

1119.99 -> a 30-day money back guarantee,

1121.85 -> and unlimited free basic migrations from any host.

1126.56 -> Head over to kinsta.com/plans to get started.

1130.76 -> Thank you so much for watching.

1132.68 -> If you found this video helpful,

1134.09 -> please don't forget to like, subscribe,

1136.97 -> and hit the notification bell for more tutorials,

1139.25 -> explainers, and helpful content like this.

1142.119 -> (upbeat music)

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNWkPAqWPE0