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WordPress how-tos

How do I make my WordPress site load faster?

By Chris Parsons, founder of ParsonsHosting. Published .

Start with the changes that usually help small sites: shrink your images, remove plugins you do not use, use a lightweight theme, and keep WordPress and PHP up to date. On ParsonsHosting, NGINX page caching is on for every cPanel account, so you typically do not need a cache or performance plugin. Measure with a free speed test before and after each change so you know whether it helped.

Woman working on a laptop with a coffee, seen through a cafe window

Step 1: Measure first

  1. Go to Google's PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev).
  2. Enter your homepage address and run the test.
  3. Note the mobile results, especially Core Web Vitals, so you can compare after each change.

Step 2: Fix images

Large photos are a common cause of slow pages.

  1. Before uploading, resize photos. Around 2000 pixels wide is plenty for a full-width banner; 1200 pixels is enough for other images on the page.
  2. Use JPEG or WebP for photos. Recent WordPress versions also accept AVIF.
  3. WordPress 7.1 compresses and resizes images in your browser as they upload. Older images in your Media Library are not changed.
  4. Avoid image sliders with many full-size photos on the homepage.

Step 3: Clean up plugins

  1. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
  2. Deactivate and delete anything you do not use.
  3. If two plugins do the same job (two SEO plugins, two form plugins), keep one.
  4. Retest. If one plugin makes a big difference, look for a lighter alternative.

Step 4: Use a lightweight theme

Themes packed with sliders, animations and page-builder features add weight to every page. If you are redesigning anyway, consider a lean block theme, such as a default WordPress theme.

Step 5: Let the server handle caching

On ParsonsHosting, NGINX caching is on for every cPanel account, and you can turn it off in cPanel. It saves a ready-made copy of each page, so you typically do not need a cache or performance plugin. If your site is behind Cloudflare, read how Cloudflare caching works with our NGINX cache before you add page-caching rules. Moved from a host with a caching plugin? Deactivate it and retest.

After you edit a page, visitors may see the old copy for a while. To fix that:

  1. In cPanel, find the NGINX Caching option and click Clear Cache.
  2. For a long editing session, switch NGINX caching off there and back on when you are done.
  3. Optional for WordPress: TNC Toolbox is a free community plugin that adds a toolbar button to clear the NGINX cache, clears it automatically when you publish or update content, and lets administrators turn caching on or off. It is not required, and we do not officially support it. You can install it yourself (setup needs a cPanel API token from Manage API Tokens, your cPanel username and the server hostname), or ask us to add and configure it. As with any plugin, you add it at your own risk.

For heavy sites (a large WooCommerce store, a busy membership site or many logged-in users), Redis object caching is available as a per-account upgrade, which our team sets up for you. Request it on the Redis request page.

Step 6: Keep WordPress, plugins and PHP current

Newer versions of WordPress and PHP (the language WordPress runs on) often run faster and are safer.

  1. Check Dashboard > Updates and apply updates.
  2. Look at Tools > Site Health. It tells you if your PHP version is out of date and lists other performance issues.
  3. Try a newer PHP version on a staging copy first. Our article on WordPress security and updates shows how to set one up.
  4. Switch the live site once staging looks right. Multiple PHP versions are available, including hardened legacy PHP versions through CloudLinux for older sites that cannot move to a newer version yet.

Step 7: Limit outside scripts

Every chat widget, social feed, map, tracking pixel and embedded video loads extra code. Keep the ones that earn their place. For a map, a link to Google Maps on mobile can be lighter than an embedded map on every page.

Step 8: Retest

Run PageSpeed Insights again and compare. Scores vary a bit from run to run, so look for a clear change rather than a point or two.

What not to worry about

You do not need a score of 100. Aim for a site that feels quick on your own phone over cellular data, shows the important content right away, and does not jump around as it loads.

Get help

Send your site address and PageSpeed Insights link to support@parsonshosting.com or call 530-710-8726. We reply the same day, often within an hour, during business hours (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific, 7 days a week). See WordPress hosting and the FAQ. Migrations are free regardless of size or time.

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