Generally website load speed improvements can be made in a few
This is a simple question with a complex and lengthy explanation; so please take your time on the steps to make sure you accurately diagnose each part of the issue. It’s nice when there’s one problem because that usually leads to one solution. Generally this is not that easy.
Hosting Resources and Metrics
Check out the panel resource usage and see if there are any faults. Sometimes it’s just one metric; sometimes there’s a cascading failure where one will lock up and then the rest will fault.
If resources are the issue then it could be: upgrade the hosting, malware using resources internally, bots trying to break the site externally; too many plugins on the site and you should optimize. Many times it’s a combination of them.
RAM is multi-tasking. CPU is active thinking and processing. I/O is DB input/output which you can think of as “database read/write speed.”
Malware or Hack
Look around the file browser for randomly named files between 5 and 9 characters long that end in ‘php’. Look for anything that isn’t a standard WordPress file. Malware will try and hide by with names that look legitimate but are not actual core files (admin.php; about.php; post.php; login.php; radio.php)
Search the whole hosting for the plugin “wp-file-manager” as a point of exploit.
If you find malware then spot treat what you can, but purchasing website security will probably be needed.
Hosting Traffic and Bot Audit
One of the factors on website responsiveness is how many requests are being made of the site; and other sites that share resources. One site could be impacting the rest of your sites by using more resources than the rest.
A way to take a look at traffic and figure out if your hosing is being harassed by bots is using a network traffic tool. The one built into CPanel is called “awstats”.
This basic tool can be used to see trends and potential complications to your hosting based on the external connections made, IP addresses used and files referenced.
Website Configuration and Build Review
WordPress is built with themes….. and plugins. And they make the site work. But each have their own complicity and additional features that add bulk. The more things that work in the background, the more the hosting has to think about just keeping WordPress running.
Generally website load speed improvements can be made in a few
Everyone says “but my site is just a few pages and posts… it doesn’t need that much to run…” yeah, well if you’re using more than 12 plugins and are using a theme with a lot of extra options it’s not a simple WordPress build.
If you have more than 20 plugins active then you’re doing a lot. Even if the page doesn’t show a lot, there’s still a lot for WordPress to keep track of.
Can any of these plugins be merged and consolidated? Can any features be moved to another service? Can we simplify the page or function?
Website Content and Size Audit
Rob’s server response and page speed analogy.
CDN and Caching options
CDN stands for Content Distribution Network… which means copies of your site are stored on satellite locations to load faster across the globe.