23 Easy Steps to Optimize WordPress Speed and Performance

Speed and performance are key considerations for website owners. Fast websites support a positive user experience and can reduce bounce rates. And just as important, speed is factored into search engine rankings.

With that in mind, there are a few steps you can take to optimize WordPress speed and performance. For starters, you can choose a fast web host, use WordPress optimization plugins, and implement caching. There are also more technical measures you can take like critical CSS generation.

On this page, we’ll dive straight into 23 easy steps to power up your WordPress performance optimization strategy. Let’s get started!

1. Choose a high-performance hosting provider

Your choice of a web hosting service may be negatively affecting your page loading times. This can happen in various ways.

For instance, the distance between your web host’s servers and your visitors’ locations is a key factor. Those who reside farther away from the server will likely experience slower loading times since the data has to travel further.

So, if most of your customers reside in the United States, it doesn’t make sense to choose a web host with servers only located in Europe. You’ll also need to consider the amount and availability of server resources.

If you have a high-traffic website or a content-heavy site with lots of files, you’ll need a web hosting provider that can handle a high number of requests.

Bluehost is a good example of a host that puts a strong focus on speed and performance:

For example, you’ll get access to solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of hard drives, which deliver more efficient storage. Plus, Bluehost offers a Cloudflare CDN to reduce latency and improve content delivery times.

What’s more, you’ll find that many good web hosts offer multi-layered caching technology. In the case of Bluehost, you’ll get access to server-side caching technology which enables servers to return your web pages much faster.

2. Install a reliable speed optimization plugin

One of the most practical ways to improve WordPress speed and performance is to install a lightweight plugin to take care of the job for you. 

Jetpack is one of the most well-known names in the WordPress industry. There are various Jetpack products you can use, but Jetpack Boost is an all-in-one WordPress optimization plugin that targets both desktop and mobile performance.

When you install the plugin, you’ll get a quick speed report and an instant speed grade. This makes it easy to see how your website speed improves when you implement some of these steps.

Jetpack also gives you access to a neat caching feature that stores a snapshot of your site to serve visitors much faster. Better yet, you can enable a collection of acceleration tools directly from the WordPress dashboard, like critical CSS generation and JavaScript deferral.

Jetpack provides a dedicated image CDN which optimizes and resizes your website images. Plus, the CDN automatically converts images into efficient formats like WebP.

Finally, Jetpack Boost puts a laser focus on Google Core Web Vitals. These are metrics that go beyond speed to gauge the user experience and performance of a site. Improvements in this area can go a long way in pleasing both visitors and Google’s search algorithm.

3. Use a content delivery network (CDN)

We’ve already touched on content delivery networks, but we’ll dive deeper into this technology in this section. A CDN consists of a collection of servers that are scattered all over the world to improve content delivery times.

This way, you can serve customers in Europe, Asia, North America, etc. — from servers that are geographically near each of these regions. This reduces load times for visitors while also reducing the strain on your server. So using a CDN can actually stabilize your website and enhance uptime too.

Once a visitor requests your site from a server near them, that server stores cached copies of your site files and uses them to serve future visitors.

If you use Jetpack, you’ll get access to Jetpack CDN as part of the service. This way, you can deliver content from high-speed data centers in different locations and allow more files to be downloaded simultaneously.

One of the best parts about the Jetpack CDN is its simple one-click setup procedure. After that, the CDN works automatically, resizing images for mobile devices, and serving images, photos, static files, and JavaScript files from servers all over the world.

4. Optimize and compress your images

Image optimization refers to the process of rendering high-quality images in the right size, format, and resolution depending on the visitor’s device and browser. 

You might also be interested in image compression, although you’ll want to be mindful that certain compression can reduce the quality of the image.There are two main types of compression: lossless and lossy. While lossy tends to be more effective at reducing image file size, lossless does better at retaining the quality of the image.

Now, there are various ways to optimize images for WordPress, but the simplest solution is to install an optimization plugin like Jetpack Boost. As we discussed earlier, the Image CDN will automatically adjust the size of images and convert them into efficient formats.

And, with the Image Guide, you can quickly spot images that are the wrong size. Meanwhile, you can fix those with a suboptimal resolution, bypass compression for lossless images, and reduce overall site size which can improve your Core Web Vitals.

5. Generate critical CSS for above-the-fold content

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) define visual elements like the layout, colors, or fonts on your site. The problem is that CSS files must be loaded, parsed, and executed by browsers, which can take some time. And it takes even longer if you have big or heavy CSS files.

So instead, you can generate critical CSS. This technique prioritizes the CSS above the fold to ensure that it displays as quickly as possible. “Above the fold” simply refers to the content that’s first visible when a visitor lands on your page, without requiring them to scroll.

Not only does critical CSS generation improve the user experience, but it can also boost your Core Web Vitals scores, particularly first contentful paint (FCP). If you’re not sure whether this is a problem for your website, you can check by using a speed testing tool like PageSpeed Insights.

After the scan, a diagnostics report will automatically generate. If you see an option to Eliminate render-blocking resources, then critical CSS generation is probably a good move for your website. 

As we’ve discussed, Jetpack Boost handles this automatically as soon as you enable the feature in the Jetpack dashboard. Or you can manually generate critical CSS in WordPress.

6. Defer JavaScript loading

When a visitor tries to access your web pages, the browser has to request files from a server that contains HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. But, during the parsing process, the browser stops to execute JavaScript code. Until this is done, the rest of the page can’t load.

This delay isn’t always obvious, especially if you have a very fast website. But, if your site contains lots of JavaScript files, this delay is much longer. Therefore, you can defer the loading of JavaScript files so that the page loads faster.

This also has the additional effect of improving the largest contentful paint (LCP), which is another key Core Web Vitals metric. Again, you can use a WordPress optimization plugin like Jetpack Boost to defer non-essential JavaScript with a quick swipe of a toggle.

That said, if you don’t want to use a plugin, and you’re comfortable with editing important site files, you can defer parsing of JavaScript manually using the functions.php file. Naturally, it’s important to make a fresh backup of your site before carrying out these changes.

7. Implement WordPress caching

Caching is a very powerful type of technology that can make a big difference when it comes to WordPress speed optimization. Typically, when a visitor tries to access your website by typing in the domain or clicking on a link, the server needs to process the request before it’s able to deliver the pages.

But, with caching, the server stores copies of your site’s pages after the initial request is made. That way, the next time the visitor goes to your page, they will be served with the cached version of your site. This means the server doesn’t need to generate your entire site from scratch again.  

You’ll find that there are many WordPress caching plugins available. In fact, Jetpack Boost has a caching feature that you can enable through the dashboard under Cache Site Pages.

Alternatively, WP Super Cache is a popular option which is developed by Automattic, the same team behind WordPress.com. With it, you can also regularly empty the cache to free up space on the server and prevent common WordPress issues.

8. Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML

As we’ve discussed, CSS, HTML, and JavaScript can slow down your page loading times. Therefore, you might want to consider minifying these files. This essentially refers to the process of removing unnecessary characters from the source code.

It enables the browser to read the code much faster and therefore prevent any delay in displaying your web pages. Now, if you’re confident in your technical skills and have good attention to detail, you can do this manually by accessing your site files.

But, there’s always the risk of human error, which can have consequences like your website crashing. So instead, you might prefer to use online tools to achieve this. 

Or, for an even simpler route, you can simply take advantage of Jetpack Boost. All you have to do is go to Jetpack → Boost in your dashboard and turn on options for Concatenate JS and Concatenate CSS. That’s it!

9. Minify HTTP requests

Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) is used to structure requests and responses between the client and server. There are five primary methods, including GET and POST, which correspond to functions read and create.

But, the more HTTP requests, the longer your page will take to load. If you’re not sure whether this is a problem for your website, you can run your domain name through a speed test tool like Pingdom.

The results will show the number of HTTP requests. You might also see the suggestion to Make fewer HTTP requests in the performance improvement section.

One of the techniques highlighted here is to reduce the number of elements on your pages. To do this, you can combine files, scripts, and stylesheets. You can also minify resources like CSS and JavaScript (which you can do with Jetpack Boost). CDNs and caching can also help.

Other ways to minify HTTP requests include removing unnecessary plugins from WordPress or replacing them with lightweight options. Or, if you’re interested in conditionally loading scripts, you might want to use a plugin like Asset CleanUp.

10. Limit external third-party scripts

Third-party scripts are generally used to add specific features or functionality to WordPress. These scripts will be present on your site if you embed videos from third-party platforms, share social media icons, or keep track of key metrics.

While these scripts can make your website more dynamic and engaging, they can also lead to performance issues. That’s because they tend to delay the critical rendering path and impact your Core Web Vitals scores, particularly first input delay (FID).

When you run your site through a speed test like PageSpeed Insights, you might see a recommendation to reduce the impact of third-party code.

You can also see how significant the impact is on load performance. If this is a problem for your site, it’s a good idea to remove scripts that aren’t essential.

But, if you don’t want to delete these scripts, there are ways to load them more efficiently. For instance, you can self-host the script (which we’ll discuss later on). You can also prefetch or preload these resources (we’ll also elaborate on this a bit later).

Or, you have the option to use the async or defer attribute. Both of these functions force the browser to download the script asynchronously as it parses the HTML. You’d use the former method if you need the script to load earlier while the latter function is best for non-critical resources.

11. Choose a lightweight theme

WordPress themes define the look and feel of your website. Plus, many of them come with built-in features which can be useful for certain types of websites like ecommerce stores or blogs.

That said, it’s important to choose a lightweight theme that won’t slow down your website. Some themes were developed with poor code, contain large file sizes, or come with heavy plugins pre-installed.

All of these features put additional strain on the server and make your site slow to crawl. Therefore, it’s best to stick with simple, lightweight themes like Twenty Twenty-Four.

To give you an idea, you’re better off choosing themes that have no plugin dependencies and offer a minimalistic design. To make the most informed decision, you should thoroughly read customer reviews, trial the demo theme (if available), or install the theme and run it through a quick website speed test.

12. Clean up unused plugins and themes

Even when you’re not thinking about WordPress speed optimization, it isn’t a good idea to keep unused plugins on your site for security reasons. But in terms of speed, they work like any piece of software. They take up space on your server, which can negatively impact loading times.

Many website owners deactivate plugins that they no longer use. But all this does is switch off the tool’s functionality. So, it’s best to delete them completely if you’re sure you won’t use them again.

The process is pretty simple. All you have to do is go to Plugins → Installed Plugins. Then, click on the Deactivate link beneath the relevant option. Once this is done, click on Delete.

Or, if you have lots of plugins that you want to delete at once, select the box beside each option and use the Bulk actions dropdown menu to select Deactivate → Delete. After that, click on Apply.

13. Regularly update WordPress, themes, and plugins 

Outdated software can cause a myriad of problems for WordPress sites. It can lead to compatibility issues, security risks, slow loading times, and more.

Updates that become available for WordPress core, themes, and plugins generally contain new features and functionality that address problems or inefficiencies in the old version. In terms of the core software, updates can enhance the admin experience as you navigate the dashboard.

With this in mind, it’s a good idea to get into the habit of regularly checking for updates by going to Dashboard → Updates.

That said, you’ll usually receive a notification on the dashboard when they are. From here, you can check if you’re running the latest version of WordPress. 

Below that, you’re able to update themes and plugins. If you’re worried about missing important updates because you don’t frequently log into WordPress, you always have the option to enable auto-updates.

In the case of plugins, you’ll see a link under the Automatic Updates column if this feature is available. But for themes, you’ll have to select the relevant theme to find the link to do this. Again, you should always back up your site before making any changes to it. 

If possible, it’s best to run all updates in a staging environment first. This way, you can make sure the updates don’t interfere with your site’s current functionality or design.

14. Optimize your WordPress database

WordPress database optimization can lead to faster loading times, an enhanced UX, and better search engine rankings. That said, before you get to work, it’s important to properly understand the structure of the WordPress database.

Then, you can clean and optimize the database to make it more efficient. As usual, we recommend backing up your website before you make any significant changes. 

After that, you can install a plugin like WP-Optimize to handle the task for you.

This plugin lets you delete data like post revisions, trashed posts, spam comments, and more.

Next, you can select the WordPress optimization actions you want to run. This might involve cleaning post metadata or removing trackbacks. A great feature of this plugin is that you can also set up automatic database optimizations under Settings.

Of course, if you don’t want to use a plugin, you also have the option to optimize the WordPress database manually. You’ll need to access phpMyAdmin, click on Databases, and select your database. This will load all your WordPress tables.

Here, you’ll be able to select which tables you want to clean or select the Check all box at the bottom. Then, right-click and select Optimize table. That said, there are tons of methods you can use to clean and optimize your database.

15. Disable or limit WordPress revisions

The revision feature in WordPress enables you to access previous versions of your pages and posts. While this can be useful, revisions are stored in the WordPress database. 

Naturally, the more revisions you create, the more clogged up your database becomes, and the slower your website will run. Therefore, it can be a good idea to disable or limit WordPress revisions to keep your database light and fast.

If you want to delete revisions, you can find WordPress optimization plugins to do this for you. But, the process to limit or disable revisions is a bit tricky, so it’s best to do this carefully. 

16. Use lazy loading for images and videos

Images and videos are a great way to make your content more engaging. But typically, this rich media translates to large file sizes, which means they take longer to load. This can negatively impact the user experience.

Lazy loading is a neat feature that enables you to prioritize the loading of images and videos above the fold. This means the server will first load the content that’s immediately visible. Then, as the visitor scrolls down the page, more images will become visible.

Lazy loading enables you to reduce strain on the server and boost the UX by only loading images and videos when they’re actually needed. In 2018, Jetpack was one of the first plugins to provide a lazy loading feature.

But now, WordPress offers built-in lazy loading functionality for images and videos. Plus, many web browsers also support lazy loading. Therefore, you don’t have to do anything to use the native lazy loading feature provided by WordPress.

17. Monitor and limit plugins

In general, every piece of software on your site has an effect on WordPress performance. That said, the level of impact will depend on certain factors.

For instance, poorly-coded plugins may contain unnecessary scripts or make excessive database queries that make your site less efficient. But, a lightweight, well-coded plugin will have a much smaller footprint.

Additionally, some plugins run tasks and processes in the background, even when they’re not being used. Meanwhile, the higher the number of plugins that you have installed, the higher the chance of WordPress performance issues. 

That’s why it’s best to limit your plugins to those that you actually use, and focus on high-quality options. One way to see whether plugins affect your site’s performance is to run a speed test before and after installation. You can also check customer reviews and evaluate the plugin documentation.

While we’re on the topic of plugins, it’s especially important to carefully choose a lightweight WordPress optimization plugin like Jetpack Boost so that you don’t counteract the effect. This way, you’ll get access to critical CSS loading, page caching, JavaScript deferral, an image CDN, and more.

18. Host third-party resources locally 

If you embed content from third-party sites, your website will contain third-party scripts to execute the functionality. Let’s say you want to keep track of your site visitors using Google Analytics.

Or, you might have a scheduling tool like Calendly to allow visitors to book meetings or appointments. In these instances, the script(s) are hosted on the origin server, not on your own server. 

This can be bad for WordPress performance because it means that the data has further to travel. Additionally, it can be less reliable because if there’s a problem with the origin server, the content may stop displaying to your visitors.

If you’re not sure whether this is a problem for your site, you can run a quick PageSpeed test. In the Diagnostics section, you can see a full breakdown of third-party code.

Although you have the option to defer or remove these scripts, another good solution is to host third-party resources locally on your own server. This way, you can minimize latency, reduce DNS lookups, and have more control over caching these files.

It’s important to note that self-hosted scripts can go out of date and stop functioning properly. Therefore, if you decide to do this, you’ll be entirely responsible for manually updating these scripts.

19. Implement prefetching and preloading 

Preloading and prefetching are two techniques that can optimize WordPress speed and performance. Typically, they target the loading of resources like images, stylesheets, JavaScript, fonts, and more.

As the name suggests, WordPress preloading instructs the browser to start loading resources right away, before they’re even needed. On the other hand, prefetching prepares resources that aren’t needed right away, but will be required later as the visitor navigates or interacts with your page.

For both techniques, you can use the <link> element in the <head> of your page. Let’s say that you want to preload a stylesheet. It would look like this:

<link rel=”preload” href=”path/to/stylesheet.css” as=”style”>

If you’re not comfortable with adding code to sections of your website, you might prefer to use a code plugin like WP Code which can make this easier. Once installed, you can add the code to the relevant section by going to Code Snippets → Header & Footer.

20. Use a high-performance DNS provider 

It can be really easy to confuse domain registration with DNS hosting. While some domain registrars like Namecheap provide DNS hosting, the two services are different.

When you set up a website, you’ll choose a domain name and register it to an IP address. This allows the internet to connect users with your website. 

But once you’ve got your domain name, you have to tell it which name servers are responsible for your domain. Some domain registrars provide these services, as do many web hosting companies.

That said, dedicated DNS hosting providers tend to have faster infrastructure, which facilitates uninterrupted communication and seamless connectivity. You’ll find that there are free and paid DNS providers, but Cloudflare and Namecheap make excellent options.

21. Install the latest version of PHP

WordPress makes use of programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. But, the WordPress core software, and many themes and plugins are all written in PHP.

As with any programming language, there are several versions of PHP that you can use. Some of these (like PHP 5.5) no longer receive active support, so it isn’t recommended that you use them.

In fact, it’s generally best to always make sure you’re running the latest version of PHP. Not only does this provide access to the latest security features, but the software becomes more efficient with each new release.

To check which version of PHP you’re running, navigate to Tools → Site Health. Switch to the Info tab and expand the Server section to see the PHP version.

If the number is at or above 7.4 (at the time of writing), you don’t need to update your PHP version. But if it’s lower than this, you’ll need to update PHP. Although WordPress works with older versions of PHP, not all themes and plugins will.

That’s why it’s best to make a backup of your site and update WordPress, themes, and plugins first. Then, since PHP is installed on your server, you’ll have to interact with your host’s settings or contact your web hosting provider to do this for you. Many managed WordPress solutions will do this automatically, or you can simply email your web host to ask. 

22. Fine tune web server performance

Web server performance optimization refers to the process of fine-tuning the configuration, code, and resources of your server. This way, you can improve WordPress speed and reliability.

There are various methods to fine-tune your web server. We’ve covered some popular ways already, including caching and database optimization. But, here are some other factors to consider:

• Combine multiple CSS and JavaScript files into one (Jetpack Boost allows you to concatenate JavaScript and CSS which reduces HTTP requests)
• Defer the loading of non-critical resources and elements
• Optimize server configuration including compression and caching mechanisms
• Monitor and analyze metrics like response time and error rate (you can do this with tools like Google Analytics)
• Implement load balancing strategies
• Use coding best practices
• Index and optimize your database using tools like MySQL Workbench

Naturally, this list isn’t exhaustive. For example, another way to fine-tune your web server is to host heavy resources on a different server from your website.

This is especially important if you run a content-heavy website that contains lots of videos. If this is the case, you can use a plugin like Jetpack VideoPress which provides a powerful and reliable hosting infrastructure for your videos.

23. Test and monitor performance continually 

Although this isn’t technically a WordPress performance optimization tip, it’s very important to regularly test and monitor your WordPress site’s speed. This way, you can pick up on potential issues that you might not otherwise discover.

There are tons of online speed checker tools like Pingdom and PageSpeed Insights. These tests enable you to generate a full performance report just by entering your website’s URL.

Better yet, you’ll receive an overview of your website performance, usually getting a clear grade or score. Typically, you can also access detailed, actionable steps to improve website speed, whether it’s to reduce third-party scripts or defer offscreen images.

Another great feature is that you’ll often receive separate reports for the desktop and mobile versions of your website. This is more important than ever since the majority of global web traffic comes from mobile devices.

Naturally though, if you use a WordPress performance optimization plugin like Jetpack Boost, you can easily check if your site is running smoothly.

From your dashboard, go to Jetpack → Boost, and you’ll see a clear mobile and desktop performance score. You can refresh this at any time.

Frequently asked questions

Although we’ve tried to cover all aspects of WordPress speed optimization, you may still have some questions. In this section, we’ll answer the most common ones.

What are Core Web Vitals, and why should I monitor them?

Core Web Vitals are performance metrics which Google uses as part of its ranking algorithm. They’re also very useful for understanding and evaluating the UX of your website. 

There are multiple key metrics which form the Core Web Vitals. One of the most important ones is largest contentful paint (LCP) which measures the time it takes for the largest image or text block to load.

What tools can I use to measure my WordPress site’s performance?

It’s important to regularly measure WordPress performance to ensure a smooth UX and maintain your hard-earned search rankings. You can either run your website URL through speed checker tools like Google PageSpeed Insights. Or, install a plugin like Jetpack Boost to continuously keep track of WordPress performance across desktop and mobile devices.

What are the best speed optimization and caching plugins for WordPress?

WordPress speed optimization and caching plugins enable you to improve your loading times and boost overall performance. Jetpack Boost is an excellent all-in-one optimization tool that offers features like critical CSS generation, JavaScript deferral, image optimization, and more. 

You can also install dedicated caching plugins like WP Super Cache to improve content delivery times. These types of caching plugins serve visitors stored copies of your site (rather than generating them from scratch every time) which is much more efficient.

What is critical CSS, and how do I implement it?

Implementing critical CSS is a process which prioritizes the CSS above the fold to ensure that it displays as quickly as possible. This means that the CSS which is instantly visible will load first.

This helps you improve the user experience and aids your Core Web Vitals, particularly first contentful paint. You can automatically generate critical CSS by installing Jetpack Boost.

What are the best image formats for optimizing web performance?

Many website owners serve images in JPEG and PNG formats because that’s what they’re used to. But, WebP is a more efficient image format since it results in a smaller file size while maintaining image quality. The good news is that the Jetpack Boost Image CDN automatically converts images into efficient formats like WebP. 

What is an image CDN, and how can it help enhance my WordPress speed?

An image CDN works like a regular CDN, distributing content from servers across the globe to speed up content delivery. But, it provides extra functionality for image compression and optimization. For instance, you’ll get access to an Image CDN with Jetpack Boost, and it automatically resizes images and converts them into efficient formats like WebP.

What are the best practices for handling video content on WordPress?

If you want to add videos to WordPress, the best way to do this is to host videos on a different server from your website. Jetpack VideoPress offers fully-hosted videos and a CDN to boost website speed. This ensures that your videos are high-quality, fast-loading, and ad-free.

What role does the choice of web server (Apache vs Nginx) play in performance?

Web servers store and serve your content to visitors, so your choice of web server can significantly impact web performance. Apache and Nginx are two popular options, but they work very differently. 

Apache tackles tasks sequentially, whereas Nginx manages tasks concurrently. This means that Nginx can process information much faster and serve more requests per second.

Jetpack Boost: Start for free with the easiest optimization plugin

Speed is a key factor that affects the efficiency, usability, and performance of your website. It can mean the difference between keeping visitors engaged with your pages, or losing them to your competitors. Therefore, it’s important to make it a top priority.

If you lack technical skills, there are still plenty of ways to optimize WordPress speed. You can choose a high-performance web host, use a CDN, and lazy load images. Plus, there are more technical steps you can take, like generating critical CSS and deferring JavaScript.

The good news is that you don’t have to be an expert developer to implement the more technical WordPress optimization measures. With Jetpack Boost, you can generate critical CSS, defer JavaScript, and optimize images. Plus, you can easily monitor performance to proactively tackle any new issues. Get started today!