A fast WordPress site improves user experience, SEO rankings, and conversion rates. This guide covers all major performance optimizations in order of impact.
1. Enable Page Caching (Highest Impact)
Install a caching plugin (WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, WP Super Cache). Page caching is the single most effective optimization — it can reduce load times by 50-90%.
2. Enable Compression
Gzip or Brotli compression reduces file sizes by 70-90%. Add it via .htaccess, Nginx config, or your caching plugin. Most caching plugins enable this automatically.
3. Optimize Images
- Compress images with ShortPixel, Imagify, or Smush
- Convert to WebP format
- Serve properly sized images (don't upload 4000px images for 800px containers)
- Enable lazy loading
4. Use a CDN
A CDN serves your static files from servers worldwide. Cloudflare offers a free tier. BunnyCDN is affordable. This dramatically improves load times for visitors far from your server.
5. Upgrade to HTTP/2
HTTP/2 multiplexing loads multiple files simultaneously over one connection. Most hosts support it — you just need HTTPS enabled.
6. Reduce Plugin Bloat
- Deactivate and delete unused plugins
- Replace heavy plugins with lightweight alternatives
- Audit which plugins add CSS/JS to the frontend
7. Optimize CSS and JavaScript
- Minify CSS and JavaScript files
- Defer non-critical JavaScript
- Remove unused CSS (use a plugin like Asset CleanUp)
8. Use a Fast Theme
Lightweight themes like GeneratePress, Kadence, or Astra load significantly faster than bloated multipurpose themes.
9. Database Optimization
- Clean up post revisions, spam comments, and transients
- Optimize database tables
- Use object caching with Redis for database-heavy sites
Verify with InspectWP
InspectWP checks HTTP version, compression, HTML size, JS/CSS file counts, cache plugin detection, and more. Run regular scans to track your performance improvements.