How Do I Speed Up My WordPress Website?
Is your WordPress website feeling a little… slow? Luckily, a few simple tweaks can make it noticeably faster. A faster site keeps visitors happy, helps you rank better on Google, and makes your business look more professional. Let’s see how to speed up your WordPress site while keeping things simple. Key takeaways ✓ A good web host like 123 Reg will give a solid base for quicker load speeds. ✓ Trim the extras. Remove unused plugins, themes and images to keep your site light. ✓ Optimise your files. Compress files and lazy-load images to cut down on load times. ✓ Clean up and minify your CSS, JavaScript and HTML if you can. ✓ Choose a host with a Content Delivery Network (CDN) so visitors from around the world can load your content faster. ✓ Keep checking in with monthly speed tests to stay on top of performance. Why hosting speed matters to visitors WordPress powers millions of websites, but heavy themes, too many plugins, and extra features can quickly slow it down. A sluggish site frustrates visitors and makes your business look unreliable. Steady research backs this up: studies from Akamai and partners show that around 47% of users expect a page to load within 2 seconds, and many will simply abandon a site (or “bounce”) if it takes more than 3 seconds to appear. How speed affects SEO and conversions Speed is also a key SEO signal. Google looks at how fast pages load on both mobile and desktop, and slow sites can slip down the search results. Google confirmed it as a ranking factor, and their Speed Update made slow pages lose ground in search results. Research shows a mere 100ms delay can slash conversions by 7%. Amazon noted every extra second costs them 1% in sales. For UK sites chasing top spots, these impacts hit traffic and revenue hard. Slow website speeds can turn away potential customers faster than you can say “page not found.” What most often slows down WordPress sites? Understanding these culprits helps you know where to start when speeding things up: ✗ Too many heavy or poorly coded plugins that hog resources ✗ Large, unoptimised images that take ages to load ✗ Loads of separate CSS and JavaScript files causing delays ✗ Bloated themes with features you don’t actually use ✗ Slow or cheap hosting that can’t keep up with traffic ✗ No caching set up, so pages rebuild every visit ✗ Outdated PHP versions that hold back backend speed Why your WordPress host matters Your hosting is the foundation of your site’s speed. Even the best front-end tweaks won’t help much if your server is slow or overloaded. Choosing the right host often makes more difference than switching themes or plugins — it’s the first step towards a faster WordPress site. 123 Reg Managed WordPress Hosting takes care of updates, performance tweaks, and security for you. That means faster load times with less effort. Fast, reliable servers help pages load fast, even during busy periods. Built-in tools like caching and a CDN help reduce the load and keep things for visitors everywhere. Current host holding you back? Switching can make all the difference. Find out how in our guide: How Do I Migrate My WordPress Website? So, how do I speed up my WordPress site? 1. Check your settings are optimised within WordPress Before touching plugins or themes, your dashboard has several tweaks that can make a real difference. There are a few simple changes you can make to keep your site faster without any extra tools. ☐ Limit post revisions to three to stop your database from getting overloaded. WordPress auto-saves drafts, and old versions pile up fast. ☐ Turn off pingbacks and trackbacks—they’re outdated link notifications that often spam your site. Disable them in Settings > Discussion. ☐ Show post excerpts rather than full posts on category pages so visitors load less content upfront. ☐ Check media settings under Settings > Media to stop WordPress creating extra image sizes you won’t use. ☐ Clean up unused images and old content regularly. Tools like WP-Optimise can remove spam comments, expired temporary data, and old revisions, keeping your database lean. Think of it as a tune-up for your site. 2. Make sure your homepage is speedy The homepage is usually the first thing visitors see, so it needs to load quickly. Heavy elements like sliders and widgets can slow it down. ☐ Show fewer posts on the front page—5–10 is enough to keep it light. ☐ Display excerpts instead of full posts for faster loading. ☐ Cut heavy sliders and unnecessary widgets, or replace them with static images or simple carousels. ☐ Inline critical CSS and defer extra scripts so visible content appears first. 3. Clear out unused plugins, themes, and media Old plugins, themes, and images can quietly slow your site. Cleaning them up frees resources and trims load times without touching anything important. ☐ Delete plugins and themes you’re not using—they still load code even when inactive. ☐ Clean up unused images in your Media Library with a free plugin like Media Cleaner. ☐ Tidy your database with WP-Optimize to remove old revisions, spam comments, and temporary data. 4.Turn on caching and compression Caching saves pre-made copies of your pages, so visitors get instant loads instead of waiting for your server to rebuild everything. Compression squashes files down before sending them, making downloads lightning-quick. Together, they can halve your site’s load time. Some of the more well-known and user-friendly caching plugins include: WP Rocket (simple setup, paid but powerful) LiteSpeed Cache (free, great for LiteSpeed servers) FlyingPress (lightweight, optimised for speed) W3 Total Cache (free, feature-packed) 5. Clear out plugins, themes, and media Over time, WordPress sites collect digital clutter — unused plugins, old themes, and images that aren’t attached to any content. This can quietly slow your site down. A good cleanup frees resources, trims load times, and keeps your backend tidy without touching anything important. Start by deleting plugins and themes you’re not using. Even inactive plugins can load code, so remove anything unnecessary from Plugins > Installed Plugins or Appearance >