Wordpress Load Time and How to Improve It

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I am pretty good with wordpress and know PHP, HTML and CSS but cant seem to figure out why my site loads so slowly.

loads.in - test how fast Www.com loads in a real browser from over 50 locations worldwide reports anywhere between 6 and 10 seconds, which is really bad.

Any suggestions ? Do you know if there are any plugins to speed up the page loads ?

Thanks.
#website design #improve #load #time #wordpress
  • Things you can do
    1) Check if you load any media with big file size.

    2) Some plugins slow down wp signiificantly. I've seen that especially with social media button plugins. Some related posts plugins and SEO plugins have a bad name for needing too much resources too.
    There's a plugin called PluginHogDetector, that's supposed to find out which plugins slow down your site. But I can't find a link right now.

    3) Consider installing a cache plugin.
    http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/search.php?q=cache
    • [1] reply
  • Just today I read a recommendation to install either W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache to improve WP site performance, so you can give one of those a try
  • I have very good experience with W3 Total cache, I'll suggest you to try it
  • Did you tried solving the speed issues using the page speed adon available in firebug.
  • I have installed the W3 Total cache and there slight improvement but still pretty bad. The setting in that plugin are way over my head.

    I am starting to suspect that it also might be the shared hosting account. I am using iPage.
    • [1] reply
    • I just did 2 changes that really improved my WP load times:

      1) Replaced W3TC with Quick Cache: Have been using W3TC for a long time, but I started reading more and more posts that Quick Cache is more efficient and easier to configure. Actually, even though you can change many settings, the default recommended one is just on/off W3TC seems to conflict with many plugins and it's hard to trace the problems. W3TC is very good if you're using a barebone WP install, but the more plug-ins you add, the trickier it becomes if you don't have an expertise in that area. Even though I haven't measured it, just by switching to Quick Cache my blog seemed *really* faster.

      If you decide to remove W3TC, make sure to:
      1) uncheck all caching settings in the plug-in first (until it says the plug-in is not longer active
      2) then only deactivate the plug-in
      3) then uninstall the plug-in
      4) go to the WP-content folder and delete any remaining w3 file or folder (if any are left)


      2) I did a change to my htaccess file. I stumbled on some post by an htaccess guru explaing that the default WP settings were actually really inefficient (querying the server multiple times while it is unnecessary)

      This is the default WP htaccess code:

      Code:
      # BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress
      and I replaced it with

      Code:
      # BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine on
#
# Unless you have set a different RewriteBase preceding this
# point, you may delete or comment-out the following
# RewriteBase directive:
RewriteBase /
#
# if this request is for "/" or has already been rewritten to WP
RewriteCond $1 ^(index.php)?$ [OR]
# or if request is for image, css, or js file
RewriteCond $1 .(gif|jpg|css|js|ico)$ [NC,OR]
# or if URL resolves to existing file
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
# or if URL resolves to existing directory
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
# then skip the rewrite to WP
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ - [S=1]
# else rewrite the request to WP
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
#
# END wordpress
      it is supposed to reduce redundant server queries.
      Again this change give me a little speed boost.

      Hope that helps
      • [ 9 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • Glad it helped
  • My admin area is really slow loading and it seems there is an issue with the recent upgrade on Wordpress - it's so annoying as it seems to take forever to actually build a site at the moment....
  • For shared hosting, it is best to use WP-Super Cache because you can't go wrong with the settings. If you are using VPS or dedicated server, then W3 Total Cache is a great solution because it is highly customizable. Messing with W3 Total Cache can get your site slower or even won't load. You don't need those database or minify settings on shared hosting because that is very CPU intensive and should only be used on an isolated environment like a VPS.
  • -Reduce the number of plugins you're using

    -Upgrade your hosting account

    -Use this service:

    Home | CloudFlare | The web performance & security company
    • [1] reply
    • We looked at offering a Cloudflare option with our hosting packages but there's a lot of mixed reviews on it. Plenty of people are opposed to it and frankly it seems like its only worth it if your sites are the target of a lot of DDOS attacks.
      • [2] replies
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  • hi Elma,

    i have some suggestions for you to speed up your page loads..
    you can use W3 Total Cache for make CDN for your website..we are know plugin W3 total cache have a lot of menus, one of them is to make a Self-hosted CDN..you just to make subdomain of your domain..
    here is the steps :
    1. make a subdomain for your CDN, exp. yourdomain.com..and your cdn must be cdn.yourdomain.com,
    2. go to CDN menus in W3 total cache at configurations and fill the following below :
    3. FTP hostname : (set default)
      FTP username : fill with your Cpanel username
      FTP password : your Cpanel password
      FTP path : default is /public_html/cdn
      Replace site's hostname with : fill with cdn.yourdomain.com
    4. click test FTP server, if OK you can save all settings
    5. if all points above have done, go to General in CDN menu at W3 total cache and click Upload at all options on the Right side
    6. now you have self-hosted cdn, this can make your page loads more faster.

    sorry for my english
    hope that help
    • [ 3 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Thank you sandi,

      I will definitely save this solution and use it in the future. I am currently on a shared hosting account and I believe that also has something do do with the page load speed so this solution might not be the best at the moment.

      I appreciate your help.
  • Just keep in mind, if you are going to use the W3 Total Cache plugin, use it after your done designing your website.
  • Hey Elmar,

    Have you tried this free website speed checker from Pingdom?

    Pingdom Tools

    It shows you how long each element of your page takes to load so you might be able to pinpoint the problem.

    As for plugins to speed Wordpress up, I'd recommend three.
    - WP Super Cache.
    - WP Minify.
    - WP Smush.it.

    Tom
  • i agree with the above , a good cache plugin can do miracles
  • I removed the W3TC and replaced it with Quick Cache. Shaved off two seconds. Down to 5 seconds load time. Still pretty bad.

    I will try minify and smush.it and see what happens.
    • [1] reply

    • Would you mind posting a link? Or is it one of the links in your sig?
  • Yes its my blog, its the second link in my sig.
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  • Seems to load fine for me...?
    • [1] reply
    • I am going by the loads.in and pingdom service. They indicate the load time anywhere between 5-7 seconds depending on the location.
      • [2] replies
  • One thing I due that helps a lot is call the images from another domain

    I set up a sub domain for images only, also I resample and optimize the images (if the images are online they do not need to be high resolution, if they are for print you will need 300 or 600 dpi). PNG, JPEG images load faster

    The server can be one main big problem for the load time.

    I use WP Super cache also
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  • Some tips to increase page load speed:

    1. Reduce image sizes - free wp plugin WP Smush it does it
    2. De activate un used plugins - some plugins load css and js files even when they are not used along with your header
    3. Use image lazy loading plugin if your page has many images - instead of loading all images at once, you can load them asynchronously (sites like mashable does this to speed up)


    HTH
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  • Try u n s h i t.com to optimize your site.
  • This is an interesting thread.

    I have a VPS server, a Xeon Quad processor with 4GB RAM memory.

    I want to go to a dedicated server, a Intel core i3 type: 4-500 processor also with 4GB RAM memory.

    Does anybody know if this will increase the load time on a wordpress blog?

    I installed W3 Total Cache by the way.
  • A really cool new tool is CloudFlare. Free and paid versions.
  • recommend using

    GTmetrix | Website Speed and Performance Optimization

    will actually tell you line by line where the errors in code are that are slowing you down and suggest fixes

    good luck, I am doing this myself at the moment
    • [1] reply
    • I would just like to throw in that you can also look at Pingdom.com and Webpagetest.org as additional options to help test sites (I use these almost daily testing out customer sites).
  • I had a slowness issue on one of my sites. Checked my logs and it turned out that some kiddy in a popular gaming form had hotlinked to one of my images for his avatar. This was hammering my site with image requests. Changed the .htaccess to block hotlinking of images and speed improved considerably.

    Also, if your host supports the mod_pagespeed module, activating that could speed things up faster than a wordpress cache plugin. Dreamhost lets you turn it on from the panel just by checking a box (it's off by default and labeled "beta" but I never had a problem with it).
    • [1] reply
    • I'll jump in here and say that CloudFlare is a great product. And they offer free or paid versions.
  • The best info I've found is :-

    11 Ways to Make Your WordPress Site Faster and Leaner

    Chris
  • WP Super Cache for the win!

    I've never had problems with it and my sites load pretty quick. Tested on Mac, PC and iPhone.
  • I'll suggest you to try W3 Total cache
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  • If W3 Total Cache is not working, i believe you need to check with your hosting or looking for CDN service to speed up your wordpress site.
    Try reduce use high space of templates , reduce image, video and flash item on site.
  • The combination of Cloudflare, W3 Total Cache and Amazon Cloudfront CDN (setup as a Pull Mirror) is a winning combination for me...

    Under 1 sec load time on standard bluehost shared account...

    Pingdom Full Page Test and gtmetrix.com are fantastic tools to spot which plugins slow you down...
    • [1] reply
    • Just a quick note that I would recommend turning minify options on at both W3TC and CloudFlare (choose one or the other). Having two minify options turned on often creates conflicts & issues with sites.

      Note: These are the fields you have to worry about for W3TC and CloudFlare.
  • I would also recommend WP Super Cache. Also note that some themes can also make a Wordpress site to slow down depending on the number of http request. Just do a Google search of ipage wordpress site slow and you'll find a lot of other people complaining about iPage, it has been known that most cheap unlimited hosts provide below par service especially for dynamic sites.
  • I tried WP Super Cache, it was okay. Super Fast Loading.
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  • I tried super cache but my website became unavailable, duno why
  • Here's another vote for Cloudflare - works great for us. We got it free with our Media Temple account and we're pumping half million page views a month through it without a problem.

    As a previous poster said, if you're having problems with Cloudflare check your DNS settings.

    Elmar, I think if you use a minify plugin on your blog you'll shave quite a bit from your loading time. The plugin will take out all the whitespace and separate lines in the HTML code of your theme. Make sure you're compressing both your HTML and your stylesheet - I think you're losing a lot of speed with those two.

    There are setting for both those in Total Cache, not sure about Quick Cache.
    • [1] reply
    • "Here's another vote for Cloudflare - works great for us. We got it free with our Media Temple account and we're pumping half million page views a month through it without a problem."

      Thanks!

      "Elmar, I think if you use a minify plugin on your blog you'll shave quite a bit from your loading time. The plugin will take out all the whitespace and separate lines in the HTML code of your theme. Make sure you're compressing both your HTML and your stylesheet - I think you're losing a lot of speed with those two."

      Just make sure you don't turn on more than one minify option, including CloudFlare's, if you already have one running (can lead to conflicts/problems for the site).
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  • i agree with the above , a good cache plugin can do miracles
  • Another vote for Total Cache - really works well on all my sites but I'd recommend reading the FAQ page to make sure you're running it with optimal settings.

    If you find TC a bit frightening - they are a lot of options - take a look at WP Super Cache. I've used that before and it works well, with very little to configure.

    To reduce slow site loading times also try these, one at a time, to see which makes the biggest difference:

    Deactivate plugins (one by one, to see if it's just one causing you problems)

    Get rid of excess widgets on your sidebar - some of those are really slow loading

    Try temporarily switching to the default theme, some custom themes are coded badly.

    I have a full list of things to check here - but the main things to look at are plugins and widgets, 90% of the time that's the problem.
    • [1] reply
    • "Get rid of excess widgets on your sidebar - some of those are really slow loading"

      I personally agree with this. People think throwing a ton of social media widgets on their blog is helpful, when it will generally actually slow things down. I've seen sites have like three different widgets for Facebook when one would do.
  • Hi Elmar, check this thread > http://www.warriorforum.com/website-...5-minutes.html

    It requires no plugins and is super simple to implement
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    Wordpress Load Time and How to Improve It

    I am pretty good with wordpress and know PHP, HTML and CSS but cant seem to figure out why my site loads so slowly. loads.in - test how fast Www.com loads in a real browser from over 50 locations worldwide reports anywhere between 6 and 10 seconds, which is really bad.