6 WordPress Performance Tips for Average Users

When we talk about poor website performance, we already know our website is slow. Some people think the problem is theme related, some guess their existing host is a dinosaur, and others simply know their website was created ten years ago and the code is most likely a bit out of date. Others aren’t quite sure where the issues lie. They just know there are issues and the ill-performing website is growing worse by the day.

For smaller WordPress users, performance issues can many times be attributed to a few common issues. Those ones we would like to discuss in this article. Although there are a lot of other ways to provide performance enhancements, today’s list of WordPress performance tips is focused on fixing common problems experienced by an average user.

1. Select a Solid Hosting Service Provider

Low end shared hosting is an appropriate option when you first start out, but as soon as you start getting a good amount of website traffic, you need to move to a higher-end host.  You can have the best of everything, but if your hosting provider is horrible, nothing else will matter. A good hosting service company with the right plan is the first step for the best website performance.

2. Install a Favorable WordPress Theme

This is the off-putting side of WordPress theme developers trying to create one theme that appeals to buyers from all types of industries and locations. It is not possible unless you add in multiple sliders, options, and such. But all that flexibility makes the theme heavy and hence the website becomes slow.

That’s why we try to design and build WordPress themes that focus on an individual’s niche marketing. By focusing on a given niche we can design a theme just for that type of user and we don’t have to fill it full with unnecessary options.

3. Install the precise Plugin for the Job

Over the years we’ve noticed people tend to migrate to popular plugins like WishList when all they need to do is protect a few pages. They look for the best plugin when all they need is something simple. This is a standard example of a plugin overkill.

To keep performance-optimized, don’t pick a huge plugin with the functionality you might need five years from now. Pick the lightest plugin that meets your needs and make sure it is from a reputable developer.

4. Don't Forget to Delete Unused Plugins

In the era of WordPress, we have lots of users that are plugin junkies. They get an idea and then try out a plugin to see if it can meet the needs of their newfound idea. When the plugin doesn’t perform as expected, they go for the next one. Sadly, they forget to delete the ones they tried and these plugins sit in the WordPress admin panel active, hogging bandwidth, and maybe even incompatible with the right plugin. Carefully choose your plugins and delete any plugins that are not being used.

5. Keep  Your WordPress Up to Date

Nothing slows a website down faster than a PHP code that was written many years ago. To secure your website and to keep it performing along smoothly, keep your WordPress core files up to date.

6. Watch Out Your Image Sizes on the website

The larger your content images, the slower your website will load. Whether you are uploading an image to a slider or adding it to a blog post, upload the size you require and not the largest size available.

Wordpress users just need to use some common sense when uploading images. If you want to get fancy, you can also use tools like smush to keep images light.

So Convenient!  Right?

Hopefully, you are no longer worried at the thought of optimizing your WordPress website. None of the WordPress performance tips mentioned above was scary, required an understanding of PHP code, or would take hours to implement. They are basic tips that an average user can take care of and do so all on their own and without a lot of assistance.