Speed Up a WordPress Website

Slow pages lose visitors and leads before they even see your offer. Most WordPress sites get much faster in an afternoon.

1–2 hours

Verified by Hassan Rawther ·

Hassan Rawther is the Founder, Unlearn Academy. Written by the Unlearn Academy team.

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The short answer

To speed up a WordPress website, back it up, then test key pages in PageSpeed Insights. Remove unused plugins and scripts, compress and convert images to WebP, and install one caching plugin (or switch on your host’s cache). Re-test the same pages and aim to pass Core Web Vitals: LCP under 2.5 s, INP under 200 ms, CLS under 0.1.

Before you start

By the end of this SOP

Your key pages load faster and pass (or are closer to passing) Core Web Vitals, and the site still looks and works the same.

Time
1–2 hours
You’ll need
WordPress admin access and a fresh backup of the site.
Who does this
The person who manages the website, or a web developer.
About this SOP: why it matters, where and when

Why it matters: Speed affects bounce rate, conversions and is part of Google’s page experience signals.

Where: In PageSpeed Insights and your WordPress admin.

When: When pages feel slow, after a redesign, and every quarter.

Stage 1

Back up and measure

  1. 1

    Take a full backup (files and database) with your host or a plugin like UpdraftPlus.

  2. 2

    Go to pagespeed.web.dev and test your homepage, main service or course page, and contact or checkout page.

  3. 3

    Write down for mobile:

    • Core Web Vitals assessment (real users): LCP, INP, CLS.
    • Performance score (lab test).
    • The top items under Diagnostics, e.g. “Properly size images”.

Stage 2

Remove what you don’t need

  1. 1

    In Plugins → Installed plugins, deactivate and delete anything you don’t use. Update the rest.

  2. 2

    Check after each batch that forms, menus and checkout still work. If something breaks, reactivate plugins one by one to find the cause.

  3. 3

    Remove old tracking scripts and tools you no longer use (chat widgets, heatmaps, old pixels). If they’re in GTM (SOP 004), pause them there.

  4. 4

    On the homepage, show fewer blog posts or sliders. Settings → Reading → “Blog pages show at most”.

Stage 3

Fix images

  1. 1

    Install one image optimisation plugin (e.g. ShortPixel, Imagify or EWWW) and run a bulk optimisation.

  2. 2

    Turn on WebP (or AVIF) delivery in the plugin settings.

  3. 3

    Resize huge uploads. A 4000-pixel-wide photo in a 1200-pixel space wastes bandwidth.

    Tip

    Your biggest above-the-fold image is usually the LCP element. Make it small, fast, and don’t lazy-load it.

Stage 4

Turn on caching

  1. 1

    Check your hosting panel first. If your host offers built-in caching (e.g. LiteSpeed), use its official plugin.

  2. 2

    Otherwise install one caching plugin (e.g. WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache) and enable page caching.

  3. 3

    Turn on minify (CSS and JavaScript) one option at a time, checking the site after each. Leave “combine files” off: on modern hosting (HTTP/2) it rarely helps and often breaks layouts.

  4. 4

    Then try “defer” or “delay” JavaScript, and give the main hero image fetchpriority=“high” and fixed width and height so it loads first and doesn’t make the page jump.

  5. 5

    Clear the cache after you edit pages so visitors see the latest version.

Stage 5

Re-test

  1. 1

    Re-run PageSpeed Insights on the same pages and compare with your notes.

  2. 2

    Still slow? The next steps are bigger: a CDN, better hosting, or a lighter theme.

    Note

    The real-user Core Web Vitals data updates over about 28 days, so it takes a few weeks to show your improvements.

Practice & check

Now do it for real

Reading is not doing. Open your own account and complete this task before you move on.

Practice task (5 min)

Test a real WordPress site in PageSpeed Insights. List the top three problems and which stage of this guide fixes each.

Prove it

1. Which Core Web Vital measures how fast a page responds to a tap?
2. Your host already has LiteSpeed caching. What should you do?

Two questions. Get both right and this SOP is done.

Common questions

What is a good PageSpeed score?

Focus on passing Core Web Vitals (LCP under 2.5 s, INP under 200 ms, CLS under 0.1) on mobile. The lab score is a guide; real-user data is what counts.

Do I need a caching plugin?

Usually yes, unless your host already provides server caching. Use only one caching solution.

Does website speed affect SEO?

Yes, as part of Google’s page experience signals. More importantly, slow pages lose visitors and leads.

Done. That’s a real skill, not a certificate.

Want to do this on real client budgets, with a mentor checking your work? That’s Level 2 at Unlearn. See the Digital Marketing track