Why is my WordPress site so slow? 

If your WordPress site is slow, we can tell you right away that it’s unlikely to be broken. Chances are, it’s just running slow because it’s weighed down by a few common issues.

In this article, we’ll discuss the usual culprits, such as your hosting plan, a bulky theme, too many plugins, heavy images, and more.

We’ll also share actionable tips on how to deal with these issues properly to help you get your site running at full speed.

10 reasons your WordPress site is slow and how to fix it

Here is the list of 10 reasons that could be responsible for your website’s slow loading time, along with practical suggestions on how to fix this issue efficiently.

1. Using an unreliable web hosting

Choosing an unreliable hosting plan is like running a marathon in crocks. You start to regret your choice every step of the way.

Your hosting provider has a major influence on the following critical elements that can affect your website’s loading time:

• Disk I/O (storage speed) – determines how quickly the server reads and writes data. For instance, SSDs store data in interconnected flash memory chips, offering much faster performance than HDDs, which rely on spinning disks and mechanical parts that can slow down data access.
• Bandwidth. Controls the amount of data that can be transferred between the server and visitors at a given time. Limited bandwidth results in slow-loading pages, especially when multiple users access the site at the same time.
• Server response time. Measures the time it takes for the server to process a request and send a response. Poor server performance or high traffic loads can cause slow response times, negatively impacting speed.
• Poor caching performance. Caching stores frequently accessed data to speed up retrieval. Without proper caching, the server has to repeatedly process the same requests, increasing load times.

At Hostinger, we offer Managed Hosting plans designed for WordPress with maximum performance in mind. The plans start at 0 and include:

• LiteSpeed web servers – servers with built-in caching capabilities that speed up page loading by storing frequently accessed data.
• LiteSpeed cache plugin – this plugin integrates with your server and comes with advanced caching features.
• Content delivery network (CDN) – our built-in CDN minimizes latency by delivering content from servers that are geographically closer to your users.
• NVMe SSD storage – comes with faster data read/write speeds than regular HDDs or standard SSDs, allowing quicker access to your website’s files and databases.
• HTTP/3 protocol – ensures faster and more reliable connection between the server and your visitors’ browsers.
• Optimized response times – we consistently deliver an average server response time of 143ms globally, making it one of the fastest hosting providers.

2. Using a heavy theme

When choosing a WordPress theme, it’s easy to get drawn into the sea of shiny, flashy, multipurpose options.

Those are the ones that claim they can do everything from creating an ecommerce site to building a blog that looks like a work of art.

The catch is that most of those extra features come at the expense of a painfully slow-loading site.

These do-it-all themes are often packed with code, plugins, and settings. Even if you don’t need all of these features, the extra code is still there, loading in the background and weighing down your site.

So, while they might look impressive, a lighter, more focused theme such as Astra, Divi, or Neve will serve your website much better.

Astra

Astra offers over 300 lightweight and highly customizable WordPress templates designed for speed and user-friendliness.

It keeps things simple and fast, making sure their files are below 50KB and the load time is under 0.5 seconds.

With a 4.6-star score, many users constantly praise Astra for its speed.

Divi

Divi is a powerful WordPress theme that offers more than 350 templates. They all come with performance-optimized features, such as built-in caching, optimized code, and no-code design tools.

With an astonishing 4.9-star score, customers seem to be very satisfied with the product.

Neve

Neve is one of the fastest-loading WordPress themes, with a lightweight 32–38 KB page size and an almost perfect 99 PageSpeed Insights performance score.

With an admirable score of 4.7 stars, Neve is the first choice for many people looking to build a fast site with ease.

3. Having plugin issues

There can be several common plugin-related problems that can slow down your site, including:

• Too many plugins. Each plugin adds additional code, database queries, and HTTP requests, which can affect your site’s loading time.
• Poorly coded plugins. Some plugins can have excessive database queries, uncompressed files, or unnecessary scripts that eat up data usage and slow down page loading.
• Conflicting plugins. When plugins don’t play well together (e.g., trying to load the same resource), they can cause conflicts that slow down the site, create errors, or display unexpected behaviors. 

To fix any plugin issues, go over the list of your plugins and see if there are any marked as inactive.

Inactive plugins waste server space and create security risks, so it’s best to remove them if you don’t plan to use them again.

You can quickly identify inactive plugins directly from the WordPress admin panel.

Log into your dashboard, go to the Plugins → Installed Plugins.

Click on the Inactive tab in the top menu to view a list of plugins that aren’t currently in use.

Before removing any plugins, make sure you back up your site. Then, click the Delete link beneath its name.

If there are active plugins that you don’t need, you can delete them in a similar way. Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins.

Click on Deactivate, and the Delete option will appear.

Avoid deleting multiple plugins at once. Instead, delete one plugin at a time and check your site after each removal to ensure that no issues pop up.

Another thing you can do to ensure you don’t encounter any complications with your plugins is to test your site in a staging environment before you add a new plugin to your live site.

The easiest way to do this is with the WP Staging plugin.

Go to Plugins → Add New Plugin and search for WP Staging in the query.

Purchase WP Staging’s premium plan (you can’t push changes to a live site with the free option) and click on the Create Staging Site button.

Before you click Start Cloning, enter a name for your staging site (e.g., “staging-site-one”), and the plugin will generate a custom URL like yourdomain.com/staging-site-one.

Once done, a confirmation message will appear with a link to your staging site. Click Close to dismiss it.

To access your staging site, go to WP Staging → Staging Sites → Actions → Open.

Install and activate any new plugins you want to try and check for broken layouts, weird bugs, or plugin conflicts.

Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to see if the plugin affects your site speed.

Once you’re happy with the plugin’s performance, transfer everything to your live site. Go to WP Staging → Staging Sites and click Push Staging in the descending menu.

Confirm, and let WP Staging Pro handle the rest.

4. Adding unoptimized images

Unoptimized images can slow down your WordPress website as they take longer to download, require more processing power to render, and consume more server bandwidth.

To prevent this from happening, you can either compress them via plugins, resize them directly in media library settings, or enable lazy loading.

There are plenty of WP plugins to choose from, but here we will demonstrate how to compress your images using TinyPNG.

Go to Add New Plugins, find TinyPNG, install and activate it.

In the plugin settings, select the option that best suits your needs. Decide if you want images to be compressed automatically during upload, processed in the background, or manually compressed.

Next, choose which image sizes to compress.

Finally, you can set a maximum width and height for uploaded images, so if you upload an image that exceeds these dimensions, it gets resized automatically.

Once you set everything up, don’t forget to Save Changes.

If you already have images that you want to trim down, go to Media → Library, select the one you want to compress, and click on the Edit more details link.

Within the settings on your right, you’ll find the JPEG, PNG, & WebP optimization box and the option to compress the image.

Click on it and let the plugin do its job.

Without compromising the quality, your image size will be reduced by nearly 50%.

To resize your images in WordPress directly, go to the WordPress dashboard and select Settings → Media.

Set your desired width and height for each image size and Save Changes.

Starting from version 5.4, WordPress automatically enables lazy loading for images by adding the loading=”lazy” attribute to images with specified dimensions.

While this method is the simplest, it lacks control over which images are lazy-loaded, potentially leading to overuse and performance drawbacks.

So, if you are looking for ways to customize your lazy loading options, visit our guide on how to implement lazy loading on your site for detailed steps.

5. Not using cache

Instead of making your server fetch the same data over and over, caching stores frequently accessed content for quick delivery.

Cached pages, scripts, and styles load instantly, bypassing unnecessary server processing and reducing database queries, speeding up your website in the process.

Many WP users are unaware of caching’s benefits or assume their hosting provider handles optimizations and overlook the need to clear outdated cached content.

At Hostinger, we simplify caching for our WordPress users with built-in solutions like Object Caching with Redis for faster database queries and easy integration with the LiteSpeed Cache Plugin for optimized page loading.

If you are a Hostinger user, setting up caching will require just three clicks.

Go to Hostinger’s hPanel → Advanced → Cache Manager and toggle the Automatic cache option.

This will signal the system to clear the cache every 30 minutes.

If you are with a hosting provider that doesn’t include built-in caching features, you can install and activate the LiteSpeed Cache plugin manually.

On your WP dashboard, go to LightSpeed Cache → Toolbox, and you will see multiple cache-clearing options.

Select the type of cache you’d like to purge.

To clear all cached content at once, click Purge All. Clearing the cache won’t remove any essential data from your WordPress site, so you can proceed without worry.

If you only need to remove the cache from specific sections of your site, use the Purge By… option, where you can target content by category, tag, or URL.

6. Loading unoptimized code and scripts

Adding custom code and third-party scripts to your WordPress site can be a double-edged sword.

While they bring cool features, like analytics, social media widgets, and custom functionality, they can also slow things down if not properly optimized.

Some of the most common issues include:

• Server overload. Custom code and scripts add extra work, such as fetching data, running queries, or processing tasks, making your site slower, especially during high traffic.
• Slower load times. Poorly written or bulky scripts add extra weight to your pages. The more third-party scripts (like ads, tracking tools, or chat widgets) you have, the longer it takes for your site to fully load.
• Blocking content from showing. Some scripts, especially JavaScript, pause everything until they finish loading. This means your users might stare at a blank or half-loaded page, waiting for your site to appear.
• Potential security risks. If a third-party script relies on an external server and that server goes down or gets hacked, it could affect your site’s security and performance.

Use the async or defer attributes on JavaScript to allow it to run in the background while the rest of your site loads.

• Async makes the script load at the same time as the page and runs as soon as it’s ready.
• Defer makes the script wait until the whole page is loaded before running, so nothing gets interrupted.

Place async or defer inside the <script> tag and after the src attribute, like this:

<script src="async-script.js" async></script>

OR

<script src="defer-script.js" defer></script>

You can also minify your code by cleaning up unnecessary clutter in your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files to remove spaces, comments, and unnecessary characters.

The easiest way to do this is by using one of the following WP plugins:

• Fast Velocity Minify – uses PHP Minify to optimize JavaScript and CSS files and offers custom optimization options.
• Better WordPress Minify – ensures minification doesn’t break themes or plugins and includes features like CDN integration and multisite support.
• WordPress Super Minify –  minifies, combines files, and uses browser caching for better performance.

For more tips and detailed steps, explore our tutorial on how to minify CSS, HTML, and JavaScript in WordPress.

7. Too many ads and pop-ups

Ads and pop-ups might be great for promoting offers or collecting emails for your email campaigns, but they also add extra elements that your website has to load.

They come with additional scripts, images, and sometimes even videos, which can slow down your site.

If you overload your pages with them, your site has to handle more HTTP requests, your visitors’ browsers work harder, and everything takes longer to load.

To strike the right balance between advertising and a great user experience, try these strategies:

• Use exit-intent pop-ups: they only show up when someone is about to leave your page, so they’re less annoying and won’t disrupt the browsing flow.
• Optimize ad loading: use techniques like lazy loading, asynchronous loading, and reducing ad file sizes to make your ads load efficiently without slowing down your site.
• Limit the number of ads: focus on a few well-placed ads that don’t clutter the page and make it hard to navigate.

8. Not cleaning the database

If your WordPress website has been running for some time, your database is likely cluttered with unnecessary tables and outdated data.

The server still needs to process every piece of data you’re not using, such as comments, tables, outdated post revisions, unused themes, and plugins. This slows down queries and makes it harder for the site to retrieve content quickly.

Although it can be time-consuming, you can optimize your database manually. However, this is not always the best option due to the risk of losing important data.

Another way to clean up your database is by using one of the following three plugins:

1. WP-Sweep cleans up unnecessary data, removing items like post revisions, spam comments, orphaned meta data, transient options, and more.

With this plugin, you can also choose a bulk action and Sweep All with one click.

2. WP-Optimize offers an all-in-one solution for database optimization, cleaning up post revisions, auto-drafts, spam comments, and transient options.

This plugin is very straightforward to use. Simply select the elements you want to optimize and click the Run all selected optimization button.

3. Advanced Database Cleanser offers detailed cleanup options for orphaned meta data and unused tables. It even includes scheduling for automated maintenance.

9. Not using a CDN

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of servers spread across the globe that can store copies of your website’s static content (images, videos, stylesheets, etc.).

So, when someone visits your site, the CDN directs them to the nearest server instead of making them wait for data to load from the main server, which can be thousands of miles away.

The shorter the distance data has to travel, the faster it reaches your visitors. This means less waiting, lower bounce rates, and a better browsing experience.

Hostinger’s Business and Cloud Startup plans come with a built-in CDN at no extra cost. It’s integrated directly into Hostinger’s managed WordPress hosting and offers features such as:

• Easy setup 
• Real-time analytics 
• Image optimization 
• Traffic filtering
• Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) protection

10. Loading large media files

Videos and audio files are often massive in size. A short 30-second 4K video can be around 67 MB, while a 1080p version still takes up about 16 MB.

When users visit your site, their browsers have to load these files, which eats up bandwidth and leads to slow loading speeds.

Moreover, every time someone watches a video or listens to an audio clip, your server has to process the request.

If multiple visitors are accessing these files at the same time, your server might struggle to keep up, causing lagging pages, buffering issues, or even crashes.

Plus, if your hosting plan has data limits, you could see a spike in costs.

Rather than uploading media files directly to your site, use third-party platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, or SoundCloud and simply embed the content so that the outside platform does the heavy lifting.

WordPress makes this very easy. Simply go to Block Editor and choose a third-party platform you want to embed a video from.

Copy the URL in the box, and you are done.

This is just one of the ways you can embed video and audio files in WP. Need more tips? Follow the steps in our guide on how to embed video in WordPress.

How to check if your WordPress website is slow

The easiest way to check the performance of your website is to use online tools such as GTmetrix or PageSpeed Insights.

If you’re using GTmetrix, simply enter your URL in the box and let the tool do its magic.

Once a performance test is done, you’ll get the insights on your Core Web Vitals (CWV):

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): the time it takes for the largest content element (e.g., image or text block) to load on the page.
• Total Blocking Time (TBT): how long do scripts delay your website from responding to clicks or scrolling while it loads.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): how much a webpage unexpectedly moves around while loading, like when text or buttons suddenly shift, making your users click the wrong link or button.

Though the CLS metric is important for your site’s overall performance, the other two metrics are the key indicators of your loading speeds.

The recommended values you should aim for are:

• LCP – 1.2 seconds or less.
• TBT – 150 milliseconds or less.

Want to know more about the CWV and how to asses them? Visit our guide to measuring Core Web Vitals.

Conclusion

Slow websites can be frustrating for both you and your visitors, but if you check and resolve these 10 common issues, you can dramatically improve your site’s speed and performance.

Here’s a quick recap of the key fixes:

1. Choose reliable web hosting.
2. Use lightweight themes.
3. Reduce plugins.
4. Optimize images.
5. Implement caching.
6. Minify code and scripts.
7. Limit ads and pop-ups.
8. Clean your database.
9. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
10. Optimize large media files.

Use tools like GTmetrix or PageSpeed Insights to monitor your site’s speed and track progress. And let us know whether you’re still having trouble with the loading speed of your website.

Why is my WordPress site so slow FAQ