My website is slow

Start at the top. The first few fixes solve most slow websites.

1. Turn on caching

Caching saves a ready-made copy of each page so visitors do not wait for it to be built. Open Caching in the control panel and switch it on. See Caching: make your site faster. Remember to keep baskets, checkouts and members' areas out of the cache using Pages to keep live.

2. Use a current PHP version

Newer PHP versions are noticeably faster. Under Tools, check which version you are on, and move up if your plugins and theme support it. Reload the site after each change. See Change your PHP version and settings.

3. Reduce what the page loads

• Images are the biggest cause. Photos straight from a phone are often several megabytes: resize them to the size they are shown at, and use a compression plugin.
• Plugins: every active plugin adds work. Remove the ones you do not use.
• Fonts, sliders and embedded videos add weight. Keep only what you need.

4. Check you are not running out of room

Open the control panel overview. If storage is nearly full, or you have used most of this month's bandwidth, free up space or consider a larger plan.

5. Is it every page, or one?

• One page is slow: look at what is on that page (a big gallery, a heavy plugin).
• Only the admin area is slow: that is normal for WordPress with many plugins; cache does not apply there.
• Everything, all the time: ask the chat's technical assistant to run a health check, or open a support ticket with the address of a slow page.

How to measure

Open the page in a private window and time how long it takes to appear. Do it a few times, because the first visit after clearing the cache is always the slowest.