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LochStudios  /  Help Centre  /  WordPress  /  Speed Up Your WordPress Site

Speed Up Your WordPress Site

Cache WordPress, shrink images, trim plugins and revisions, and clean MariaDB on our shared hosting. Open cPanel from the portal.

Updated

A slow WordPress site is usually plugins, huge images, and PHP rebuilding every page. On our Beginner and Standard shared hosting (cPanel) in Australia you already have WordPress Toolkit, Installatron, a current PHP 8.x, and hourly copies. This article is the WordPress checklist.

Open cPanel from the portal. Do not guess a hostname.

Caching, browser cache, compression, and a CNAME CDN (without moving DNS off AtlasDNS) are also in Speed up your website (caching, CDN, image optimisation). Use that article for any site. Stay here for Toolkit, revisions, unused themes, wp-cron, and the database.

On a VPS you choose the stack and the cache. Credentials and the console are on that server in the portal. Start with First steps on a new VPS.

On a dedicated server, open a support ticket and we will walk you through access.

The site is not installed yet? Use WordPress Toolkit or Installatron, not a zip from wordpress.org. See Install WordPress.

A step is unclear? Open a support ticket and we will help.

Open cPanel

  1. Sign in at the portal.
  2. Open the hosting service for the site.
  3. Click Log in to cPanel.

You do not need a server hostname to get in.

Use the File Manager when you edit wp-config.php. Turn on Show Hidden Files (dotfiles) under Settings. The document root is public_html for the main domain, or the addon / subdomain folder for that name.

Take your own copy before you edit wp-config.php or install a cache plugin. Hourly copies we keep (Acronis) do not use your disk quota. See Download and Restore a Backup.

What to do first

Do these in order. Caching and images usually move the needle more than a CDN.

  1. Current PHP 8.x with opcache
  2. One page-cache plugin
  3. Images resized and compressed
  4. Unused plugins and themes deleted
  5. Revisions and trash capped
  6. Database cleaned
  7. Extra scripts cut
  8. A larger plan only if Resource Usage stays pinned

If CPU or memory is already at the ceiling most of the day, these steps still help, but you may also need a larger plan. See Read your resource usage and metrics and compare plans on shared hosting.

Use a current PHP version

WordPress and current plugins expect PHP 8.x. Newer 8.x is faster than 7.x, and opcache keeps compiled PHP in memory.

  1. In cPanel, open Select PHP Version.
  2. Choose a current 8.x for this site's document root.
  3. Leave opcache ticked. Keep mysqli, pdo_mysql, gd, mbstring, curl, zip, and intl on as well.
  4. Apply, then click through the site.

Full steps: Choose your PHP version. Update WordPress, themes, and plugins before you switch a live site. If the site returns a 500 after the change, see Fix the WordPress White Screen of Death / HTTP 500 or open a support ticket.

Enable one page cache

Caching stores a ready copy of a page so the next visitor is not waiting on PHP and MariaDB.

  1. In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New.
  2. Install one page-cache plugin. WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache are the usual free picks.
  3. Activate it and open its settings.
  4. Turn on page cache and browser cache.
  5. Leave object cache off unless we have confirmed this account can use it. Do not assume Redis or Memcached is waiting on shared hosting. If a plugin asks for one, open a support ticket and we will tell you what this account can use.
  6. Test the site in a private window.

Do not run two page-cache plugins at once. They fight.

If WordPress Toolkit lists the site, use it for updates. It does not replace a page-cache plugin.

After you edit a page or a theme file, purge that plugin's cache and reload in a private window. Your own browser may still be holding the old files.

Cache plugins write many small files. If File Usage is near the plan limit, prune old cache. See Check Disk Usage.

Optimize your images

Images are usually the largest files on a page. Resize to the size you actually display. A 4000px photo shown at 800px wastes bytes, CPU, and inodes (thumbnails add files).

Before you upload:

  • Resize on your computer
  • Compress with a tool such as TinyPNG, ImageOptim (Mac), or Squoosh
  • Aim for photos under 200 KB, and thumbnails or icons under 50 KB

Formats:

  • JPEG or WebP for photos
  • PNG when you need a sharp logo with transparency
  • SVG for simple logos and icons
  • WebP is usually smaller. Most browsers accept it.

In WordPress:

  1. Upload through Media → Add New, not a dump of originals into wp-content/uploads over FTP.
  2. If you want automatic compression on new uploads, install one image plugin (Smush, ShortPixel, or Imagify). Run it once on the existing library, then leave auto-compress on. Do not stack three image plugins.
  3. Turn on WebP conversion if that plugin offers it.
  4. WordPress already lazy-loads images in recent versions. Leave that on. Enable lazy-load for embeds if your theme or plugin has the control.

Do not leave unused originals and extra thumbnail sizes in wp-content/uploads. They count toward disk and File Usage.

Minify CSS and JavaScript

Minification strips spaces and comments from CSS and JavaScript.

  1. Use the same cache plugin you already installed. Turn on CSS and JavaScript minification there.
  2. Click through menus, forms, the cart, and the checkout.
  3. If a menu or form breaks, turn minify off and leave page cache on.
  4. Defer non-critical JavaScript only if the plugin has a clear toggle and the site still works after you test.

Do not install a second minify plugin next to a cache plugin that already does it.

Delete unused plugins and themes

Every active plugin and theme adds PHP that WordPress loads.

  1. In WordPress, go to Plugins. Deactivate anything you do not use, then Delete it. Deactivated plugins still sit on disk and still get scanned.
  2. Go to Appearance → Themes. Keep the theme you use, plus one default WordPress theme as a fallback. Delete the rest.
  3. In WordPress Toolkit, use Updates so what remains stays current. See Secure Your WordPress Site.

Page builders, sliders, and all-in-one SEO packs are the usual heavy ones. If Resource Usage spikes after you activate a plugin, that plugin is the first thing to turn off.

Limit revisions and trash

WordPress stores a revision on almost every save, and keeps deleted items in trash. That bloats MariaDB.

  1. Open the File Manager.
  2. Go to the site document root and open wp-config.php.
  3. Add these lines above the comment that says That's all, stop editing!:
define( 'WP_POST_REVISIONS', 3 );
define( 'EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS', 7 );
  1. Save.

New edits then keep three revisions per post. Trash is emptied after seven days. Existing revisions stay until you clean the database (next section).

If the site goes blank after you save, restore wp-config.php from the File Manager copy or from Download and Restore a Backup, or open a support ticket.

Optimize the database

Over time the MariaDB database collects old revisions, trash, spam comments, and transients.

  1. In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New, install WP-Optimize, and activate it.
  2. Open its settings and run the clean-up for revisions, trashed items, spam, and expired transients.
  3. Turn on a weekly or monthly schedule if you want it to repeat. Do not run a heavy optimize during peak traffic.

Do not run raw OPTIMIZE TABLE in phpMyAdmin unless you know the table list. Toolkit and WP-Optimize are the safer path. If you do need phpMyAdmin, see Manage a Database with phpMyAdmin.

Take a copy first. A clean-up does not replace a backup.

Move wp-cron off page views

WordPress runs scheduled work (publish later, plugin checks) when someone visits. That is unreliable on a quiet site and can slow a busy one. Disable it in wp-config.php and add a real cron in cPanel instead.

The exact line and the cron command are in Set up a cron job (WordPress section). Do not add DISABLE_WP_CRON unless the cron job is already in place, or scheduled posts will sit unpublished.

Cut extra requests

Every third-party script (fonts, analytics, chat widgets, ads) is another wait.

  1. Audit Plugins and the theme customizer for services you no longer use.
  2. Remove leftover header and footer snippets from the plugin or theme options that added them. The Theme File Editor is the wrong place, and Toolkit security may already have turned it off. See Secure Your WordPress Site.
  3. Host only the fonts you need, or use a system font stack.
  4. Lazy-load videos and embeds so they start when the visitor scrolls to them.

CDN, compression, and browser cache

Shared hosting already compresses most text responses (HTML, CSS, JavaScript). If a speed report says compression is off, open a support ticket.

A CDN helps visitors far from Australia. Keep our nameservers. AtlasDNS is the default. Use a CNAME pull zone only. Do not point the domain at a CDN's nameservers.

ns1.atlasdns.net.au
ns2.atlasdns.net.au
ns3.atlasdns.net.au

The full CNAME steps, .htaccess browser-cache block, and the nameserver warning are in Speed up your website (caching, CDN, image optimisation). If a CDN wizard tells you to replace nameservers, stop and open a support ticket.

If the site is still slow

  1. Open Resource Usage in cPanel. Note which bar is high: CPU, memory, I/O, or File Usage. See Read your resource usage and metrics.
  2. Confirm you have one cache plugin, not two, and that images were resized before upload.
  3. If the graphs sit near the top most of the day, compare the next shared plan, a VPS, or open a support ticket. We will move the account. See Choose the right hosting plan.

We do not list prices here. The catalogues are current. WordPress Toolkit and Installatron are already on every Beginner and Standard plan. There is no extra "managed WordPress" product to buy.

Measure the change

  1. Use PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev). Enter the site URL.
  2. GTmetrix (gtmetrix.com) is useful if you want a waterfall of which file is slow.
  3. Test in a private window so you are not looking at your own cache.
  4. Test after each major change (cache on, then images, then minify) so you know what helped.

Aim for a first paint in a few seconds on a mid-range phone. A perfect score is not the goal. A site that stays under the plan's CPU share is.

If something is unclear, open a support ticket. Do not wait on an email thread.

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