Optimising without measuring means you will not know what worked. Run a test first, keep the result, and re-test after each change. It also stops you fixing something that was never the problem.
On most slow WordPress sites, images account for the majority of the page weight. A single camera photo dropped in unresized can be 6 MB on its own.
Without caching, WordPress rebuilds every page from the database on every visit. Caching stores the finished page and serves that instead — usually the single biggest improvement available.
Every plugin adds code to every page load. Most slow sites are not slow because of one bad plugin but because of thirty mediocre ones.
You can only optimise so far on slow infrastructure. If the server takes 800ms to respond before WordPress even starts, no amount of caching fixes that.
Hosting from R34.50/month billed annually, with a free domain, free SSL, business email and daily backups included. Choose Starter or above and we design your website free — no agency fee, no contract.
Most commonly oversized images, no caching, and too many plugins — usually all three together. Hosting matters, but it is rarely the only cause.
Occasionally, on dynamic pages like carts and checkouts. Most caching tools exclude those automatically. Test after enabling it.
There is no fixed number. Twenty light plugins can be faster than five heavy ones. Judge by measured impact, not count.
Speed is a confirmed ranking factor, though a modest one. The larger benefit is that fewer visitors leave before the page loads.
Helpful if you have international visitors. If your audience is mostly South African and your server is well placed, the gain is smaller.
Yes. Our plans run LiteSpeed with LSCache available at no extra cost.