This article will explain some of the reasons why your website is running slow, and what you can do to speed it up.
No one likes a slow website. Some of the most common reasons for long loading times include:
- Unnecessarily large images
- Poorly optimised themes
- Too much content
- Having multiple plugins installed
- Out-of-date themes/plugins
You can also read the following guide for more details on how to improve the performance of your WordPress website.
Alternatively, you can diagnose any troublesome assets or files by using the developer tools built into your web browser. Some files can be obvious like HTML pages and images and others less so. If someone built your site for you, ask them what the file does if it is loading slow.
Here are some instructions on how to access Developer Tools for the most popular browsers available:
Google Chrome
Start by clicking the Menu button in the top-right corner and then select More Tools, followed by Developer tools.
This will open the Developer Tools panel within your browser. From here, select the Network tab.
Next, load or reload the page you want to analyse and watch the timeline on the right of the panel to see which area of your page is taking longest to load.
The longer the block in the timeline, the longer it is taking for that section to load.
Firefox
Start by clicking the Menu button in the top-right corner and then select More Tools.
On the next menu, select Web Developer Tools.
Next, load or reload the page you want to analyse and watch the timeline on the bottom of the page to see which area of your page is taking longest to load.
The longer the block in the timeline, the longer it is taking for that section to load.
