Tip 5 min Updated 2026-10-18

Make your website faster: six changes that matter

Illustration of a speed gauge with a lightning bolt, for making a website faster

Short answer: Shrink images, remove plugins you do not use, use a current PHP version, turn on caching, pick a light theme and measure before and after.

Slow sites lose visitors. You do not need a new design to fix it.

Six changes

Shrink your images. Images are usually the biggest files. Resize them to the size they are shown at and save them as JPG or WebP before uploading.
Remove plugins you do not use. Each active plugin adds work. Delete the ones you do not need.
Use a current PHP version. Newer PHP is faster and safer. See Change your PHP version.
Turn on caching. A caching plugin saves finished pages so they load quickly. Use only one.
Pick a light theme. Heavy multi-purpose themes load a lot of code you never use.
Measure. Test your page in Google PageSpeed Insights on mobile before and after, so you know what helped.

Check your PHP version

The cPanel MultiPHP Manager listing a domain and the PHP version it uses. — cPanel, then MultiPHP Manager. Pick a current version your theme and plugins support.

Keep it fast

Keep things updated too: How to update WordPress safely.

Questions people ask

How do I measure speed?

Run your page through Google PageSpeed Insights before and after each change, on mobile.

Will a bigger plan make my site faster?

Only if you are hitting limits. Most slow sites are slow because of big images and heavy plugins.