Make it fast by removing things, not adding a caching plugin.
A caching plugin hides the problem for logged-out visitors on the pages it has already built. It doesn't make the site fast. Finding out what's actually slow does.
- Fixed-price quote in 1 business day
- Built on WordPress
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Almost every slow WordPress site is slow for the same handful of reasons, and almost none of them are fixed by installing another plugin. It's usually a page builder generating enormous markup, twenty plugins each loading their scripts on every page, uncompressed images, or database queries nobody has looked at.
We profile the site first so the work targets what is actually costing you time. Then we fix causes, which usually means removing things rather than adding a caching layer over the top.
Why the site
is actually slow.
Page builder markup
Elementor and similar generate deeply nested markup and load their own CSS and JS everywhere. It's often the single largest cost.
Plugins loading everywhere
A contact form plugin loading its scripts on all 300 pages, including the ones with no form on them.
Unoptimised images
Full-resolution photographs served at thumbnail size, in formats a decade out of date.
Slow database queries
Unindexed lookups and expensive queries running on every page load, invisible until you profile.
What we do
to fix it.
Real profiling
Server-side profiling to find the slow queries and expensive hooks, rather than guessing from a score out of 100.
Plugin audit
What each plugin costs in weight and time, what can be removed, and what can be replaced with a few lines of code.
Asset work
Conditional loading so scripts and styles only load where they're used, plus proper minification and deferral.
Image pipeline
Correct sizing, modern formats and lazy loading set up so future uploads stay optimised without anyone remembering to.
Caching done right
Page, object and browser caching configured properly, as the last step, not the first.
Measured on real devices
We test on a mid-range phone on a throttled connection, because that's what your visitors have.
Every engagement includes this.
- Server-side profiling of slow queries and hooks
- Full plugin audit with weight and time cost per plugin
- Conditional loading of scripts and styles
- Image pipeline configured for future uploads
- Page, object and browser caching configured
- Core Web Vitals remediation, LCP, CLS and INP
- Before-and-after measurement on real devices
- A written summary of what was slow and what changed
Why we'd build this on WordPress
WordPress is only as fast as what's been layered onto it. The platform itself is not the bottleneck, the theme, the plugin stack and the hosting almost always are.
- Profiling to find the actual cost, not a lab score
- Conditional asset loading so scripts load only where used
- Hosting and caching specified for real traffic
How the work runs.
- 01
Measure the baseline
Real-device and field data, not just a lab score, so we can prove what changed afterwards.
- 02
Profile
Server-side profiling to find slow queries, expensive plugins and blocking assets. This is where the actual answers are.
- 03
Remove and reduce
Plugins removed or replaced, assets loaded conditionally, images fixed. Most gains come from subtraction.
- 04
Then cache
Caching configured last, once the underlying site is genuinely fast rather than as a way of hiding that it isn't.
- 05
Re-measure and document
Before-and-after on the same devices and conditions, plus a written note of what was slow and why.
What moves the price on
speed work.
We quote fixed prices per project rather than by the hour, so scope is what determines cost. These are the four things that move it most.
How the site was built
A page-builder site with thirty plugins has far more to unpick than a custom theme with six.
Whether we can remove things
Sometimes the fastest fix is dropping a plugin the business depends on. If it has to stay, we work around it, which costs more for less gain.
E-commerce or not
WooCommerce stores have cart and checkout paths that can't be cached the same way, so they need more careful work.
Hosting
Some improvements are impossible on very cheap shared hosting. We'll tell you if the honest answer is to move host first.
Every project is quoted individually. Tell us what you need and we'll come back within one business day with scope, timeline and a fixed price.
Get your fixed-price quoteThe fastest WordPress sites are not the ones with the most optimisation plugins. They're the ones with the least of everything else.
Most of our speed work is deletion. It's less satisfying to invoice for and it's what actually works.
Get a fixed-price quote Back within 1 business day
Questions site owners
ask us most.
Will a caching plugin fix our speed problem?+
Partly, and it hides more than it fixes. Caching serves a pre-built copy to logged-out visitors on pages it has already built, which helps, but does nothing for logged-in users, cart pages, or the first visitor to any page. If the underlying site is heavy, it's still heavy. We fix causes first and cache last.
How much faster will the site get?+
It depends entirely on why it's slow, which is why we profile before quoting outcomes. Page-builder sites with heavy plugin stacks often improve dramatically because there's so much to remove. An already-lean site improves in smaller increments.
Do we have to stop using our page builder?+
Not necessarily, but you should know what it costs you. If a rebuild isn't on the table we'll optimise around it and get real gains. If you're open to a custom theme, that's usually where the biggest single improvement is.
Is PageSpeed Insights the right measure?+
It's useful but it's a lab test on simulated hardware. What actually matters is Core Web Vitals field data from real visitors, in Search Console. We work to both and report on field data, because that's what affects rankings.
Will this improve our rankings?+
Speed is a ranking factor but a modest one. It won't outrank better content. Where it reliably helps is conversion and bounce rate, which is usually worth more than the ranking effect anyway.
Do we need to change hosting?+
Sometimes. Very cheap shared hosting puts a floor under how fast a site can be, especially for WooCommerce. We'll tell you if that's the binding constraint rather than charging you to optimise around it.
You might also need
Get a quote for your speed work.
Tell us what you need in two minutes. We'll come back with scope, timeline and a fixed price, no sales call required first.
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