The 10 biggest mistakes that are making your website slow

In the world of websites, speed is everything. A slow website drives away visitors, lowers conversions and is penalized by search engines like Google. Yet, common mistakes are still made that seriously slow down a site's performance. And the good news? Most of these mistakes are easy to fix - if you know what to look for. In this article, we list the 10 most common speed killers for you, with practical tips on how to prevent or fix them.

1. Images that are too large

One of the biggest culprits of a slow website is the use of images that are too large or unedited. Many people upload photos directly from a camera or phone without optimizing them. That means megabytes of data that have to be reloaded every time.

Solution: Use tools like TinyPNG or Squoosh to compress images and choose the right format, like .webp. Only use the necessary dimensions.

2. Don't use caching

Caching ensures that frequently used files are stored locally in the user's browser. This means that your website doesn't have to reload everything on a subsequent visit.

Solution: Use browser caching and server-side caching. Plugins like WP Rocket can handle this automatically.

3. Too many external scripts

Social media feeds, Google Fonts and tracking scripts make your site dependent on other servers, which causes delays.

Solution: Use only what is needed, load scripts asynchronously, and delay loading until needed (lazy loading).

4. Bad web hosting

A slow server can make even a well-built site slow. Cheap hosting is often slow and unreliable.

Solution: Choose reliable, fast hosting with SSD storage and good support. Consider specialized WordPress hosts like SiteGround or Kinsta.

5. Not using a CDN

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) distributes your files across multiple locations worldwide, so that visitors always load from the closest server.

Solution: Use a free CDN like Cloudflare or a paid service like BunnyCDN to make your site faster worldwide.

6. Too many HTTP requests

Every file on your page (like images, scripts, and stylesheets) means an extra server request. The more requests, the slower the site.

Solution: Combine CSS and JS files and use sprites. Minimize the number of elements that need to be loaded.

7. Don't use lazy loading

Without lazy loading, all elements are loaded, even if they are only visible after scrolling. This unnecessarily slows down the loading time.

Solution: Use lazy loading for images and videos. Simply add loading="lazy" to <img> tags.

8. Unoptimized code

Sloppy HTML, CSS or JavaScript causes slow loading times. Blocking scripts can also cause delays.

Solution: Minify your code, remove unnecessary lines and load scripts asynchronously. For example, use Lighthouse for feedback.

9. Overcrowded database

WordPress websites often get cluttered with old revisions, unused plugins and spam comments. That slows down your database.

Solution: Use a plugin like WP-Optimize to keep your database clean. Remove unnecessary plugins and themes.

10. No monitoring or testing

If you never test, you won’t know your site is slow. Many problems are only noticed when users drop off.

Solution: Test regularly with tools like PageSpeed ​​Insights or GTmetrix. Set up alerts so you know when performance drops.

Finally

A fast website is essential. Fortunately, many problems are easy to fix, even without technical knowledge. By avoiding these 10 mistakes, you can give your website a solid speed boost. Keep it simple, test regularly, and optimize step by step.

Bonus Tip: Less is more. The simpler your site, the faster it loads – and the happier your visitors (and Google) will be!

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