Tips For Troubleshooting a Slow Loading Website

Is your website loading slowly and you don't know what is causing the problem.  The problem could be your server, website software or something you added to your site. 

This article is a basic guide on how to troubleshoot a Slow Loading Website. 

To know where the problem is, you need to open your site homepage on a browser. Once you click enter, look at the status bar at the bottom or top. If the homepage does not open at all and the status bar permanently reads, connecting or connected, the problem could be the server or your database has a problem. In such a case you will see the message "server cannot be reached". 

If the site opens after a long time the problem is either the site software or something you added e.g plugin or image/video. In such a case look at the browser status bar and see which file is taking a long time to load. Is it an image, ad server or any other plugin.

Tips For Troubleshooting a Slow Loading Website

Have You Added Heavy Images. 

If you upload large size images to your site they will affect the performance of your site. It is always advisable to resize your images before uploading them.

Troubleshooting Plugins and Themes

Poorly coded plugins and themes will slow your site to a crawly. If your site is slow and you have recently added and activated a new plugin or theme, remove it and see how the site behaves. Plugins that serve ads are notoriously known for slowing a site load times.  

Another troubleshooting area is to check if you have changed your site code. If you don't remember the exact changes, return to the default. 

Troubleshooting Your Site Software

Web applications (like WordPress, Joomla, MediaWiki, and the like) are updated on a semi-regular basis, both to improve the application itself, and to block any security issues found in a previous version. For best performance, make sure that your installs are updated on a regular basis.

If your site is loading slowly start by updating your site software and see if the speed will improve.  

Troubleshooting Your Site Database

If your site database is hosted in a server running old version of PHP or MySQL the performance will be wanting. To know the version of software running on your server log in to your cpanel and on the right side bar there will be information on versions of software. If it is not there ask your host.

Wishing your site a speedy recovery.