Page loads slowly

[asdfrew]

HI,

I have a very small site, yet the pages load very slowly (they take 4 seconds to load) regardless of the amount of content on a page. I don’t know how to make it faster.

HappySoulHungryMind.com

Thank you for your help.

[ruenel]

Hello Ravi,

Thanks for writing in!

It seems that you are using an older version of the theme and Cornerstone plugin. Can you please update to the latest versions first? Most of the time, outdated WordPress core, theme and plugins may create issues in your site.
Our latest versions are:

• X theme 7.0.4
• Cornerstone 4.0.4

This latest release contains fixes for several issues so be sure to check out the changelog (http://theme.co/changelog/).

After doing the updates, always remember to clear all caches (if you are using WP Rocket, WP SuperCache or W3 Total Cache) when updating so that the code from the latest release is always in use. This will help you to avoid any potential errors.

Please let us know how it goes.

[asdfrew]

Hi Thanks for that suggestion, I updated X Theme and Cornerstone.

It is still taking the same time (4 seconds) to load the pages across the site regardless of the content on the page. Thanks.

[lely]

Hi Ravi,

Yes, I can see the issue when I check in google page speed here. It is a combination of different factors. We have this article that might help you increase the page speed. Please follow the suggestion before checking again.

[asdfrew]

Hi Lely:

I followed the article you suggested and configured W3 Cache as specified. It has not made a positive difference (it may have actually slowed it down a little).

[asdfrew]

I have created a test page with no content and it still takes 4 mins to load.

[ruenel]

Hello Ravi,

Your site load at 3.31s. I would highly recommend that you improve the performance by utilizing what we have suggested in our knowledge base article here:

• https://theme.co/apex/forum/t/customizations-performance/210

You can check out your site grade here:

• https://tools.pingdom.com/#5b9ca09e97c00000

[asdfrew]

Hi RueNel, as I mentioned in a previous post, I went through the article you have referenced and made the configuration settings. However, it has had no impact on the speed. My website is very small, so I am disappointed it is slow to load.

[rad]

Hi Ravi,

With the tool, yes, I can see it about 3-4 seconds. But when I tried on actual browser, it loads almost instant. The home page is slow is because of the PDF files.

Would you mind providing your site’s login credentials in the secure note so we could see what’s in there?

Thanks!

[asdfrew]

Hi Rad, I have shared the login credentials in the secure note.

I have a test page which has no content and it still takes 3-4 secs to load. The home page which loads the pdf file via the 3D Flipbook plugin also loads in 3-4 secs.

Thanks,

[christian]

Hey Ravi,

Looking at an online and the browser’s speed testing tool, it is your web host that is causing the issue. You’ll see that the TTFB is very high. The other screenshot shows the breakdown. Those metrics are server related. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_to_first_byte

To be sure though, you can try switching to the default WordPress theme like the TwentyNineteen theme and record the page load time again. Also, test deactivating all plugins and record the performance using X and Cornerstone only. You can let us know the result.

In our performance guide, web-hosting is also a factor. This was written:

@ThemecoKB

##Right Choice of Webspace

Webspace is not Webspace. There are huge quality differences and also finding the right size of webspace for your site can be a daunting task. There are just a few general rules of thumb which we can give you but most of the time its up to the individual needs which webspace you should get.

The first question you will face is do you need a shared webspace, a VPS or a dedicated server. For most people a shared server is enough if you have under 1000 visitors a day you should be more than fine with most of the webspaces out there, make sure that it has enough bandwidth and uses the latest software preferable instead of apache something like litespeed which can increase the performance of your site and server. When it comes to VPS it’s a bit more challenging since you need to decide how much disk space and how much ram you will need. The good thing about VPS is that upgrading is very quick and easy since all the limits are virtual emulated so with a reboot from the hosting company they can change all the values so we would recommend going with the lowest possible and see how it performs to save money.

Dedicated servers are a whole new level. You have a whole server for yourself and a lot of things to worry about. First of all it’s important to decide if you go with a managed or unmanaged server. If you choose the cheaper method which is unmanaged you should have some experience in server administration since updates from software and keeping the server secure is crucial and there is no support to ask if there are problems. But even owning a managed server does not mean that you should not update the server and have an overlooking eye on it. Managed server just means if you have troubles or if there are really crucial server updates they will be handled by the hosting company but for the rest it’s still your call.

When it comes to site performance the webspace is crucial. Things like having a SSD server, running Litespeed and having enough resources like ram are key to provide a smooth experience for your users.

Thanks.

[asdfrew]

I feel like a football, when I call Yahoo hosting to complain about the speed, they say it is the theme. They say their servers are working great. Do you recommend a better hosting service or is that something you wouldn’t do?

[rad]

Hi Ravi,

Unfortunately, we recommend any but you may check this https://theme.co/hosting/

Perhaps their server/host setup has hiccups when it comes to our theme. Though, it doesn’t happen on other hostings else we’ll get similar complaints. But yes, this is common on shared hosting, since you’re sharing the same machin/environment with other sites that aren’t yours. Hence, even if your site is empty, it will get slower once those other sites used-up the resources.

Thanks!

[Pixel8r]

Personally I have always found Siteground hosting to be great. Good support, speed and capabilities.

Web Hosting Services Crafted with Care - SiteGround