How to speed up a website by 2 times without replacing the server?
Greetings!
Today I want to discuss a topic that concerns every website owner: how to speed up your site without spending extra money on hardware upgrades. Slow performance doesn't always mean it's time to buy more RAM or move to a more expensive server. That is exactly what we are going to talk about today.
Often, the problem lies "under the hood." For example, your database might be cluttered with unnecessary logs or old revisions, forcing the server to run queries in circles, wasting precious milliseconds. There are many optimization methods, and they depend on your project's architecture. For WordPress, plugins will help, while custom solutions require fine-tuning the caching (though there are nuances there as well).
In this article, we will break down:
How to optimize current resources and speed up your website.
Why optimization should always come BEFORE buying a new server.
In which cases scaling is still inevitable.
Website Acceleration through Optimization
1. Database: Start with a "Deep Clean"
Many skip this point, and that’s a mistake. Let's start with the most important part — cleaning the database. No, you don't need to delete everything! You will need to conduct an audit and delete old post revisions and spam comments that are no longer required. Removing such "trash" significantly improves the site's response speed, which positively affects SEO rankings and customer loyalty.
The OPTIMIZE TABLE command is a tool that is often forgotten. It directly affects MySQL performance. This command reorganizes the physical storage of data, frees up space, and updates indexes. In short, it’s like defragmenting your database. It should be used after mass deletion or updating of rows to achieve maximum data access speed.
2. Caching is Your Best Friend
Why should the server generate a page from scratch every time if it can send a pre-created copy? To this day, many sites ignore this, creating unnecessary load. If you don't want to overpay for a powerful CPU, caching is your way to save money.
For custom websites: Caching is configured individually by the developer.
For WordPress: You can connect ready-made plugins.
If you have full access to the server, use Redis or Memcached. They help store data in RAM for instant access. I wrote more about Memcached in [this article].
3. Image Optimization
Please, do not ignore the obvious! During my conversations with website owners, I’ve noticed that many forget about images. This is a gross error. Huge files slow down a site significantly.
How to optimize? You can use special services, but it’s important to monitor the quality. To reduce file size while keeping the image sharp, I recommend switching to the WebP format. It provides minimal weight with excellent quality.
4. Briefly about Code: Keep it Short
The shorter the code, the less work for the server. A good programmer always tries to minimize the number of lines.
Real-life story: One developer told me how he was rewriting a project with 50,000 lines of code. After cleaning it up, it turned out that only 20,000 lines were actually important. More than half of the code was unnecessary junk that slowed down both the site and the server. The result after the cleanup was impressive!
Optimization Before Upgrading!
To avoid wasting money on unnecessary server upgrades, always optimize first. In most cases, this will be enough.
When is it actually time to buy more resources? If you have completed all the steps above and the speed hasn't changed, it means your project has truly "outgrown" its current package. In this case, I recommend considering a plan with more RAM or a more powerful processor.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will cleaning the database help if I only have 100 products? Yes, if the site has been running for a long time. Databases can accumulate thousands of hidden entries (logs, temporary plugin data) that slow down even small sites.
2. Can I just turn on caching and forget about it? Generally, yes, but it’s important to set up "cache clearing" so that when information on the site is updated, users see current data rather than an old copy.
3. How much better is WebP than regular JPEG? On average, WebP images are 25–30% lighter than JPEGs at identical visual quality. For a site with many photos, this saves gigabytes of traffic.
4. Is it safe to use the OPTIMIZE TABLE command? Yes, it is a standard MySQL command. However, on very large databases, the table may be temporarily locked during its execution, so it's better to do this during low-traffic hours.
Conclusion
Today you learned how to speed up a website and what to look for when the server and the site itself start to slow down. Please note that I might have missed something in this article, and there are likely other ways to optimize a server, but if you have tried everything possible and the speed still hasn't increased, it's time to move to a more powerful package.
Article author — Anatolie Cohaniuc