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One of our pet peeves are slow and unresponsive websites. Now, we don’t know about you, but we assume we’re on the same page since you’re here inquiring about your WooCommerce site and its speed. So, here’s the deal…

If you’re here to ask us why is your WooCoomer size slow – we’ll be honest – we don’t have a clue. It can be a whole slew of things weighing it down and causing it to run like a sloth. BUT, we can help you try to figure it out by giving you 10 potential reasons that might be causing your slowness issue.

1. You’re Using An Incompatible Plugin

This is a common one, actually. If you’re using a lot of plugins, then chances are at least one of them isn’t playing nice with the rest. It could be conflicting with another plugin or two, and that’s what’s bogging down your website’s speed.

The answer here is to either find a new plugin that does the same thing but doesn’t conflict or simply deactivate the problem plugins and see if that makes a difference. We’d give with the latter because you usually don’t need more than three or four plugins, so get rid of it.

2. Your Hosting Isn’t Powerful Enough

If you’re on shared hosting, this could be your issue. If you have a lot of traffic coming to your website, then you might need to switch to a VPS or a dedicated server in order to handle the traffic without slowing down your website.

If we were you, we’d opt for a dedicated server if you’re serious about your business. It’s much easier to scale.

3. Your Code Is All Over The Place

This one is more for the developers out there. If your code isn’t well-organized and structured, then that can make your website run slower. Take some time to go through your code and see if there’s anything that can be cleaned up or reorganized. It’ll make a world of difference in how quickly your website loads.

4. You Have Too Many Plugins Installed

This one’s so common it deserved its own paragraph. LEAVE THE PLUGINS ALONE. Seriously, just leave them alone. If you have too many plugins installed, they can (read: will) start conflicting with each other and cause all sorts of problems.

So, if you’re not using a plugin, delete it. And if you are using it, make sure it’s up to date and not causing any conflicts. And, if you really need that high from installing a new plugin, at least go to Booster and find plugins compatible with each other.

5. Your Site Isn’t Caching Correctly

Caching is a great way to speed up your website because it basically saves a copy of your website so that it doesn’t have to load everything from scratch every time someone visits. If your caching isn’t set up correctly, though, it can actually do the opposite and make your website slower.

So, if you’re not sure how to cache correctly, we suggest reaching out to a developer or your host to help you get it set up properly. They’ll probably know what to do unless they’re the ones that got you in this mess in the first place.

6. Your Site Has Too Much Flash Content

Don’t you think it’s time we give up the Flash mob? It’s just not cool anymore. While Flash is great for some things, but it’s definitely not great for website speed. If you have a lot of Flash content on your site, it’s likely causing your site to run slowly. Try to replace any Flash content with HTML5 or simply remove it altogether. Your website will thank you for it and so will your visitors.

7. Your Images Are Not Optimized

Images can definitely make your website slower if they’re not optimized correctly. If your images are too large, they’ll take longer to load, so it’s important to compress them before you upload them to your site. Just make sure you don’t go overboard with the compression because that can result in grainy images.

There are a few different ways to do this, but we recommend using free online tools. You can use Photoshop if you don’t mind paying gajillion dollars to Adobe each year, but that’s up to you. Also, use WebP – it’s better.

8. You’re Tinkering With Things You Don’t Understand

We get it, you saw a plugin somewhere and you want to test it out. Or, maybe want to learn how to code and you’re trying to tinker with things on your site. But if you don’t really know what you’re doing, it can result in a lot of broken code and a slow website.

If you’re not a developer, it’s best to leave the tinkering to those who know what they’re doing. Don’t just add stuff to your website. If someone did a great job building it – just leave the things as they are. If it ran smoothly up to a point – there was a reason for it.

9. Your Server Is Overloaded

If your server is overloaded, it can definitely cause your website to run slowly. This is usually due to too much traffic coming to your site or too many people trying to access it at the same time.

And, remember – it’s not a DDoS attack – you just need more bandwidth. You are just due for an upgrade. Get a new hosting plan or simply get a new server altogether. Your call.

10. Your WordPress Theme Is Slowing Your Site Down

If you’re using a theme that’s not well-coded, it can definitely slow down your website. Themes that are packed with features and aren’t well-optimized can be a real pain, so it’s important to choose a theme that’s lightweight and won’t bog down your site. There are plenty of great themes out there that are both lightweight and feature-rich, so take your time and find one that works well for you.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the possible reasons why your WooCommerce site might be running slowly. If you’re still having trouble after trying all of these things, we suggest reaching out to a developer or your host for further assistance.