Usually because some of its pages can’t be cached. Every hosting plan includes server caching, image optimisation and a global CDN. They do the most when your pages can be cached: the server keeps a ready-made copy of each page and hands it straight to the next visitor. When something stops that, every visit builds the page from scratch and the site runs slower than it should.
What stops a page being cached
Some plugins do, often older or poorly maintained ones on WooCommerce shops. A theme can do it too.
⟨to add: the causes we see most often, and how to check whether a page is being served from the cache⟩
What caching doesn’t speed up
The admin area, saving and publishing can’t be cached, so they depend on how heavy the site is. If editing lags on a large build, Admin Boost gives the back end of your site extra power.
An example
Bonomotion runs a Divi site with a WooCommerce catalogue, for customers mostly in the US. After we tuned it, it scores 99 out of 100 on Google PageSpeed ⟨mobile or desktop⟩, served from our UK data centre. ⟨confirm Bonomotion is happy to be named⟩
What to do
- If we look after your site, we check for this and fix it.
- If you run it yourself, the caching and optimisation settings are in your dashboard. ⟨to add: where, with screenshots⟩
- If you’d like us to find the cause, raise a ticket from Support in your dashboard. The work is £59 per hour, or part of Website CarePlus from £29.99 per month.