How to Reduce CPU Usage in WordPress – A Guaranteed Fix!

High CPU utilization can wreck your website’s efficiency in Google search.

Slow website= excessive bounce fee, low dwell time, and insane pogo-sticking.

All of those essential UX metrics mixed consequence in a website that’s not performing in search and that’s sliding ever decrease down the SERPS.

If you’ve been affected by excessive CPU utilization for the WordPress website then my information may help you cut back the issue and even get rid of it utterly.

Let’s go!

What is the Main Cause of High CPU Usage in WordPress Sites?

It’s dangerous internet hosting, pure and easy.

More particularly, 90% + of all excessive CPU utilization issues come up from websites being hosted on low-cost and horrible shared internet hosting.

Cheap shared hosts have strict CPU limits (although they usually neglect to inform you that) and in case your website crosses the mark you get a gradual and unresponsive website, or it merely goes down and refuses to load.

The resolution is to migrate to a quicker host (we’re on Cloudways cloud internet hosting) and it will remedy most of your issues.

However, internet hosting isn’t every little thing and there are extra methods to cut back CPU utilization for WordPress websites, sure, even on shared internet hosting.

Stay tuned!

23 Ways to Reduce CPU Usage in WordPress Starting Today!

Note: when you can’t afford to change internet hosting, then no less than do as many of those steps as you may.

It’ll assist you pace up your website significantly.

#1- Check Your Website’s CPU Usage

The very first thing you want to do is examine your website’s present CPU utilization.

After all, you may’t enhance one thing earlier than you measure it and know precisely the place you stand.

Agree?

All hosts present you your present CPU utilization, often contained in the cPanel.

Here’s what it seems to be like on HostArmada.

Of course, since we’re not hosted on HostArmada, the utilization is 0%.

And right here’s what it seems to be like on Cloudways, our present host.

#2- Remove and Replace Resource-Intensive Plugins

Plugins are what make WordPress nice. However, they’re additionally what makes it tremendous gradual when you go overboard.

Your job as a webmaster who desires to pace up their website is to discover useful resource-draining plugins after which take away and/or substitute them.

Some of the widespread culprits (plugins) of excessive CPU utilization in WordPress are:

• Chat;
• Statistics;
• Social sharing;
• Calendar;
• Backup;
• and Page builder plugins.

Also included are plugins that continuously run on-line scans of your website, good examples being Broken Link Checker and safety plugins like WordFence, MalCare, iThemes Security Pro, and so forth.

To discover the precise culprits in your website use the Query Monitor plugin.

Note: Simply set up the Query Monitor plugin and no want to set it up. It works out of the field.

To see the plugins that put essentially the most strain in your internet hosting server go to “queries by component”.

Next, you want to take away the offending plugins and both run your weblog with out these functionalities or discover extra light-weight replacements.

#3- Remove Page Builders – or Replace if You Must Have Them

Hey, I get it.

Page builder plugins are superior. They provide the capability to create a novel website with out having to pay a expensive professional designer. And you don’t want to know even a sliver of code to create a terrific-trying web site.

However, web page builders like Elementor and Divi are recognized to add quite a lot of code bloat to your pages.

So a lot in order that they will single-handedly considerably decelerate your website and trigger excessive CPU utilization in WordPress.

What’s the answer, then?

The neatest thing to do when it comes to pace is to take away all of the bloated web page builders and depend on your premium theme or gentle-frontend-footprinted web page builders like Oxygen web page builder to give you a stunning website.

Premium themes like GeneratePress and Astra are based mostly on the Gutenberg block editor provides minimal bloat to your pages. That is why these themes are tremendous light-weight and lightning quick.

However, if that isn’t an possibility for you, then think about using Oxygen which is the quickest of all web page builders

#4- Cleanup Your WordPress Database

Another WordPress excessive CPU utilization repair is to clear up and optimize your database.

• Revisions;
• Drafts;
• Trashed content material;
• Spam;
• Transients;
• Tables;

This is all junk that’s clogging your WordPress website and blowing up your CPU utilization.

Fortunately, the answer is easy. when you’re utilizing WP Rocket (it’s best to) go to Settings > Database and choose all of it to be cleaned up.

Afterward, schedule for the plugin to clear up the junk each 2-4 weeks.

Pro-tip #1- it is likely to be value retaining put up revisions in case you ever need to revert some posts to their earlier variations.

Or no less than take a backup everytime you’re doing a serious revisions purge.

Pro-tip #2- when you don’t have WP Rocket then use WP-Optimize, a free plugin that does the identical factor. We have an in depth WordPress Database Optimization information for you.

#5- Upgrade to PHP 7.4 or later

Newer PHP versions are at all times quicker and safer than the earlier ones.

The downside is that low-cost hosts skimp on upgrading PHP for so long as they will (it’s costly for them) and this places your total website in danger.

Hackers love breaking into websites operating on outdated PHP variations. and in reality, a typical signal of a hacked website is extraordinarily excessive CPU utilization.

You have 2 choices right here.

Either ask your hosts to improve PHP for you, or switch your website to a bunch that permits you to manually replace PHP to any model you need.

For instance, we at technumero.com are on Cloudways and run the PHP 7.4 model.

They just lately launched PHP 8.0 and eight.1 however we’re ready to see if some compatibility issues floor with different customers.

No want to hurry as PHP 7.4 is each tremendous quick and tremendous protected.

#6 Offload as Much as You Can To Your CDN

Please inform me you’re utilizing a CDN.

I definitely hope you might be.

Because CDNs can take the majority of the strain off your server and considerably decrease CPU utilization in WordPress websites.

In different phrases, utilizing a excessive-high quality CDN will make even-gradual shared internet hosting moderately quick.

As for which CDN to go along with… right here’s an inventory of Premium CDNs to try.

If you’re in a rush, we’re hosted on BunnyCDN and advocate it to anybody who’s on the lookout for one of the best CDN service.

Super worth for cash, pay-as-you-go, and actually does pace up a web site significantly, whatever the host you’re on. Bunny.internet is lightning quick and prices solely $1 per 30 days.

Take a take a look at how certainly one of our heaviest pages performs in GTMetrix.

Note: when you’re utilizing WP Rocket it’s very simple to hook it up with Bunny CDN in order that they work in conjunction at rushing up your web site.

Here’s an official tutorial from CDNBunny that may assist you.

#7- Disable WordPress Heartbeat

The WordPress Heartbeat API exhibits you in actual-time when different customers are enhancing posts + essential plugin notifications.

This is a function most site owners don’t want to allow them to safely both cut back heartbeat or downright flip it off.

It’s a simple method to save up on server assets and decrease the quantity of CPU used in a WordPress website.

How to flip off WordPress heartbeat?

There are 2 methods.

First (free)- use the Heartbeat control plugin (developed by WP Rocket) to flip it off.

Second, use the WP rocket itself. It has the function built-in so no want to add yet another plugin to clog up your dashboard.

#8- Disable Usage Tracking

Some plugins need to acquire consumer knowledge that they will use to enhance their merchandise.

This helps them run their enterprise extra effectively, however it doesn’t assist you in any method. In reality, it places a tiny bit of additional strain in your CPU and server.

So ensure that not to permit any statistics to be gathered out of your WordPress website.

For instance, right here’s how the WP Rocket plugin politely asks to give it entry to collect nameless knowledge.

Say no to these requests.

#9- Disable Unused Plugin Functionalities

If you could have a Swiss military knife of a plugin put in, ensure you’re really utilizing it to the fullest. If not, then disable the options you don’t want.

For instance, widespread options-heavy plugins are Elementor, JetPack, and Yoast…

Here, we use RankMath Pro on this website and as you may see from the picture under, many of the options we don’t want, and therefore are turned off.

This saves fairly a little bit of server assets.

#10- Disable Resource Intensive WooCommerce Features

Note: due to the character of WooCommerce websites, they require extra firepower proper off the bat.

That’s why cloud internet hosting is one of the best sort of internet hosting even for a brand new Woocommerce website with out quite a lot of visitors.

Normal blogs can reside on shared internet hosting for some time earlier than they begin getting important visitors and want to improve.

eCommerce websites don’t have that luxurious.

They want to be placed on the quickest WordPress internet hosting straight away.

How to Optimize WooCommerce Site for Speed?

First, use Perfmatters, a premium plugin however completely value it.

With it you may:

• Disable WooCommerce widgets;
• Disable WooCommerce cart fragments;
• Disable WooCommerce standing metabox;
• Disable WooCommerce scripts and types;
• Disable computerized product feed plugins.

Disable WooCommerce Bloat plugin is one other strong choose, and it’s additionally free. You also can use the Asset CleanUp plugin to take away some WooCommerce bloat.

Pro tip: when you’ve made the error of beginning a WooCommerce retailer on shared WordPress internet hosting, then these 2 plugins may help quite a bit.

But when you nonetheless run into points after this then getting premium internet hosting like Kinsta and Cloudways is the one method ahead.

#11- Check to See if Your Caching Plugin is Causing High CPU Usage

Sometimes, the treatment hurts greater than it helps.

Caching plugins like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache are meant to increase the pace of your WordPress set up.

But on uncommon events, they find yourself inflicting extra hassle and excessive CPU utilization.

Here’s what WP Rocket has to say about it

“Occasionally some of the options on the File Optimization tab, such as Remove Query Strings, or Minify/Combine can cause high CPU usage in cases where your site has a lot of CSS or JS files. Try disabling these options and then monitor your CPU usage.”

Note: to know for certain whether or not your caching plugin is inflicting increased CPU utilization, measure the positioning with and with out the plugin. Follow #2- for the way to take a look at the useful resource utilization.

You may want to examine over a interval of every week to know for certain as CPU utilization naturally tends to fluctuate fairly a bit.

#12- Add a Firewall

Website firewall boosts safety and reduces excessive CPU utilization by stopping hacking and DDoS assaults.

Firewalls come connected to all premium safety plugins and also you undoubtedly ought to have one put in as ~ 30 000 WP websites get hacked per day.

Don’t let your website turn into a statistic.

#13- Increase Connection Limits

The connection restrict is the brink on what number of new IPs can work together together with your host’s server in 1 second.

More is healthier because it relaxes the server and lowers CPU utilization.

Most cloud internet hosting suppliers allow you to manually change connection limits, whereas with shared internet hosting you could have to demand the change.

Here’s what it seems to be like in Cloudways.

#14- Block Bad Bots

52% of the net visitors is bot visitors.

And had you checked your log recordsdata (I’m certain you haven’t, as who does that? Only nerdy SEOs!) you’ll’ve seen a bunch of bots hitting your pages from all sides.

Some of these are good bots like Googlebot, Microsoftbot, Ahrefsbot …

But others are dangerous bots which are there to scrape your website’s content material, discover a weak point and exploit it, implant malware, try to log in to your website…

These dangerous bots want to be defeated.

The simplest way to counter this downside is to use Cloudways internet hosting as they’ve inbuilt bot protection services.

The second method to block dangerous bots is to use a premium safety plugin like iTheme Security Pro. Apart from blocking bots the plugin additionally gives many premium options similar to Stops automated assaults, monitoring of suspicious exercise, scanning for susceptible plugins and themes, and far more.

If you might be on the lookout for a free various then the simplest method is to use the Blackhole for Bad Bots WP plugin.

This plugin units a easy entice for bots (through a nofollow hyperlink in the footer of the web page) and after they fall into it, they’re completely banned from accessing your website.

It works, however it’s not supreme as a result of you may’t predict how some good bots will behave. If a type of falls into this entice then it’ll be completely banned out of your website and also you’ll miss out on the advantages of getting it crawl your website.

For instance, if Google-bot will get banned, you possibly can drop out of the index as a result of Google instantly can’t index your website.

#15- Replace Cron Job

wp-cron often hundreds on every web page load and schedules automated duties like:

• sending e-mail notifications;
• checking for theme and plugin updates,
• publishing scheduled posts;
• and so forth

This places quite a lot of unneeded stress in your server.

Instead, you may schedule it to run each 90 minutes or so.

To Disable WP-Cron merely add the code you’ll see under to your wp-config.php, proper earlier than the place it says “That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging.”

outline('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);

However, your web site nonetheless wants these functionalities so that you want to substitute wp-cron with an actual cron job.

So, you may set it to run each 90 minutes, or perhaps even increased when you don’t have quite a lot of scheduled duties.

Every host has their very own tutorial, however right here’s a guide from Cloudways that may assist you.

#16- Protect Your WP Admin

Bots that attempt to log in to your website almost at all times goal your admin login web page which is yourdomain.com/wp-admin.php

Moving your login web page removes numerous strain from the server and offers you one other layer of safety from getting hacked.

Some safety plugins have this function, for instance, iThemes Security Pro, however you may also use Move Login, which is a free plugin.

#17- Minimize Third Party Requests

• Google Fonts,
• Analytics,
• Gravatars,
• Facebook pixel,
• Embedded YouTube movies, and so forth.

All of those third-get together scripts decelerate your website and enhance CPU utilization.

And your website wants these in order to be usable and likewise to assist you turn into a profitable blogger.

Luckily, they are often optimized.

The very primary factor you want to have is WP Rocket which may lazy load Gravatars and YouTube movies for you.

Another useful addition is Flying Scripts, to maintain the remaining on this checklist. You also can learn our information to cache and lazy load Gravatars totally free and the way to take away Google fonts from WordPress.

#18- Optimize Images

Images are a recognized website pace killer.

Luckily there are many methods to optimize them for pace, efficiency, and optimum CPU utilization.

Here are among the issues you are able to do:

• Lazy load pictures;
• Resize giant pictures to be smaller;
• Specify a width/top in the HTML for pictures;
• Losslessly compress pictures (I like to recommend ShortPixel);
• Use Next-gen codecs – WebP is healthier and quicker than JPEG/PNGs;
• Use hotlink protection- obtainable with Cloudflare free account and WP Rocket. Prevent individuals from “borrowing your images” and sucking away your bandwidth.
• Use a CDN- CDN removes numerous pressure in your host’s server main to quicker load instances.

Do all of those to see most positive factors, and utilizing a CDN and resizing pictures might be essentially the most impactful.

Read the next guides for extra picture optimization –

Having numerous spam feedback clogs up your remark part, seems to be demoralizing, AND impacts your CPU utilization negatively.

Fortunately, it’s simple to fight it.

Simply set up an anti-spam plugin just like the Akismet Spam Protection plugin by Automatic or Forget Spam Comment, and say goodbye to spam ceaselessly.

#20- Choose Lightweight Themes Over the More Bloated Ones

Some themes are constructed for pace, effectiveness, and effectivity, whereas others take the method that extra=higher and comes with each bell and whistle you may and might’t think about.

Pick the previous for a a lot quicker website and decrease CPU utilization.

Check out this checklist of one of the best WordPress themes for a spark of inspiration.

Our really useful light-weight WordPress themes are GeneratePress, Astra, Kadence WP, and Blocksy.

#21- Delete Unused Plugins and Themes

Both unused themes and plugins retailer preconfigured settings. These could cause issues and decelerate your website and must be deleted.

Pro tip: Always have one backup theme prepared. It’s as a result of in case your foremost theme fails for some purpose (for instance defective replace), WordPress will robotically activate the backup theme in order that your website no less than has one thing to present for the guests.

#22- Disable xmlrpc.php with/with out a Plugin

XML-RPC is a specification facilitating communications between WordPress and different instruments. This communications customary used HTTP as a transport methodology and XML as an encoding method.

The foremost purpose you could have to deactivate xmlrpc.php in your WP website is that it will increase safety dangers, which might be exploited by hackers.

How to Disable xmlrpc.php in WordPress

You can disable xmlrpc.php in your WordPress utilizing the plugin known as Disable XML-RPC.

If you do not need to use the plugin use the next code to

Disable xmlrpc.php in WordPress through .htaccess or

<Files xmlrpc.php>
Order Allow,Deny
Deny from all
</Files>

Disable xmlrpc.php utilizing a PHP filer

add_filter( 'xmlrpc_enabled', '__return_false' );

#23- Host Download Files on Dropbox or Google Drive.

Dropbox and Google Drive have limitless bandwidth and storage, whereas your internet hosting account doesn’t.

If you provide giant recordsdata to guests to obtain, ensure you place them in Dropbox and Google Drive.

You also can use plugins like WP Offload Media to retailer your giant media recordsdata on Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Spaces ($100 Free Credit), and Google Cloud Storage providers.

This will chill out your server fairly a bit and decrease CPU utilization.

And it’ll be a greater consumer expertise for the customers, as pace is every little thing.

Conclusion

Look:

The finest method to cut back excessive CPU utilization in WordPress websites is to change to a greater and quicker WordPress host.

Simple as that.

However, when you can’t afford it, the second-finest method is to do every little thing talked about in this information.

Don’t do only one or two issues, do every little thing and you’ll decrease your website’s CPU utilization.

Let me know what you assume in the remark part under.

Happy to assist you out.

Cheers!

Reducing CPU Usage in WordPress Sites FAQ