IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT HOSTGATOR:
We began optimizing customer websites for speed as part of our web agency work and eventually launched WPSpeedFix.com, a new company dedicated to WordPress speed optimization. Over the last two years, WP Speed Fix has seen and configured hundreds of Hostgator pages. The steps outlined below will function for the majority of Hostgator sites.
Before we get started, let me be clear: Hostgator (HG) isn't a high-quality host; rather, they're a low- to mid-tier host. Their parent company, EIG (Endurance International Group), is known for providing low-cost, low-quality web hosting – essentially the 2 dollar store version of web hosting.
However, if you have a reasonably simple website, you *can* get a Hostgator-hosted site up and running quickly if you follow the steps below. However, if you want to get your site up and running as quickly as possible, Hostgator isn't going to cut it – you'll need to switch hosts.
Moving to a better WordPress host will usually only cost you a few dollars more per month (like Siteground for $4.95/month or a dedicated Cloudways server for $10/month) AND your site will load much faster.
For a complete list of high-quality, high-performance WordPress hosts, see our article on the FASTEST WordPress Hosting. (Most of these hosts can also help you migrate for free.)
What Hostgator will tell you about site speed….
A heads up: If you ask Hostgator for help with your website speed or because it is late, they will go through a standard procedure.
You'll almost certainly be upsold to a dedicated server, with claims that your site needs more server resources and so on. That may be partly valid, but the problem is that you're still hosted by Hostgator, whose business model is to cram as many sites onto a server as possible and run their servers as hard as they can, not to be the fastest host.
The problem with being upsold to a better plan or dedicated Hostgator server is that you're still hosted by HG; it's like having the premium option at the $2 shop, no matter how fancy they say it is, you're still in the $2 store!
Contents Table of Contents
IMPORTANT HOSTGATOR INFORMATION:
1. Speed Testing – How to Test Your Site's Speed & What Counts as Fast?
2. Caching is a must!
3. Use Cloudflare and/or a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
4. Compress Your Photographs
5. Use HTTPS to support the HTTP2 protocol.
6. Use PHP7 instead of PHP 5.6 or earlier for a 30%+ performance boost!
7. Turn off any plugins you aren't using.
8. Advanced Troubleshooting & Often Asked Questions
1. Testing Speed – How To Test Your Site Speed & What is Fast?
So, before we begin, it's probably a good idea to do some speed testing so that we can compare our results to a benchmark to ensure that our changes are actually improvements.
SiteSpeedBot – https://SiteSpeedBot.com – is our go-to speed test app.
It's a free tool that will provide you with accurate recommendations on your site's speed in less than 60 seconds.
In an ideal world, the site could load in under two seconds in the country where it is hosted. 1 second is a mystical threshold at which the page load feels instantaneous.
Now, depending on what you have on your server, this might not be feasible – on a FAST host, we can easily get the core of the site loading in 600-800ms, but if you have a lot of marketing tools installed like a Facebook Pixel, Hubspot or some other CRM monitoring program, Hotjar or Luckyorange, or practically any third-party tools, you'll probably struggle to get under 1 second.
In general, a time of about 1.5 seconds should be reasonably achievable and considered reasonable in terms of speed.
Other speed test tools:
On the market, there are a variety of speed test methods. GTMetrix.com and Google Pagespeed Insights are two other common tools.
We like SiteSpeedBot because it tests speed and is the closest to real-world speed, whereas Google Pagespeed Insights assesses your site against a technical checklist and assigns a score rather than actually testing it.
It's a good idea to run a few speed tests to get a good average. SiteSpeedBot saves your site's speed history so you can see how changes affect efficiency.
2. You MUST Use Caching!
Without caching, you'll never get a ton of mileage out of WordPress.
Caching allows you to pre-build each page of your website so that it is ready to go when a visitor arrives. Without caching, the server must execute PHP code, perform MySQL database lookups, execute more PHP code, and then create an HTML file to send to the user any time a visitor visits the site.
The HTML file is already prebuilt and ready to submit to the visitor if you use a good caching plugin.
There’s really one of two options here:
WP Rocket is the go-to caching plugin for DIYers and others who aren't as tech-savvy. It's simple to use and will significantly improve your efficiency. It's a paid plugin (but dirt cheap), but it's still the most user-friendly caching plugin on the market. If you don't have to cache and your load times are more than 5 seconds, installing a caching plugin would immediately reduce your load times by a few seconds.
W3 Total Cache is a free caching plugin that is by far the quickest, but it is very technical to set up, so it is probably not suitable for the DIYer (**IF you go this path, Just use the Browser and Page Caching – database and object caching are not supported on Hostgator).
Some hosts, such as WPEngine, Siteground, and Cloudways, have built-in caching or their own caching plugin, which contributes to their speed.
Never use two caching plugins at the same time because they may clash. If you don't have a lot of technical knowledge or experience with WordPress, WP Rocket is the way to go.
3. Use Cloudflare and/or a CDN
Cloudflare.com is a content delivery network (CDN) that can dramatically improve the speed of your website, especially for international visitors.
A content delivery network (CDN) is a collection of servers that distribute static assets from your website (image files, javascript, and CSS files) to your visitors instead of relying on your hosting server.
Cloudflare has a network of over 150 locations around the world, making it one of the largest and fastest CDNs.
Since many of the files are loaded from local Cloudflare servers in Australia rather than the US, visitors farther away from your hosting (say, a visitor from Australia reaching your hosting in the US) would have a faster experience.
In most cases, Cloudflare's free plan is sufficient; however, the $20/month paid plan includes more advanced image optimization and firewalling; however, if you're considering this choice, you should probably start with a better host first!
KeyCDN is also worth a look if you're looking for a more comprehensive CDN solution.
4. Compress Your Images
The majority of photos on your website can be compressed to some extent without sacrificing quality. In many cases, they shrink by 20 to 50 percent, making a significant difference in load times, particularly on a slow link.
Shortpixel is our preferred image optimization plugin because it has advanced image optimization functionality that most other plugins lack.
They offer a free plan as well as a website tool that analyzes your site and tells you how compressible your photos are and how much space you'll save.
5. Switch to HTTPS for HTTP2 Protocol support
Convert your website to HTTPS (encrypted mode). The entire internet is migrating to HTTPS encryption, and Google has confirmed that encrypted pages would rank higher than non-encrypted HTTP sites.
Another advantage of using HTTPS is that it allows web browser software to retrieve assets from your website using the HTTP2 protocol, which is a newer, faster protocol.
Check out the video below to see how HTTP 1.1 and HTTP v2 compare.
However, the server you're using at Hostgator must support the newer protocol (older plans do not), but allowing Cloudflare would make this possible (as Cloudflare is HTTP2 compatible).
If your company relies on a WordPress website or a self-hosted WordPress blog for revenue, site speed issues may have significant consequences for your bottom line. We've helped over 2000 companies repair their sluggish WordPress websites at WPspeedfix.com, and our advice is based on years of experience and knowledge in the sector. The most important consideration when it comes to a WordPress site's slow loading speed and navigation lag is which web hosting company and hosting plans you select.
👉 Also, you can read: Build your Website with Hostgator Web Builder
If you follow the steps outlined in this hosting service guide, your HostGator website can load faster and run more smoothly. The steps for fixing slow HostGator WordPress web hosting are the same for every WordPress domain, regardless of host. However, in order to resolve your speed problem, you must first comprehend the factors that make HostGator websites especially susceptible to slow loading times.
6. Use PHP7 instead of PHP 5.6 or older (30%+ speed increase!)
PHP is a programming language that runs WordPress and is available in many versions. Version 5.6 (or lower) and versions 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2 are the most popular.
Most sites developed in the last two years will easily support version 7.0, which is approximately 30% faster than version 5.6.
Versions 7.1 and 7.2 are 10 percent or faster than version 7.0, so if your site is compatible with v7.2, you can certainly upgrade.
NOTE: Before making the move, make sure everything is in working order. WPEngine offers a free plugin that runs on any web host and tests all of your plugins and themes to determine if your site is PHP 7 or 7.1/7.2 compliant.
The video below will show you how to locate the PHP settings in Hostgator:
7. Disable Plugins You Aren’t Using
Disable any plugins you aren't using – it's that easy. The majority of websites have plugins that are no longer in use. Since - allowed plugin slows down the web, it's critical to run as few plugins as possible.
Check each plugin you've installed to see if it's still active; if it isn't, disable it!
8. More Advanced Troubleshooting & Common Questions
Here’s a few more advanced troubleshooting ideas for you:
- Update all plugins to the most recent version – this is a fairly common problem we see, with sites running plugins that are many years old and no longer compliant with the WordPress update they are using. Updating all plugins to the most recent update will also resolve bugs that are causing the site to slow down.
- Question Monitor plugin – https://wordpress.org/plugins/query-monitor/ This is a plugin that will show you what's going on with each page load. It will also help you find broken plugins or code that is causing your site to slow down.
- WP-Optimize – https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-optimize/ This plugin speeds up database queries by optimizing the database.
Why is HostGator Hosting So Slow?
HostGator is well-known for being a “cheap” hosting company. Unfortunately, because of their generous affiliate scheme, you'll see them recommended in tens of thousands of places on the internet, even if they're not a quick host! They are more concerned with low prices than with high results. To reach their incredibly low rates, they load their servers with thousands of other websites, resulting in poor results. Low prices are nice for new sites and personal blogs, but in a commercial environment, low-cost hosting costs more in terms of bad SEO rankings, lost traffic, and low conversion rates.
How do I test my website speed?
Try SiteSpeedBot.com, which, while being an advanced speed testing app, can provide you with detailed, easy-to-understand suggestions in less than 60 seconds. If you're using Hostgator or another host, these tips can come in handy.
Who are EIG?
Endurance International Group stands for Endurance International Group. They are the parent company of Hostgator, Bluehost, and more than 50 other hosting companies. They're well-known for purchasing hosting companies and transforming them into "cheap," low-cost, but low-performing hosts.
How do I speed up my HostGator hosting?
Using caching, HTTPS (rather than HTTP), a content delivery network, and upgrading your PHP version to the latest version your site will support will all help speed up your site, as discussed in this post.
Should I move my hosting to another provider?
Yes, if speed is important to you. In terms of monthly spending, quick, high-quality hosting won't likely cost much more than cheap hosting. The price gap is comparable to that between the cost of a cup of coffee and the cost of lunch!
HostGator say I should upgrade my plan, will that make it faster?
Not at all. It's simply a more costly "cheap" alternative. While you will see a slight improvement in efficiency, overall performance will most likely remain low because HostGator's emphasis is on price rather than performance or reliability.
Other Resources:
- The FAST WordPress Hosting Companies – an article about the top WordPress hosts available right now on the internet.
- How to Troubleshoot WooCommerce Slowness – WooCommerce Troubleshooting
- Fixing Slow WordPress – a more general post about WordPress Performance Optimization.
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