WooCommerce powers just under 4 million online stores in 2024, including 23% of the top one million. Its share of the global ecommerce and software market is 38.74%. Among the best-known websites built in WordPress are NASA, the New York Times, and Harvard University.
If you want to optimize database performance, avoid shared hosting. Dedicated hosting, where the website has an entire server to itself, is the best type for a large site. It gives you exclusive access to all the server’s resources, including CPU, RAM, and storage. VPS, cloud hosting, or managed WordPress hosting in Canada can also be good options.
Website optimization plugins to consider
Optimizing the database might not be necessary if you maintain it regularly. Plugins like WP-Optimize clean and optimize it automatically. Advanced Database Cleaner reveals and removes redundant data.
Alternatively, you can perform manual optimization via phpMyAdmin. If some tables are used frequently, use the “Optimize Table” option on them.
The Query Monitor plugin can identify slow queries. This is something tools like MySQLTuner can also help with.
Make sure your server has Perl installed, as MySQLTuner is a Perl script. Perl is installed using different commands for Debian/Ubuntu or CentOS/RHEL.
You can download MySQLTuner directly from the command line using wget or curl:
- Wget: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/major/MySQLTuner-perl/master/mysqltuner.pl
- Curl: curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/major/MySQLTuner-perl/master/mysqltuner.pl
The next step is to run MySQLTuner. Before you do that, make sure that your MySQL server has been running for at least 24-48 hours. This gives the tool enough data to make accurate recommendations.
When prompted, enter your MySQL root user credentials. If you have a password for the root user, you will be asked to enter it.
The tool will now analyze your MySQL server’s performance and provide a list of recommendations. These recommendations might include changes to your MySQL configuration file (my.cnf or my.ini) to improve performance.
Ensure all tables are properly indexed. You can add indexes to columns that are frequently used in WHERE clauses.
Secure your database
Around 13,000 WordPress websites are attacked daily, which comes to nine attacks per minute. In 92% of the cases, WordPress plugins were to blame. WordPress themes and core comprised 5% and 3%, respectively.
The best-known and trusted WordPress security plugin is Wordfence. It prevented 159 billion attempts to hack WordPress website passwords in 2022.
Other measures include implementing server-level firewalls. Use Cloudflare, iptables, or UFW. Most importantly, keep your server’s operating system and all software up to date. Update WordPress core to the latest version.
FAQ
How do I optimize the speed of my WordPress website?
- Optimize Images.
- Remove or Delay Third-Party Scripts.
- Remove Unnecessary Plugins.
- Optimize CSS Loading.
- Update Your Tools.
- Choose a Fast Theme.
- Clean the Database.
How do I set up WP-Optimize?
You set up the free version of WP-Optimize by finding the WP-Optimize plugin in the dashboard and clicking on “Install Now.” Click on “Activate” once you have installed WP-Optimize.
How can a website become more responsive?
- Choose A Responsive WordPress Theme.
- Use Responsive Images.
- Become Mobile Friendly.
- Use a Content Delivery Network.
Is WordPress a good choice for developers in Canada?
Developers who work for agencies need to know other content management systems as well. Some agencies specialize in WordPress websites. Freelancer developers who want to work in Canada will find that many people don’t know the differences between content systems, but almost everyone will have heard of WordPress at least once. If the developer prefers to work with WordPress, it will be easy to convince the client that it’s the best option for their large-scale site.