![\"Pippins](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pippins-plugins-homepage-1024x615.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nIt reportedly uses 81 different plugins, but its GTmetrix<\/a> score looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n So, the truth is that a single plugin could be the root cause of all your speed woes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But how can you tell which plugin is the rotten apple out of the bunch?<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a number of different ways you can approach the problem of tracking down a misbehaving plugin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These solutions range from high-end monitoring apps to a more DIY approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But let\u2019s start at the top and work our way downward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New Relic Application Performance Monitoring<\/a> is a high-end solution for monitoring site performance.<\/p>\n\n\n The thing is that New Relic APM is more suited to support teams or massive e-commerce sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re running a handful of affiliate sites, then this is the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to open a walnut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their most basic package costs $25 per month, and their pricing also depends on what type of hosting you\u2019re using.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New Relic APM is interesting, but ultimately way too powerful for what we\u2019re trying to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first thing you need to know about Query Monitor is that it\u2019s free, so…yay!<\/p>\n\n\n\n This plugin is the brainchild of John Blackbourn, an actual WordPress guru<\/p>\n\n\n Query Monitor is a full-service debugging tool for WordPress users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The issue in using it is finding exactly what data relates to your plugins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the above example, we captured a slow query from the \u201cForce HTTPS\u201d plugin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this was a coincidence \u2013 we could just as easily have missed this error because it was transitory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As powerful as Query Monitor<\/a> is, the data it presents isn\u2019t easy to interpret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are tons of additional add-ons to help you make more sense of the data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that kind of defeats the purpose of what you\u2019re trying to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s at this point you\u2019ll arrive at the same conclusion we did – there\u2019s no easy way to find slow plugins because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, you\u2019re going to have to go old school on this \u2013 roll your sleeves up and prepare to do some work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just before we get into the \u201chow to get rid of slow plugins\u201d bit, we wanted to highlight popular plugins that can be the root cause of an entire site running slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a good chance you have one or more of these running on your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And what\u2019s better is you probably installed them because they have a 5-star rating and millions of active installs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But nobody ever rates them based on whether or not they impact site speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s our list of the top 15 plugins that can slow your WP install right down:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, so now that we\u2019ve hammered home that popular plugins might also be the reason your site is running slowly…what do you actually do about it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: Please make a full backup of your site before you go tinkering with it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re using any of the plugins on the above list, either get rid of them or find a replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n A perfect example of this is image optimization looks like EWWW Image Optimizer \u2013 just sign up for ShortPixel<\/a> instead. They do all the image compression<\/a> and optimization for you via their CDN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And on the subject of CDNs, you could use Cloudflare<\/a> instead of a caching tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or, in the case of backups, why use a plugin when your web host can usually do that for you instead? <\/p>\n\n\n\n And if they don\u2019t or won\u2019t, then find a web host that will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You then need to consider plugins where their features overlap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An example of this is using a dedicated sitemap plugin when SEOPress<\/a> already generates sitemaps for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll be unpleasantly surprised at just how many \u201cjunk\u201d plugins you have installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most plugins have a ton of extra features you\u2019ll never need or use, but are enabled by default. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If we take the SEOPress plugin (which we love) as one example, it has a Google Analytics function which is enabled by default:<\/p>\n\n\n You won\u2019t even know it\u2019s there unless you go looking for it, and most other SEO plugins suffer from the same issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social plugins are another doozie when it comes to enabling stuff you don\u2019t need, like social buttons on archive pages:<\/p>\n\n\n There\u2019s no automated way to turn off these unused settings, so you\u2019ll need to do it manually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, that does make it potentially time-consuming, but you should only ever need to do this once in a blue moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even after following the above steps you might still find yourself in a situation where a plugin you actually need is hogging resources.<\/p>\n\n\n For example, most of you use a \u201ccontact form\u201d plugin of one kind or another for your \u201cContact Us\u201d page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the code for that plugin is also added to every other page<\/b> of your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what you need is a tool that allows you to disable plugin functionality on a per-page or per-post basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s exactly what the Perfmatters<\/a> Script Manager allows you to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note:<\/strong> This plugin was developed by some of the Kinsta<\/a> team, who know a thing or two about page speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s say you want to disable your contact form plugin for every page except your \u201ccontact us\u201d page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, activate \u2018Script Manager\u2019 from the relevant page:<\/p>\n\n\n Then scroll down to the plugin code you want to disable:<\/p>\n\n\n In the above example, we\u2019re disabling \u201cContact Form 7\u201d everywhere except for the current URL, which is the \u2018Contact Us\u2019 page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But you can also use \u2018Script Manager\u2019 to disable plugins only for the current URL, or even across an entire range of URLs using the \u2018Regex\u2019 (Regular Expression) function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pippins-plugins-gtmetrix-score-1024x339.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nHow To Find Slow WordPress Plugins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
New Relic APM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/new-relic-apm-dashboard-1024x360.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nQuery Monitor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Query](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/query-monitor-dashboard-1024x154.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Popular Plugins Are The Worst Offenders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Getting Your Site Back Under Control<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
1. Get Rid Of Terrible Plugins<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/how-to-deactivate-plugin-in-wordpress-1024x316.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n2. Turn Off Unnecessary Features<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/how-to-disable-google-analytics-feature-in-seopress-1024x347.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Social](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/social-plugin-default-features-enabled-1024x335.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n3. Use Perfmatters Script Manager<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Perfmatters](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/perfmatters-script-manager-1024x246.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/how-to-activate-perfmatters-script-manager-1024x285.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/how-to-disable-plugin-code-with-script-manager-1024x375.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n