- Article
- 2 minutes read
- Reviewed August 4, 2026
- WordPress performance
A performance checklist creates a repeatable baseline.
Complete it with measured evidence and record exceptions instead of enabling every optimization feature at once.
Measurement
- Priority page types are defined.
- Field and laboratory data are reviewed separately.
- Mobile and desktop are tested.
- Cold and warm cache results are recorded.
- Server and browser timing are both measured.
- A baseline exists before changes.
- Business and accessibility outcomes are monitored.
Hosting and Server
- PHP and database versions are supported.
- Opcode cache is enabled.
- CPU, memory and PHP workers match peak load.
- Database latency and storage are monitored.
- HTTPS and HTTP versions are configured correctly.
- Origin capacity is tested for cache misses.
Caching and CDN
- Public pages use appropriate page caching.
- Personalized pages are excluded safely.
- Cache keys reflect real variations.
- Purging works after publishing.
- Browser cache headers and asset versioning are correct.
- Text responses use compression.
- Persistent object caching is evaluated from query evidence.
- CDN hit rate and origin behavior are monitored.
Frontend Resources
- Images use suitable formats and dimensions.
- Responsive image markup is correct.
- The LCP image is not delayed unnecessarily.
- CSS and JavaScript load only where needed.
- Long JavaScript tasks are investigated.
- Third-party scripts have owners.
- Web-font families and weights are limited.
- Layout shifts are tested.
WordPress Application
- Slow database queries are identified.
- Autoloaded options are reviewed.
- Plugin and theme impact is measured.
- Cron jobs have bounded workloads.
- Heartbeat customizations are tested.
- Admin screens are profiled separately.
- Dynamic pages use selective caching and background jobs.
Core Web Vitals
- LCP is reviewed at the 75th percentile.
- INP is reviewed across real interactions.
- CLS sources are identified.
- Page-level and origin-level data are compared.
- Improvements are confirmed after deployment.
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