# Slow WordPress site — diagnostic flowchart (printable)

```
                    Site feels slow
                           |
              +------------+------------+
              |                         |
        Visitors slow?            wp-admin slow?
              |                         |
         YES  |                         |  YES
              v                         v
    +-------------------+       +-------------------+
    | FRONT PUBLIC      |       | BACK OFFICE       |
    | Tips 4–10         |       | Tips 11, 15, 17   |
    | Cache, images,    |       | PUD audit,        |
    | CDN, theme        |       | Heartbeat, QM     |
    +-------------------+       +-------------------+
              |                         |
              +------------+------------+
                           |
                    Measure before/after
                    (TTFB, LCP, admin load)
```

## Quick decision tree

1. **Green PageSpeed but wp-admin drags** → skip cache plugins; read [15 wp-admin tips](https://volade.com/en/blog/15-astuces-wp-admin-lent-2026).
2. **Both slow** → Plugin Usage Detector first (#11), then one page cache (#4).
3. **Only product pages slow** → images (#5) + cache exclusions for WooCommerce (#16).
4. **Slow after plugin update** → staging rollback + Query Monitor on staging.

## Tools (free)

| Tool | What it tells you |
|------|-------------------|
| PageSpeed Insights | LCP, INP, CLS mobile |
| Chrome DevTools Network | Slow scripts, TTFB |
| Query Monitor | Slow SQL, hooks (staging) |
| Plugin Usage Detector | Dead plugins, bloat |

*Volade · volade.com/en/blog/20-astuces-accelerer-wordpress-2026*