Anthony McGrathWhat does WooCommerce speed optimisation involve?
WooCommerce speed optimisation covers diagnosis, database, store pages, checkout, front end and proof. Cart and checkout pages cannot be cached like normal pages, so every slow plugin and query hits shoppers at the worst possible moment. Anthony McGrath does the work himself, with 22 years in digital marketing, for businesses in the UK, the US, Dubai and Australia.
- Best for
- WooCommerce stores, from new shops to established retailers with big catalogues
- What you get
- Diagnosis, Database, Store pages, Checkout, Front end, Proof
- First step
- Talk it through: a short call about your store, your products and what is holding sales back.
- Where
- The UK, the US, Dubai and Australia, working remotely across time zones
- Who does the work
- Anthony McGrath, hands-on, with 22 years in digital marketing
Why WooCommerce stores get slow
Cart and checkout pages cannot be cached like normal pages, so every slow plugin and query hits shoppers at the worst possible moment. Add a big product catalogue, years of orders and a page builder, and stores crawl.
I look at the whole stack: hosting, database, object caching, plugins, theme and front-end code. The fixes target what actually slows your shoppers down, measured before and after on real phones.
What's included
A full speed fix for the store, the database and the checkout.
Diagnosis
- Field data from real shoppers
- Slow query and plugin profiling
- Checkout and cart timing
- Hosting and PHP checks
Database
- HPOS order tables enabled
- Old sessions, transients and revisions cleared
- Indexes added where needed
- Redis object caching
Store pages
- Cart fragments removed or limited
- Faster product filters and search
- Lazy-loaded galleries and reviews
- Lean, fast product templates
Checkout
- Block checkout where it suits
- Payment scripts only where needed
- Fewer plugins on cart and checkout
- Faster address lookups
Front end
- Unused CSS and JavaScript removed
- Images in WebP and AVIF
- Fonts preloaded
- Layout shift fixed
Proof
- Before and after report
- Core Web Vitals monitoring
- Tracking checked after changes
- Advice to keep it fast
Before and after
An example of a speed project on a WooCommerce store with 4,000 products.
- Product page load on mobile: 6.2s before, 1.9s after
- Checkout load time: 4.8s before, 1.4s after
- Conversion rate: 1.2% before, 1.7% after
An example of the kind of change this work aims for, based on typical starting points. It is not a promise or a specific client result: every business starts somewhere different.
How it works
- Talk it throughA short call about your store, your products and what is holding sales back.
- Plan and priceA clear plan: what gets built or fixed, which plugins stay or go, timings and cost.
- Build on stagingEvery change made on a staging copy with real orders tested end to end, never on the live shop.
- Launch and supportLaunched with payments, emails and tracking checked, then ongoing updates and support.
Platforms and tools
Questions
Why is my WooCommerce checkout so slow?
Usually a mix of too many plugins loading on checkout, payment scripts, uncached database calls and slow hosting. Each one can be measured and fixed.
Will you need to change my plugins?
Some slow plugins may need replacing or removing. I will explain each change and keep the features you rely on.
Can you speed up a store with thousands of products?
Yes. Large catalogues need database and caching work as well as front-end fixes, which is exactly what this covers.
Is it safe for live orders?
All work is done on a staging copy with test orders, then deployed at a quiet time with the live store monitored.
About Anthony McGrath
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A UK-based freelance digital marketer with 22 years across Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, conversion rate optimisation, funnels, Google, Meta and TikTok ads, SEO and tracking. He works directly with businesses in the UK, the US, Dubai and Australia, so the person who plans the work is the person who does it. More about Anthony or connect with him on LinkedIn.
Losing sales to a slow store?
Send me your store. You get a clear list of what is slowing it down and a fixed price to fix it.
Get your store speed checked