Tutorial: How to Optimize WordPress Performance After Migrating from Wix

 

Migrating from Wix to WordPress gives you flexibility and control—but it also means you’re responsible for performance tuning. A Reddit user shared their journey of rebuilding from scratch, only to face poor PageSpeed scores. With LiteSpeed Cache, Quick Cloud CDN, and Hostinger hosting, they fixed the homepage but still struggled with landing pages (slow server response, LCP issues with background images, and network dependency trees).

This tutorial will guide you through solving exactly these issues.

---

1. Why WordPress Can Feel Slower Than Wix

• Wix advantage: Pre-optimized infrastructure, limited flexibility.
• WordPress advantage: Full control, but you must optimize hosting, caching, and assets.
• If you simply install WordPress + theme + plugins, it will almost always be slower until you tune it.

 Lesson: Migrating means trading convenience for flexibility—you must set up caching, CDN, and optimization manually.

---

2. Hosting: The Foundation of Speed

The Reddit case used Hostinger with LiteSpeed, which is decent, but still showed server response delays.

What to do:

• Check TTFB (Time to First Byte): Use GTmetrix or WebPageTest. If TTFB > 600ms, hosting might be the bottleneck.
• Enable HTTP/3 & QUIC (LiteSpeed supports it).
• Upgrade hosting tier if possible—shared servers slow down under traffic.

 For ad-driven sites, invest in VPS or cloud hosting (DigitalOcean, Cloudways, SiteGround Cloud).

---

3. LiteSpeed Cache — Correct Setup

Many beginners toggle random LiteSpeed options and break their site. Instead:

Recommended starting point:

• Use Presets → Advanced for testing (as the Reddit user did, homepage jumped from 30–45 to 90+).
• Then, fine-tune for landing pages.

Key LiteSpeed Settings:

• Page Optimization:

  • Enable CSS/JS minify, but disable "Combine" if things break.
  • Enable HTTP/2 Push.

• Image Optimization:

  • Convert all images to WebP.
  • Enable “Replace with WebP” option.

• Media:

  • Enable Lazy Load for images, iframes, and videos.
  • Exclude hero image (above-the-fold) from lazy loading.

• CDN:

  • Connect to Quick Cloud CDN.
  • Ensure “Rewrite CDN URL” is active.

 Always clear cache after changes and re-test.

---

4. Fixing LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) Issues

The Redditor’s main pain: background images not optimized (because they’re loaded via CSS, not  tags).

Solutions:

1. Replace CSS background with  + CSS positioning.

   • LCP detectors (like Google PSI) only see <img> tags.
   • Use <img src="..." fetchpriority="high"> for hero sections.

2. Inline critical background image with preload.

   • Add to functions.php:

     add_filter( 'wp_resource_hints', function( $hints, $relation_type ){
         if ( 'preload' === $relation_type ) {
             $hints[] = [
                 'href' => 'https://yoursite.com/path/to/hero.jpg',
                 'as'   => 'image',
             ];
         }
         return $hints;
     }, 10, 2 );
     

3. Use Fetchpriority

   <img src="hero.webp" fetchpriority="high" alt="Hero section">
   

 This ensures the first visible section loads instantly, solving LCP issues.

---

5. FCP (First Contentful Paint) Optimization

• Reduce Render-blocking JS: Move non-critical scripts to footer.
• Use Critical CSS in LiteSpeed Cache → Page Optimization.
• Remove unnecessary plugins (check with Query Monitor).

---

6. Network Dependency Tree — What It Means

This refers to too many chained requests (fonts, CSS, scripts). If your page relies on 15+ external requests, FCP/LCP tanks.

Fixes:

• Self-host fonts (Google Fonts locally).
• Combine critical CSS into one file.
• Avoid loading 5 slider libraries when one is enough.
• Audit plugins—remove unused CSS/JS.

 Use Asset CleanUp or Perfmatters plugin to unload scripts per page.

---

7. Page-by-Page Tuning (Homepage vs. Landing Pages)

The Reddit user’s homepage scored 90+ after presets, but landing pages didn’t. Why?

• Homepage had slider images (optimized by LiteSpeed).
• Landing pages had CSS background images (unoptimized).

 Apply hero image fixes from Section 4 to all landing pages.

---

8. Checklist Before Running Google Ads

Since the Redditor runs Google Ads, performance = money. Make sure:

• Mobile scores are 90+ (ads drive mobile clicks).
• LCP < 2.5s, FCP < 1.5s.
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) < 0.1 (avoid shifting elements).
• Use AMP pages only if absolutely necessary (most modern WordPress sites don’t need AMP).

---

9. Tools to Keep Monitoring

• Google PageSpeed Insights
• GTmetrix
• WebPageTest
• Chrome DevTools → Lighthouse

 Test with real device & 4G network to simulate actual ad click experience.

---

10. Key Takeaways

• Migrating from Wix to WordPress gives power, but you must optimize manually.
• LiteSpeed Cache presets can fix 70% of issues, but LCP (hero images) require code tweaks.
• Hosting matters—cheap shared hosting will always bottleneck performance.
• Focus on core vitals (LCP, FCP, CLS) for Google Ads ROI.