10 Ways To Fix WordPress High CPU Usage

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Facing website errors like WordPress high CPU usage or connection timed out errors on your WordPress site can be a frustrating ordeal. It’s like a headache. It’s a symptom of a bigger problem and not a diagnosis. You have to figure out what the root cause is. Is your hosting provider capable of meeting your site’s demands, or should you consider upgrading to a better package? Are there unseen processes running rampant behind the scenes, silently wreaking havoc on your server’s capabilities?

We know that it slows down performance and leaves visitors dissatisfied. So, while you need the time to figure out the problem, there is also a time pressure as visitors start to dwindle. 

We may not be able to flick a magic wand and fix it for you but we can give you all the information you need. This article will go over all the ways to reduce your high CPU usage. 

TL;DR: Excessive CPU usage on a WordPress website can lead to sluggish performance, resulting in delays and visitor dissatisfaction. To resolve this issue, eliminate plugins and themes that consume significant resources, safely update your WordPress site, and implement caching techniques to enhance loading speeds.

Understanding the “High CPU Usage” issue in WordPress

Managing a WordPress website comes with its set of challenges, one of which is ensuring optimal performance. A crucial factor that often goes overlooked is CPU usage. When a site consumes excessive CPU resources, it can lead to slower loading times, unresponsive pages, and a generally frustrating experience for users. Below are some common factors contributing to this problem, accompanied by detailed explanations:

  • Malware or bot attacks: Malware or automated bot attacks can wreak havoc on your WordPress site. If you don’t fix the hack quickly, they could cause damage by generating a large volume of requests. These attacks not only consume CPU resources significantly but can also compromise your site’s security and integrity.
Attacks Blocked Data
  • Inefficient or excessive plugins: While plugins can enhance functionality, using too many or poorly coded plugins can lead to inefficient resource usage. Certain plugins may run code unnecessarily or fail to release resources, causing high CPU load.
  • Resource-intensive themes: Some WordPress themes are designed with complex features and visual elements that require substantial processing power. These resource-heavy themes can slow down your site, as they demand more from both the server and the CPU.
  • Unoptimized database and queries: Over time, your site’s database can become cluttered with unnecessary data, leading to inefficient queries. If your site makes heavy database requests without optimization, it can cause high CPU usage as the server struggles to fetch and manage data.
  • Inadequate caching: Caching is a technique that stores static versions of your pages to reduce server load and speed up delivery to users. Without proper caching mechanisms in place, your site may execute repetitive, resource-intensive processes with each visit, driving CPU usage up.
  • Resource-heavy background tasks (WP-Cron Jobs): WordPress uses a built-in system called WP-Cron for scheduling tasks like publishing posts or sending notifications. If there are numerous or poorly configured background tasks, they can run frequently and consume CPU resources, leading to performance issues.
  • Outdated WordPress software: Running outdated versions of WordPress core, plugins, themes, or other associated software are bad too. They could have a vulnerability or just be badly written code that is bloated. 

Pro tip: Use a vulnerability scanner to identify bad plugins.

  • Poorly configured servers: Hosting environments with limited resources or inadequate configurations can significantly impact your site’s performance. If your web host’s plans do not meet your site’s requirements due to high traffic or resource demands, it can result in high CP
  • Large and unoptimized media files: Images and videos are often the heaviest elements on a site. Using large, unoptimized media files can drastically increase load times and CPU usage, as the server works harder to deliver these files to users.
  • High traffic volumes: While having a busy site can indicate success, high traffic can also push your server resources to their limits. If your hosting plan or server configuration is not designed to handle high volumes of concurrent visitors, it can result in increased CPU usage.
traffic Spike Error Causing WordPress high cpu usage

Addressing WordPress High CPU Usage

When faced with the challenges of high CPU usage on a WordPress site, it’s imperative to take deliberate steps toward remediation. Fortunately, there are several effective strategies to identify the root causes and implement solutions aimed at reducing CPU load. 

1. Remove malware

One of the often-overlooked culprits behind increased CPU consumption is malware, which can spawn unwanted processes, create excessive requests, or manipulate your site’s functionality, leading to significant resource drain. To combat this issue, leveraging BlogVault’s malware scanner is a proactive approach to identify and eliminate malware that could be causing high CPU usage. 

  1. Log in to your BlogVault account.
  2. Navigate to the Security and Malware section of the external dashboard
  3. Run a malware scan on your website.
  4. Review the scan results for detected malware.
Malware Scanner
  1. Select Clean Malware
  1. Confirm the cleanup action when prompted.
  2. Wait for the malware cleaner to remove threats.
  3. Review the cleanup report for confirmation.
  4. Schedule regular scans to maintain security.

Expert advice:
Effective security tools should offer comprehensive features such as reliable malware scanning, automated cleaning processes, and robust firewalls that can actively block malicious traffic. This is to ensure your website remains protected. BlogVault does all of that and more. Here are some of the features they offer. 

– In-depth malware scanning
– Zero day malware scanner
– Malware and bot protection
– One-click malware cleanup

2. Audit your plugins

Auditing your plugins and themes is essential for addressing high CPU usage on your WordPress site. Many plugins and themes can run inefficient code, create excessive background processes, or even introduce security vulnerabilities that lead to spikes in resource consumption. By regularly reviewing and optimizing these components, you can significantly reduce CPU strain, enhance performance, and improve the overall user experience.

To audit your plugins and themes, start by listing all the active ones on your site and assess their necessity, removing any that are not in use. Research the efficiency of each plugin and theme, looking for community feedback on their impact on CPU usage. Ensure all remaining plugins and themes are updated to their latest versions, as updates often include optimizations and security fixes. Monitor your site’s performance to track CPU usage and identify spikes associated with specific plugins. If high CPU usage persists, temporarily deactivate plugins one by one to isolate any that may be causing conflicts or inefficiencies. Finally, when adding new plugins or themes, prioritize lightweight and well-coded options to minimize future CPU usage issues.

3. Optimize database

Optimizing your database is a crucial step in addressing high CPU usage on your WordPress site. Over time, databases can accumulate unnecessary data, such as post revisions, spam comments, and transient options, which can bloat the database and lead to inefficient queries. When your database is cluttered, it not only takes longer for the server to retrieve information but also requires more CPU resources to process these requests. By regularly cleaning and optimizing your database, you can remove this extraneous data, streamline queries, and enhance overall performance.

In addition to reducing data clutter, database optimization can also involve indexing important tables and improving query structures. Proper indexing allows the database to access data more quickly, significantly reducing the CPU load during operations. When optimized, the database can handle requests more efficiently, resulting in faster response times and lower resource consumption. This, in turn, can lead to improved site performance, reduced loading times, and a better user experience.

4. Use caching plugins

Implementing caching plugins is an effective strategy for reducing high CPU usage on your WordPress site and enhancing overall performance. Caching works by storing static versions of your web pages, which means that when a visitor accesses your site, they receive these pre-generated pages instead of requiring the server to process dynamic requests each time. This significantly lessens the load on your server’s CPU, resulting in faster response times and improved site speed.

To leverage the benefits of caching, choose a reputable performance plugin that aligns with your site’s needs. Popular options like Airlift offer user-friendly configurations and advanced settings to optimize caching performance. Once installed, the plugin will do it all for you automatically. 

5. Optimize WP-Cron jobs 

WordPress uses a system called WP-Cron to handle scheduled tasks such as publishing posts, checking for plugin updates, and sending scheduled emails. However, excessive or poorly configured WP-Cron jobs can contribute to high CPU usage. We recommend that you review them to make sure they are optimized. 

After stopping non-essential tasks, it’s crucial to schedule critical jobs properly to ensure your site runs smoothly. Set intervals for important tasks that balance resource usage, avoiding overlap that could strain your CPU. You can also consider replacing WP-Cron with a real cron job on your server, which allows for more efficient scheduling and execution of tasks without relying on site traffic to trigger them. By managing your WP-Cron jobs effectively, you can significantly reduce CPU load and improve overall site performance.

6. Update all site software

Keeping your WordPress core, plugins, and themes updated is vital for maintaining optimal site performance and security. Outdated software can lead to various issues, including compatibility problems, security vulnerabilities, and high CPU usage. 

It’s important to check for updates frequently to ensure that your site is running the latest versions of all components. 

Pro tip: Use tools like UpdateLens to make sure that the update is safe to do. 

7. Increase site server resources

If your site consistently experiences high CPU usage, it may be time to consider upgrading your hosting plan or migrating to a better web host. Many shared hosting plans allocate limited resources, which can lead to CPU strain, especially as your site grows and traffic increases. Upgrading to a higher-tier plan, such as VPS or dedicated hosting, can provide your site with the necessary server resources, including more CPU power, RAM, and storage.

Before making a decision, assess your current hosting provider’s offerings and compare them with other providers. Look for plans that can accommodate your anticipated growth and provide additional features, such as improved support, enhanced security, and better uptime guarantees. Investing in superior hosting solutions can significantly enhance your site’s performance and responsiveness, alleviating issues related to high CPU usage.

8. Use a CDN to deliver media files

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) can play a significant role in reducing high CPU usage by speeding up the delivery of media files. CDNs distribute your website’s static content, such as images, CSS, and JavaScript files, across multiple servers located in various geographic locations. When a user accesses your site, the CDN serves media files from the server closest to them, resulting in faster load times and reduced latency.

By offloading the delivery of static content, a CDN helps lessen the load on your web server, allowing it to focus on dynamic processes that require server resources. This can lead to enhanced performance and lower CPU usage, especially during high traffic periods. Additionally, many CDN providers offer caching features, which further optimize resource use. Implementing a CDN is a straightforward way to improve site speed while simultaneously managing CPU load more effectively.

9. Optimize site and media files

Optimizing your site and media files is crucial for enhancing your website’s performance and reducing CPU usage. Large or uncompressed media files can significantly slow down load times, forcing the server to work harder to deliver content. Start by compressing images and videos, utilizing formats that maintain quality while minimizing file size. Tools like Airlift can help automate this process directly within WordPress.

Use modern file formats like WEBP and WEBM can significantly enhance your site’s performance. WEBP is an image format developed by Google that provides superior compression compared to traditional formats like JPEG and PNG. By using WEBP for images, you can maintain high-quality visuals while drastically reducing file sizes, leading to faster loading times and less CPU strain. Implementing WEBP can be particularly beneficial for websites rich in graphics, as it allows for quicker image rendering without compromising quality.

Similarly, for video content, switching from standard formats like MP4 to WEBM can yield significant performance improvements. WEBM is designed for web use and offers efficient compression, which means smaller file sizes and quicker streaming capabilities. Integrating WEBM videos can enhance user experience, especially on mobile devices where bandwidth may be limited.

Side note: Airlift has a free version that optimizes your images and videos for you. 

Final thoughts

High CPU usage on your WordPress site can be incredibly frustrating, leading to slow loading times, unresponsive pages, and a negative experience for your visitors. This predicament not only affects user satisfaction but can also hinder your site’s overall performance and search engine rankings. However, there is hope. 

Utilizing powerful tools like BlogVault and Airlift can significantly alleviate these issues. BlogVault’s robust malware scanning and cleanup assist in maintaining a secure and efficient website, while Airlift’s capabilities for minifying scripts and optimizing media files enhance load times and reduce server strain. 

FAQs

How do I fix high CPU usage on WordPress?

To fix high CPU usage on WordPress, start by identifying and addressing the root causes. Audit your plugins and themes, removing any that are unnecessary or poorly coded. Optimize your database by cleaning up unnecessary data and ensuring efficient queries. Use caching plugins to reduce server load by serving static versions of your pages, and consider disabling unnecessary WP-Cron jobs to minimize background processes. Keeping your WordPress core, plugins, and themes updated is essential, as updates often include performance enhancements. If issues persist, consider upgrading your hosting plan to meet your site’s needs.

How do I fix excessive CPU usage?

To fix excessive CPU usage, begin by monitoring your server to identify processes consuming the most resources. Disable or remove any resource-heavy plugins and themes. Optimize your database and files by reducing bloat and utilizing compression techniques. Implement a caching solution to improve response times and lessen the load on your server. Additionally, consider increasing the server resources or switching to a more powerful hosting plan if your website’s demands exceed your current setup.

Why is 100% of my CPU being used?

When 100% of your CPU is being used, it typically indicates that your server is overloaded with requests, tasks, or inefficient processes. This can result from several factors, including poorly coded plugins or themes, excessive background processes like WP-Cron jobs, unoptimized databases, or a lack of adequate server resources to handle high traffic. High CPU usage can lead to slow site performance and increased downtime, necessitating immediate investigation to identify and resolve the underlying issues.

How much CPU does WordPress need?

The amount of CPU required for a WordPress site varies based on several factors, including traffic volume, the complexity of the site, and the number of active plugins and themes. For average sites with moderate traffic, a shared hosting plan with 1-2 CPU cores may be sufficient. However, larger sites with high traffic, intensive applications, or numerous plugins may require dedicated hosting or VPS solutions, which offer more CPU resources. Ultimately, assessing your site’s specific needs and monitoring performance will help determine the appropriate CPU allocation for optimal operation.

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