It is said that everything gets its start somewhere, and unless we’re talking about something ethereal, existential, or unexplainable then that tends to be true. The source of whatever it is that’s being discussed is going to have great significance for the quality of what’s being delivered from that source. This is true for digital content and the ideal functionality of websites. Where that page content and similar site components get their start is from the site database, and if having a site that can operate at full-throttle for customers is important then managed WordPress hosting for fast database performance is likely the way you’ll want to go.
We’ve gone at length here about why managed web hosting tends to be money well spent for businesses that may have started small, but are getting bigger all the time. Make the investment in getting the most out of your website and you can have that assurance that it’s being optimized at al times, and this will included regular audits of your database and determining what needs to be done so that it’s able to ideally serve as the source for all the information needed for server requests. Which is only just a part of the picture with what goes on as a site works to provide a user experience for people who may become purchasing customers.
So the recommendation is always there, but we also know that there are plenty of small business owners who have a sufficient amount of know-how when it comes to website maintenance. So if you choose to stay on a shared hosting arrangement then it’s good to be knowledgeable about the best database optimization techniques for WordPress, and then utilize that information any time you review your site and determine that you’re not getting the most out of your database for whatever reason.
This is what we’ll look at with this week’s blog entry. What we can say in advance of getting into the meat of this subject is that much of what’s effective for database optimization is not difficult at all, and often is quite straightforward. Let’s get right into it, and before this entry wraps up we’ll also touch on why you may need to ensure you’re getting PIPEDA compliant hosting in Canada.
Speediness for Starters
Any overview of why Managed WordPress hosting for fast database performance is best can start with a brief discussion of what database optimization is so needed if your website is serving eCommerce interests. The first point that anyone is going to highlight is faster page load times. Optimizing your WordPress database reduces the size of the database and improves data retrieval, which means faster page load times and a smoother user experience.
An enhanced user experience is also made possible. A well-optimized database ensures visitors can navigate your website quickly and efficiently, increasing user satisfaction and engagement. Your next gain is going to be improved search rankings, and that’s because earch engines consider website speed a ranking factor. You have a greater likelihood of higher search engine rankings when you have optimized your database and are seeing improved performance.
Another big plus is the reduced risk of errors. When a database is optimized it minimizes the likelihood of database errors like connection issues or queries timing out. Website stability and reliability is enhanced as a result of this, and your site is also going to better position for efficient resource utilization: A streamlined database consumes fewer server resources, such as CPU and memory, allowing your website to handle more concurrent users and traffic spikes without performance degradation.
Database optimizations means you’re going to be better set up to scale your website too if needed. A website’s scalability becomes more important as the business sees growth and more people are coming to the site as a result of that. An optimized database ensures your site can scale smoothly by efficiently managing the increased data load. Your capabilities with infrastructure related to data security and backup will be better too. Regular optimization includes backing up your database, ensuring that your valuable content and user data are protected and can be restored in case of unforeseen events.
WordPress business websites are usually made up and defined by the plugins used to build them into their current iterations, and some plugins and themes rely heavily on database interactions. An optimized database means a solid foundation for plugins and themes to perform optimally. Regular reviews of the plugins you choose to have as part of your website is one of the few exceptions to what’s included when you have Managed WordPress hosting for fast database performance. It’s helpful if you can be very knowledgeable about them and then use that understanding to be selective about them.
We’ll conclude this part by listing out the common factors that may be taking away from your site’s speed, and making for a lessened user experience for visitors:
- Poor indexing
- Inefficient query design
- Lack of database maintenance
- Inefficient database schema design
- Excessive use of locks or contention
- High network latency
- Impact of plugins, themes, and custom code
And then before we get to our recommended go-to route for database optimization, we should also point out these 2 prerequisites for WordPress database optimization:
- Back up Your Database : The first step is to back up your database. This is an important step to ensure no data is lost during the optimization. It is also best to take an on-demand backup (files and databases) before testing a new theme or plugin and restore previous backups if issues occur.
- Identify and Fix Database Errors : Once you have created the backup, it is time to identify and fix the database errors. Review the results of the check or repair process. It’s unlikely that any errors will persist after this, but if they do and you’re stumped then you may want to contact your Canada web hosting provider.
PhpMyAdmin Tends to Be Best
You’d be challenged to find anyone who’s knowledgeable about improving website databases who won’t tell you that using phpMyAdmin is going to be your best approach here. We defer to the experts here, and you should too. So with that out of the way let’s know lay out exactly what you can to do to optimize your WordPress database if you’re choosing to not go with managed WordPress hosting for fast database performance
Database Table Optimization
Start by running a simple SQL command to optimize the tables. This works to optimize the tables affected by overhead and for most use cases the focus is going to be on the posts table. If that applies to you too then you can run the following command:
OPTIMIZE TABLE ‘wp_posts'
The above operation can also be done without writing the command. You can find this path in your Database Manager and there will be an option for optimization. Select the desired table/tables from the list and click the Optimize button.
Clean Up Unwanted Data
Having deleted plugins from the WordPress admin may not be enough to counter shortcomings with the functionality and speediness of your database. They may have been uninstalled from the system but useless data which requires cleaning is left over. It’s also possible the post data is still present in the same table. Here you need to run the following SQL command:
DELETE FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_key = 'META-KEY-NAME';
Replace META-KEY-NAME with your desired value.
- Delete Post Revisions
When space is occupied inside your post table unnecessarily it’s going to be take away from your database’s function. So you need to delete all post revisions, and the following command is how you do that:
DELETE a,b,c FROM wp_posts a / LEFT JOIN wp_term_relationships b ON ( a.ID = b.object_id) / LEFT JOIN wp_postmeta c ON ( a.ID = c.post_id ) / LEFT JOIN wp_term_taxonomy d ON ( b.term_taxonomy_id = d.term_taxonomy_id) / WHERE a.post_type = ‘revision' / AND d.taxonomy != ‘link_category';
You can also define the number of revisions to be allowed. Add the following code inside your wp-config.php file for these instances:
define( 'WP_POST_REVISIONS', 2 );
- Remove Spam Comments
The buildup of spam comments is a common issue in WordPress and a real contributor to suffering database performance. You can moderate them using a plugin such as Akismet, which comes pre-installed with WordPress. To delete all spam comments from the table, go ahead and run the following command:
DELETE FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_approved = ‘spam';
- Delete Unused Tags
Old and unused tags are usually best eliminated from the backend. Tags are accumulated over time, and the easiest way to delete them is to run this SQL query which deletes all the tags which are not in use by any post:
DELETE FROM wp_terms WHERE term_id IN (SELECT term_id FROM wp_term_taxonomy WHERE count = 0 ); / DELETE FROM wp_term_taxonomy WHERE term_id not IN (SELECT term_id FROM wp_terms); / DELETE FROM wp_term_relationships WHERE term_taxonomy_id not IN (SELECT term_taxonomy_id FROM wp_term_taxonomy);
- Remove Unused Plugins and Themes
We touched on the need for this step earlier, and it really is advisable to be reviewing your plugins and determine which ones are no longer needed and then deactivating them, even if you are paying more for managed WordPress hosting for fast database performance. Be aware as well that even after these plugins are deactivated they may leave junk data that requires cleanup. This data is needed if you decide to re-activate the plugin.
WordPress themes also store data in the database, and the way this data remains inside your tables even when you switch to another theme can be a problem in some cases. What you should do is track these tables and remove them when necessary, either by using phpMyAdmin or a plugin that is designed for such a task. And to conclude we’l remind you that if your eCommerce site is collecting data from customers as part of the online purchasing process then it may be necessary to have PIPEDA compliant hosting Canada.
