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WordPress speed optimization: mobile score from 46 to 94

A US-based retreat center hired me on Upwork because their WordPress site was slow on mobile. Most of the problem was plugins: several were heavy, and some were doing the same job twice. After a cleanup, hosting-level caching and a careful LiteSpeed Cache setup, the mobile PageSpeed score went from 46 to 94.
Reviews on Upwork
Original PageSpeed Insights reports before and after the WordPress speed fix, with the URL blurred

The problem

The site scored 46 for mobile performance in PageSpeed Insights. Largest Contentful Paint in the lab test was 14.7 seconds, and the layout jumped while loading (CLS 0.262). The site had grown over time: plugins had been added for every new feature, and a few of them overlapped. Every extra plugin added scripts and styles to every page, whether the page needed them or not.

Client
US retreat center (name withheld at the client's request)
Location
United States
Industry
Wellness and retreats
Platform
WordPress
Year
2026
Project
Client project (via Upwork)

What I did

Plugin audit with the client

I listed every active plugin, what it did and what it cost in load time. Then I walked the client through which ones they actually needed. Heavy plugins and duplicates were removed only after the client agreed.

Hosting-level caching

I configured the caching settings on the hosting side, so pages are served from cache instead of being rebuilt by WordPress on every visit.

LiteSpeed Cache setup

I set up LiteSpeed Cache for page caching and CSS/JS optimization. One of the CSS options broke the page layout during testing, so I adjusted those settings until the site looked right and stayed fast. A high score is useless if visitors see a broken page.

5-star Upwork review from the US retreat center client
5-star Upwork review from the US retreat center client

Tech stack

  • WordPress
  • LiteSpeed Cache
  • Hosting cache
  • PageSpeed Insights
  • Lighthouse

Result

  • Mobile PageSpeed performance score: 46 to 94 (lab test)
  • First retest after the cleanup: 90, with LCP down from 14.7s to 1.8s
  • Layout shift (CLS) down from 0.262 to 0
  • No features lost: only plugins the client agreed to remove were taken out
“Best SEO professional I have found. Hired as a "conversion specialist" and I am not disappointed. Fixed multiple issues with outdated pages and website. Replaced plugins with metrics that were valuable to conversions and updated pages.”
Client on Upwork, US retreat center, 5.0 rating (Apr–Jun 2026)

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