Performance problems in WordPress projects are often caused by well-intentioned decisions made over time. Plugins are added to solve small problems, and gradually the site becomes heavier and more difficult to manage.

In this project, the website had accumulated a long list of plugins, many of which overlapped in functionality. Instead of adding yet another performance plugin, the approach was to simplify the system.

Each plugin was reviewed carefully. If a feature could be implemented with a small amount of custom code, the plugin was removed. This reduced script bloat, minimized conflicts, and made the site more predictable.

One of the most effective improvements came from controlling how styles and scripts were loaded. Assets were enqueued only where needed, rather than globally across the site.

function theme_assets() {
  wp_enqueue_style('theme-style', get_stylesheet_uri(), [], null);
}
add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'theme_assets');

After these changes, page load times improved noticeably, especially on mobile devices. More importantly, the site became easier to maintain. Updates were faster, errors were reduced, and future optimizations became simpler.

This project demonstrated that performance gains often come from reducing complexity rather than adding more tools.