The minimal WordPress stack

1) Start with a lightweight, well-maintained theme

Choose a theme that respects core WordPress features, avoids page-builder bloat, and ships minimal CSS/JS. Your goal is clean HTML, predictable CSS, and as few render-blocking assets as possible.

• Prefer native blocks and simple pattern libraries over heavy builders.
• Limit font variants and self-host when you can.
• Aim for a sub-100KB critical CSS before caching/cdn.

2) Keep plugins to the essential few

Each plugin adds code paths, database queries, and upgrade surface. Fewer moving parts means fewer surprises and better INP/TTFB consistency.

• One security plugin, one cache, one SEO, one forms plugin. That’s often enough.
• Audit quarterly, remove what you do not actively use.
• Replace “do-everything” bundles with single-purpose utilities.

3) Hosting matters more than tricks

Use a stack with recent PHP, OPcache, HTTP/2 or HTTP/3, TLS 1.3, and proper object caching. Simple beats fancy when it’s tuned well.

• Enable full-page cache for anonymous traffic; Redis/Memcached for object cache.
• Serve static assets via CDN with immutable caching.
• Monitor PHP OPcache hit rate and error logs.

4) Performance guardrails, not guesswork

Decide what “good” means and keep it that way. Use small checks to catch regressions early.

• Set budgets: LCP < 2.5s, CLS < 0.1, INP < 200ms for key pages.
• Run Lighthouse/Pagespeed on deploy; alert on big changes in weight/requests.
• Throttle tests to mid-tier mobile, not just desktop.

5) Analytics and tracking, but clean

Load only what you need, with proper consent. Defer scripts, and avoid blocking third-party widgets when possible.

• Defer analytics, respect consent, and consider server-side pipelines where appropriate.
• Tag governance: versioned tags and an owner for each script.

Example minimal stack

Care routine that keeps it stable

1. Weekly, update plugins/themes on a staging copy, smoke test, then push live.
2. Monthly, audit plugins, remove unused, review error logs, refresh caches.
3. Quarterly, review Core Web Vitals, redo image passes, re-baseline budgets.