How to clean up a WordPress site in 7 steps

Let’s face it: if you’ve been running your WordPress site for more than a few months, it’s probably messier than you think.

And no, we’re not judging – it happens to the best of us.

All those “just testing this” plugins, the drafts you swore you’d finish (but didn’t), the 17 copies of the same image… they add up. And behind the scenes, your site starts slowing down, taking up space, and generally feeling a bit tired.

But cleaning up your WordPress site doesn’t have to feel like a digital spring clean from hell. Especially if you’ve got WP-Optimize in your corner.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to give your WordPress site a tidy-up that Marie Kondo would be proud of, without touching code or breaking anything.

Here’s the thing: your site might look fine on the outside, but under the hood?

• Your database is probably stuffed full of old post revisions, expired data, and spam comments.
• Your media library is likely hoarding unused images.
• And your visitors are (maybe) waiting longer than they should for your content to load.

A messy site = a slow site. And a slow site = frustrated users, poor SEO, and lost conversions. So, it’s worth cleaning up!

We often see users focusing on front-end changes to improve site performance, but the biggest gains usually come from what’s happening behind the scenes. A bloated database or overloaded media library can quietly slow down your entire site – and impact SEO, conversions, and user satisfaction. Regular cleanups are one of the simplest, most effective ways to keep your WordPress site running fast and reliably.

Just follow these 7 simple steps to clean things up and get your site running faster and smoother in no time.

Before we start binning things, clearing out old data, or compressing files, there’s one important first step – back up your site.

Backing up your site means making a secure copy of all your WordPress files and your database – basically everything that makes your site tick. That way, if a cleanup goes sideways or a plugin doesn’t play nice, you can restore your site with a couple of clicks.

Backup plugins like UpdraftPlus make it easy, you can back up:

• Posts and pages
• Plugins and themes
• Media files
• Database (including all your settings, user data, and more)

You can even connect it to cloud storage like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon S3 so your backup is safely stored off your server.

It takes just a few minutes to set up, and gives you total peace of mind before you start your cleanup. Trust us – future you will be glad you did.

No need for a toolbox full of separate plugins. WP-Optimize does the lot: database cleanup, image compression, page caching, and even code minification – all wrapped up in one tidy interface.

To install WP-Optimize:

1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.

2. In the left-side menu bar, navigate to Plugins and click on Add New Plugin.

3. Search for ‘WP-Optimize’ using the search bar on the top right corner of your screen.

4. Look for the WP-Optimize plugin and click Install Now.

5. Once the installation is completed, click on the Activate button to activate the plugin.

And just like that, you’re ready to start speeding up your WordPress site.

Your WordPress database keeps everything running, but over time, it collects unnecessary clutter that can slow things down. The beauty of using a plugin like WP-Optimize to clean it is that it takes just a few clicks.

Go to WP-Optimize → Database.

You’ll see a list of things like:

• Optimize database tables
• Clean all post revisions
• Clean all auto-draft posts
• Clean all trashed posts

Tick the boxes (some defaults are already selected), then click “Run all selected optimizations“.

It’s that simple – you just cleaned your database like a pro.

Images can bring your content to life but if they’re bulky and uncompressed, they’ll drag performance down in a big way.

WP-Optimize can automatically compress images as you upload them, and even bulk-compress the ones already in your media library, there’s no need to re-upload or use third-party tools.

Go to WP-Optimize → Compress Images and toggle on “Automatically compress newly added images“, and let the plugin do its thing.

Imagine your site as a restaurant. Without caching, every visitor is like a brand new customer walking in and asking the chef to cook everything from scratch.

With caching? You’ve got hot plates ready to go.

WP-Optimize’s caching feature creates a ready-to-serve version of your pages, so they load faster and use fewer resources.

• Go to WP-Optimize → Cache
• Enable page caching
• Choose how long pages should stay cached

Set it and forget it. Easy.

This one’s for anyone who wants to squeeze a bit more speed out of their site (without getting technical).

Inside WP-Optimize, there’s a Minify tab. Don’t worry – you don’t need to know how to code. Just tick a few boxes, and the plugin will:

• Shrink down bulky code files (CSS and JavaScript)
• Delay loading scripts until they’re actually needed

The result? Your site loads faster, especially on slower connections.

If you’re not sure whether to turn these on, no stress. You can always test it on a staging site first or skip this step completely. It’s totally optional.

Want to keep your site clean, fast, and clutter-free without constantly checking in? WP-Optimize makes it easy to put your maintenance on autopilot.

Instead of manually running optimizations every week (because let’s face it, who remembers?), you can schedule everything to run quietly in the background. That way, your site stays in top shape – even if you forget about it.

Here’s what you can automate with WP-Optimize:

• Database cleanups – Choose how often WP-Optimize should clear out old data like post revisions, spam comments, and trashed content. Weekly, monthly – it’s totally up to you.
• Automatic image compression – Every time you upload a new image, WP-Optimize can compress it for you behind the scenes, saving space and improving load times.
• Page caching and other optimizations – Once caching is enabled, it keeps working in the background to serve up faster-loading pages to your visitors. You don’t have to lift a finger.

It’s like having a digital housekeeper, WP-Optimize quietly takes care of the behind-the-scenes mess while you focus on growing your site or running your business.

Cleaning up your WordPress site might sound like a chore, but with the right tool, it’s really not. In fact, it can be kind of satisfying. Like finally clearing out that overflowing inbox or sorting your camera roll.

With WP-Optimize, you’ve got everything you need in one place:

✅ A cleaner, faster database
✅ Smaller, better-optimized images
✅ Faster load times thanks to caching
✅ A dashboard that feels less… chaotic
✅ And the option to automate it all moving forward

Whether you’re running a blog, an online shop, or a client site, regular cleanup keeps things running smoothly behind the scenes – and your visitors (and search engines) will thank you for it.

So go on, give your site the tidy-up it deserves. It only takes a few clicks to get started.