The agency was managing our site's hosting, site got very slow after 2 months — bad hosting or agency's technical issue?

Sultan A***2 months ago·27 messages·1.8K views#site speed #hosting quality #performance issue

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Doki · KVKK compliance consulting · 2023

2 months ago#1

The agency keeps the site's hosting on their own servers. After 2 months, the site's page load time went up to 8 seconds — from the previous 2 seconds. Big difference. I reported it to the agency but they said 'might be due to increased traffic', offered no solution.

Traffic didn't actually increase that much. I checked if there was another issue and ran it through Google PageSpeed Insights. Google gave it 35 points, very bad. Plugins loaded, images not optimized, CSS slow.

Is the agency responsible? Or do we need to optimize it? The contract says 'maintenance', does that cover optimizing this speed?

OrhanMember

Job title: IT company
Joined: Oct 2023
Message: 132

Doki · Vulnerability scanning · 2026

2 months agoMost Helpful#2

The reason for site speed drop varies. The agency's responsibilities are: 1) Ensuring hosting server capacity (is CPU, RAM sufficient?) 2) Software updates (WordPress, plugin update) 3) System optimization (cache, database cleanup).

Your responsibilities: 1) Content optimization (image, video size) 2) Unnecessary plugins 3) Content and database maintenance.

If the contract says 'maintenance', it usually means software updates; speed optimization can be considered a separate service. What to do: Test with Fetch as Google, ask Google to optimize images, reduce plugin load, and report the speed issue to the agency in writing. If they don't fix it, look for another agency.

Burak B***Veteran

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Joined: Mar 2023
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2 months ago#3

we went through the exact same situation... anyway we talked to the agency multiple times nobody said a word. eventually, we added a CDN (CloudFlare) and deletde some plugins ourselves. speed dropped to 6 seconds. the agency still said 'you optimize it', but we said 'maintenance is your job', nothing changed.

Koray T***MemberCommunity member

Joined: Jan 2023
Message: 39

2 months ago#4

made the site fast with cloudflare. agency didnt do anything either. means hosting is insufficient. dont know what wouldve happened if you asked for an upgrade.

Merve B***New memberCommunity member

Joined: Aug 2026
Message: 247

2 months ago#5

Speed Checklist: - Hosting CPU/RAM usage (upgrade needed if 70%+) - Number of plugins (20+ is harmful) - Image optimization (WebP format?) - Cache mechanism (Redis, Memcached) - Database size (table/cleanup) - Is CDN (CloudFlare etc.) active?

Oya Y***ExpertCommunity member

Joined: Jan 2023
Message: 60

2 months ago#6

A site's load time increasing from 2 seconds to 8 seconds means it's 4x heavier. This is either insufficient hosting, a software issue, or content bloat. Statistically, 40% hosting, 40% software, 20% content issues.

Meryem A***Member

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2 months ago#7

Quick fix: 1) Get a Google PageSpeed Insights report and send it to the agency. 2) Reduce the number of plugins (disable unused ones). 3) Compress images (use tools like TinyPNG). 4) Add a CDN like CloudFlare (free). 5) Ask the agency in writing to improve speed, set a timeframe (2 weeks). If they don't, change agencies.

Özgür K***MemberCommunity member

Joined: Nov 2023
Message: 4

2 months ago#8

I went through the same thing two years ago. Access credentials should be opened in the company's name, not personal accounts.

SelçukMember

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2 months ago#9

yes that's exactly how it is with site slow is agency to blame. btw ask who prepared the quote and who will actually do the work.

Yiğit Y***New member

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Joined: Aug 2026
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2 months ago#10

Same here. If you don't write this down from the start, it leads to arguments later.

If you post the result here it will help others too.

Gizem E***ExpertCommunity member

Joined: Jun 2023
Message: 48

last month#11

Let me clarify the technical side. The system lives on after delivery; maintenance is a separate line item.

If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

Filiz E***Member

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last month#12

yooure right.

Kaan D***Member

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last month#13

I have a question. Any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently.

That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

FurkanMember

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last month#14

i didn't know that.

Halil S***Member

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Doki · Server maintenance contract · 2023

last month#15

Quick summary for newcomers: Trying to do this alone is the most expensive way.

I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

KeremMember

Job title: Agency sales
Joined: Jul 2024
Message: 94

last month#16

I'll try it.

Mert K***MemberCommunity member

Joined: Jul 2025
Message: 365

last month#17

I completely agree. If scope grows, either time or budget must grow. There is no third option.

That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

Kader C***Member

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Joined: May 2023
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last month#18

I have no experience with site slow is agency to blame, so I'm asking. Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late.

I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.