Exceedingly slow site loading

[ErinC]

I'm building a WordPress site to replace a static HTML site and have noticed that it loads incredibly slowly. I've done several GTMetrix scans and they show an average load time of 15 seconds or so. This site is being built in a subdirectory prior to launch, and the .htaccess file in the subdirectory specifies the use of PHP5.3. Per a conversation I just had with support I've tried specifying PHP5.5 instead; no dice. Here are some more details:

- Page size is under 2MB
- I've enabled gzip compression in .htaccess; no change
- I'm using a purchased theme that doesn't run slowly on my local dev server
- Even when I switch to a default WP theme, the site still takes ~15 seconds to load
- Using the admin interface is also appallingly slow (i.e. I don't think this is a theme issue)
- When I deactivate all plugins, I get the same long load time

15-second load times indicate that something is the matter, and I don't think it's the site. What can be addressed on the server side?

The site can be viewed at http://rpanimalshelter.org/newsite/

[thulsa_doom]

When I go to load up your /newsite/ URL, it's taking me about 15 seconds to complete loading the site. 2.96 seconds of that is waiting for the HTML to start coming in. The rest of the load time is a series of 92 additional requests. A few of these additional requests, such as http://rpanimalshelter.org/newsite/?ai1 ... &ver=3.8.1, also have long delays, as they're basically having your index.php execute all over again, multiplying that slow execution time before allowing http://rpanimalshelter.org/newsite/wp-a ... 4EB25E592A to start executing. Same with http://rpanimalshelter.org/newsite/?ai1 ... 1-standard.

A couple of these scripts execute simultaneously, but it looks to me like having static CSS and javascript would shave five to seven seconds off the overall load time.

[cdkeen]

Using the audit feature of the Chrome browser developer toolbar provides a large number of suggestions to improve load time. It shows that gzip compression is not enabled, and makes other recommendations that should greatly improve load time.

[ErinC]

Thanks for the tips. My larger point here is that this is in no way an unusual WordPress install -- I manage dozens of sites with similar page sizes and numbers of requests -- yet it is being served unusually slowly. I'm using a few common WordPress plugins, nothing fancy. I would expect the site to load in around 2 seconds on the first visit, not 15. This has got to be a hosting issue, given that other, larger sites load in one fifth the time on other hosts.

I already have a block in the .htaccess file enabling gzip (specifically using mod_deflate)...unless I need to do it a different way on your servers? I also just set some caching rules in .htaccess. The site is now averaging a 16-second load time (once at 9 seconds and once at 24!!), which is still just something I've never come across before. This is unlike any other shared hosting experience I've had, so I was wondering whether there might be an issue on your end.