WordPress plugins are one of the best things about WordPress. Need a form, a gallery or a booking system? There's a plugin for it. That is also how a lot of sites end up with forty of them.

Every plugin adds code, and most add it to every page whether it's needed or not. Every plugin also needs updates, and every update is a small chance of something breaking. A site with forty plugins is forty things to keep an eye on.

A plugin diet doesn't mean using none. It means every plugin earns its place.

How I Audit a Plugin List

I go through every active plugin and ask three questions. What does it do? Is it actually used on the live site? Could a few lines of code or an existing tool do the same job?

You'd be surprised how often the answer is 'nothing', 'no' and 'yes'. Leftover plugins from an old design, three plugins that each add one small tweak, two SEO plugins fighting each other.

Trim Carefully

Removing plugins on a live business site needs care. I take a full backup first, remove one thing at a time, and check the pages and forms that matter most after each change.

• Deactivate first, delete later, once nothing has broken.

• Keep one well-supported plugin per job.

• Test forms and checkout after every change.

Lighter Is Stronger

A lean site loads faster, breaks less and costs less to maintain. Your visitors never see the plugin list, but they feel it in every second they spend waiting.