How many files should a web page load?
Every image, script, font and stylesheet on a page is a separate request to a server. A lean business page loads between twenty and forty files. Pages that load eighty or a hundred feel sluggish even when each file is small, because the browser can only fetch a few at once and each has its own overhead.
Why it matters
The browser has to discover each file, ask for it, wait for the answer and often wait for one file before it knows about the next. Stylesheets and scripts near the top of the page block drawing until they arrive. On a mobile connection with high latency, the waiting adds up faster than the downloading. Fewer files also means fewer things that can fail or be slow on a bad day.
Where they come from
Page builders and plugins are the usual source. Each adds its own scripts and styles to every page, whether or not the page uses them, so a contact form plugin, a slider, a gallery, a social sharing bar and an analytics tool can add fifteen files between them. Icon fonts, several weights of a web font and third-party embeds such as maps and chat widgets add more.
How to check
Our check counts the files linked from your home page. A browser's developer tools show the full list under the Network tab, with each file's size and how long it took.
How to fix it
Start by removing plugins you no longer use. Then look for a setting to load assets only on pages that need them; many caching and performance plugins offer this. Combine small stylesheets and scripts where you can, use one or two font weights rather than six, and replace icon fonts with the few icons you use inline. If a page needs a map, embed a static image that opens the map on click rather than loading the full map on every visit.
Not sure how your own site does on this? Run the free check: it takes about twenty seconds and reports on this and thirty other things.