why are my sites so slow now

Easy to resolve. Run speed test....

1. Wp-super cache
2. Smuch it

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-smushit/
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-super-cache/

Put the following code on the top of .htaccess
## EXPIRES CACHING ##
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresByType image/jpg "access 1 year"
ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access 1 year"
ExpiresByType image/gif "access 1 year"
ExpiresByType image/png "access 1 year"
ExpiresByType text/css "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/pdf "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType text/x-javascript "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access 1 year"
ExpiresDefault "access 2 days"
</IfModule>
## EXPIRES CACHING ##

hope that helps.
Part of the issue is the hosting as well. The server is taking a sec to respond today.

Nigel

 

I tested your site with tools.pingdom.com. The "wait time" for the server to respond with the index page's content was 5.17 seconds. It may be an overloaded server. But on the other hand, your site has 130 file requests. That's a huge amount. There is no way that site is ever going to load blazing fast with that many requests (though this has nothing to do with the long wait time for the index page). If you want to check the server load, you can stick one of these short scripts in a PHP file and navigate to it using your browser. It will output the load averages (1 minute, 5 minute, 15 minute).

<?php
echo shell_exec('uptime');
?>

PHP:

Or

<?php
print_r(sys_getloadavg());
?>

PHP:

I have been curious about HG's loads. If you choose to run one of those scripts, post the load info back. Where ever you go, I recommend you stay away from GoDaddy. They are notorious for overloading.

As far as the suggestions to use a caching plugin go, yes that will help reduce your load time on an overloaded server. But you should not be paying good money for hosting on an overloaded server in the first place. Still, if you can optimize your site to reduce the number of file requests, that would be a good idea.

 

You don't need a VPS. Optimize your WordPress sites and move to a better web host e.g StableHost, HawkHost, A2 Hosting, InMotion Hosting / WebHostingHub, etc....