Spotting problems before they matter.
WHAT TO RECORD
Total database size, monthly The size of the largest few tables Row counts on your main content tables
Five minutes, recorded in a document.
WHY
Growth that matches your content is normal. Growth that does not is bloat, and catching it early is far easier than addressing it after two years.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
A table growing faster than the content it represents A sudden increase with no corresponding activity The largest table being something other than your content
THE USUAL CULPRITS
Statistics and log tables The action scheduler, on WooCommerce Postmeta, accumulating orphans Options, accumulating transients
WHERE TO SEE IT
cPanel > MySQL Databases shows total size.
phpMyAdmin lists tables with sizes; sort by size.
SETTING A THRESHOLD
Decide what size warrants investigation for your site, and check against it.
For most small business sites, a database over a couple of hundred megabytes deserves a look.
WHAT TO DO WHEN IT GROWS
Investigate before it affects performance. Cleaning early is simpler.
