1. yes, less queries is always better. A good host should certainly be able to handle 67 queries! I run sites that generate much more than that.
2. Without programming skills you are out of luck. I'd hire a developer. Even with programming skills, if these requests are coming from multiple plugins, they will have a hard time combining them. Its not exactly an easy thing to try and do. :-)
Adding more plugins is not the answer... Reducing them might be.
Try turning some things off.I suggest a dedicated server, if you really have the traffic to demand it, a dedicated server from an excellent hosting company will do the trick. I recommend SSD hard drives, nothing compares with the speed boost you will get.
Thanks for the tip regarding dedicated server. We will probably have to go that way pretty soon.
Hiring a developer would be nice, just don't have those funds yet :) So right now looking for DIY solutions that can improve our stability and speed. Looking through our plugins and seeing what we can do without is definetely one of thos things. Thanks for your input!
