Safari, Pages, and Numbers sporadically not loading or freezing on iMac with macOS Ventura 13.7.8

We've been having this issue for over a year. We're currently as up-to-date as Apple says we should be with Ventura 13.7.8 (22H730) on our older iMac.

First, this happens sporadically. Safari either won't load or loads in a way that gives you no access to anything other than the Google homepage. Typing in a URL results in the spinning rainbow ball. Sometimes you can do a "force quit" (command-option-escape) and it will shut down Safari. Other times the only way to shut down Safari is to do a hard reboot. And recently we've been having the same issue with Pages and Numbers.

We use a free version of TotalAV (it was added shortly after we purchased the iMac. I'm not usre it actually does anything.) I've thought about buying a better AV solution but most comments on this forum seem to indicate there isn't a need for 3rd party AV software.

My question is what is causing the issue in Safari and now Pages and Numbers? What can I do about it? I know that it's extremely complicated to remove and reload Safari and I don't feel competent to do that.

Thanks for any help provided

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Safari