It’s no secret that WordPress is slow.
However, there are a few things you can do to optimize WordPress for speed. One of them is to install a caching plugin.
- Caching plugins create static HTML files of your pages and serve them to your visitors instead of loading the entire page every time someone visits your site. This can drastically improve your site’s performance.
- There are many caching plugins available for WordPress, but we recommend using W3 Total Cache. It’s a free plugin with plenty of features and it’s easy to use.
- Once you’ve installed and activated the plugin, go to Performance -> General Settings and enable Page Cache and Database Cache. Make sure that Memcached is not selected, as it’s not compatible with all hosting providers.
- Enabling page caching will speed up your site, but it’s still loading the WordPress database every time a page is loaded. Database caching will cache the database queries and further speed up your site.
- To enable database caching, go to Performance -> Database Cache and select the ‘Disk: Enhanced’ option.
- Now that you’ve enabled caching, your pages will load much faster. However, there are still some things you can do to optimize WordPress for speed.
- One of those things is to reduce the number of HTTP requests. Every time a visitor loads a page, their browser has to request each individual file from your server. This includes images, CSS files, JavaScript files, etc.
- The more files your pages have, the longer it takes for them to load. So, one of the best ways to speed up WordPress is to reduce the number of HTTP requests.
There are a few ways to do this:
- Use a content delivery network (CDN).
- Combine and minify CSS and JavaScript files.
- Reduce the number of plugins you use.
A CDN is a network of servers that deliver content to visitors based on their geographic location. The closer they are to the server, the faster they’ll receive the content.
Using a CDN can drastically improve your site’s performance, especially if you have visitors from all over the world. We recommend using Cloud flare. It’s a free CDN with lots of features, and it’s easy to set up.
To combine and minify CSS and JavaScript files, go to Performance -> Minify and select the ‘Enable’ option. Then, click on the ‘Advanced’ tab and select ‘Inline CSS’ and ‘Inline JavaScript’.
This will reduce the number of HTTP requests by combining all of your CSS and JavaScript into one file. Inlining the CSS and JavaScript mean that the browser doesn’t have to make additional requests for those files.
Reducing the number of plugins you use is also a good way to speed up WordPress. Each plugin adds code that has to be loaded every time a page is loaded. So, if you’re not using a plugin, delete it.
If you’re using a plugin that’s not essential, see if there’s a similar plugin that has fewer features. The fewer plugins you have, the faster your site will be.
You can also optimize your images to reduce the size of the files without reducing the quality. This will help your pages load faster because the files are smaller.
We recommend using the WP Smush plugin. It’s a free plugin that will automatically optimize your images as you upload them.
Go to Settings -> Media and select ‘Smush new images’ and ‘Smush existing images’.
That’s all you need to do to optimize WordPress for speed. By following these tips, you can drastically improve your site’s performance.
Conclusion:
Caching is a great way to improve your WordPress site’s performance. We recommend using the W3 Total Cache plugin and enabling page caching and database caching. You can also reduce the number of HTTP requests by using a CDN, combining and minifying CSS and JavaScript files, and reducing the number of plugins you use. Finally, optimize your images to reduce the size of the files without reducing the quality. Following these tips will help your WordPress site load faster.
There are many ways to speed up WordPress. Caching is one of the best ways to improve your site’s performance. You can also reduce the number of HTTP requests by using a CDN, combining and minifying CSS and JavaScript files, and reducing the number of plugins you use. Optimizing your images can also help your pages load faster. By following these tips, you can drastically improve your site’s performance.
