Increase WordPress Site Speed

Everybody who has a WordPress website needs to understand how to Increase WordPress Site Speed! Boosting your WordPress site’s speed is key to enhancing user experience, and it offers a twofold benefit.

• Better search engine rankings
• Better user experience

When it comes to precautions you should take, like choosing a solid hosting service (I suggest Siteground), having fast-loading pages (especially if you’re using a CMS like WordPress), you definitely want to consider using a cache plugin too.

It can be tricky to pick the right one, but a good starting point is to familiarize yourself with a few options.

Now, let’s dive into why these plugins matter and what caching really is.

Plugins and Cache

The cache is like a memory bank in your computer that keeps track of info you’ve used recently. For instance, when you visit a website, the cache holds a static version of that page.

So, when you revisit, your browser can pull most of the files from the cache, which can really speed up your WordPress site.

But here’s the thing: picking the right cache plugin can be tricky. Each one has its own unique features, and if you look at the paid options, there are even more factors to consider!

Sometimes, a plugin that works great for one site might not do the same for another. The key to finding the best fit? Just try different ones out!

Top 3 Cache Plugins

You don’t always need a cache management plugin, especially if you’re using a custom server setup.

But if you’re on shared hosting, it might be pretty essential.

To find the best plugin, make sure to run speed tests with tools like Google Search Console or GTMetrix after setting up each plugin properly.

This way, you’ll see how each WordPress cache plugin affects your site.

Remember to test each one multiple times to clear up any doubts about its effectiveness and ensure your site is really using the cache.

WP Rocket

This might just be the top paid plugin for managing cache. WP Rocket has three yearly subscription options.

Alternatively, you can buy the plugin outright for a one-time fee: $39 for one site, $99 for three, and $299 for unlimited sites.

Just keep in mind that after a year, you won’t get support or updates anymore.

There’s no free trial or version available, but if you’re not happy with it, you can get a refund within 14 days of buying.

Why Choose WP Rocket

These are some of the benefits of this plugin:

• WP Rocket is a favourite among both developers and beginners because of its easy-to-use interface. Many free plugins can be pretty complicated for newbies since they often need some technical know-how.
• Includes a tool for cleaning your WordPress database and reducing the number of resources used.
• With WP Rocket you can easily integrate Lazy Load (Gutenberg does this too). This basically means that images will not load on your site until the user scrolls down to view them.
• WP Rocket integrates with some of the best multilingual plugins.
• Allows you to preload the cache.
• You receive tools for both minification and concatenation.
• It works seamlessly with E-Commerce sites, which are the ones that need cache optimization the most.

WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache is a popular open-source caching plugin with millions of users.

It might get mixed up with W3 Total Cache since their names are quite similar and both are open-source.

To decide which one to use, you’ll need to install and test them separately. One reason you might prefer WP Super Cache is that it’s developed by the Automattic team, the same folks behind WordPress. Even though it’s open-source and doesn’t have a PRO version, it does offer three different caching modes.

A cool feature is that it generates static HTML files instead of PHP scripts, which really speeds up page loading times.

Among the three modes, the Simple Mode is definitely the best choice for regular WordPress users since it’s the least complicated.

On the flip side, there’s the Expert Mode for more advanced users who want to tweak their cache settings, including editing the .htaccess file.

Why is WP Super Cache considered one of the best WordPress caching plugins?

• It is a free and Open Source product developed by Automattic, a guarantee of its updating and longevity.
• In the backend interface, most of the common settings are already enabled by default. It is easy enough to understand even for beginners.
• Three caching modes to choose from, which provides for a wide range of users.
• The plugin has a unique feature called Cache Rebuilding, which makes sure that your blog cache, does not get cleared every time there is a new comment in your blog posts. Instead it rebuilds the cache, and serves the old page to other users.

W3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache is a popular open-source WordPress plugin for managing cache, boasting millions of active users.

One of its perks is seamless integration with a CDN, making it effective for both desktop and mobile sites.

Since it’s open-source, you won’t have to pay for a subscription. The plugin helps save bandwidth through features like minification, HTTP compression, and feed optimization.

However, it does come with a lot of options to configure, which can make it feel less user-friendly and straightforward.

• The plugin is compatible with all types of hosting , such as dedicated servers, shared hosting and clusters.
• Caching is for all environments, including mobile. This way, when someone comes to your website from a mobile device, they will still get the same caching benefits as if they were on a desktop.
• SSL support is useful when you are trying to make your online store faster.
• The CDN works with the media library so your images are optimized too.
• Minification and compression are available, along with database caching, objects on disk, and posts.

Summary and conclusions

You probably get how crucial it is to set up some caching on your WordPress site. But let’s be real, the cache settings can be a bit tricky to navigate.

That’s why using a caching plugin might be a smart move, especially if you’re new to this. If you’re on Managed WordPress hosting, you’re in luck—no need for extra plugins since your provider handles everything automatically.

But if you’re not, one of the options mentioned earlier could work well for you.

If you need help with WordPress Optimisation, don’t hesitate to get in touch – and I’ll be sure to guide you in the right direction!

To find out which plugin suits you best, you’ll need to try a few and see what fits. If you enjoyed this article or think it could help someone else, feel free to share it on your social media!