Do you have a WordPress website that is loading very slowly? Does it take several seconds for your website to fully load? If you’re asking yourself, “How can I speed up my website?” Then you need to check out our recommended WordPress caching plugins below. If your hosting provider doesn’t have any caching mechanism in place, installing a WordPress caching plugin can help improve your website’s performance.
Why should I speed up my website?
Have you been frustrated when a website takes too long to start displaying content? A slow website is the fastest way to turn off new users. As the saying goes, “time is money.” Many users today are very busy and don’t have the time and patience to wait for your slow website to fully load. If you’re trying to attract more visitors to your website, it needs to be fast. Caching is one way that can improve the performance of your WordPress website.
What is caching?
For a typical WordPress website, a lot of processing needs to happen before the web page is presented to the user. Caching is a way of storing frequently accessed information into temporary storage or memory. Your website can load more quickly because it doesn’t need to complete every step to retrieve all of your content each time a user comes to your page.
Without caching, your server has to work harder to deliver every text, image and file required to display your website. With proper caching implemented, it will result in a much better user experience for your existing and potential customers.
WordPress caching plugins that can speed up my website
- W3 Total Cache – This popular caching plugin has been around for a long time in the WordPress ecosystem. Many developers and power users like this plugin because it offers lots of advanced options to tweak every aspect of the page cache. But all of these features may be overwhelming for new or inexperienced users.
- WP Super Cache – This plugin is developed and maintained by Automattic, the company behind the WordPress software. You can expect a very solid and robust caching solution for most websites. It may not have every single feature and option found in W3 Total Cache but it does have all of the basics covered.
- WP Fastest Cache – This plugin may be a relative newcomer but it has quickly amassed a lot of loyal users. It’s easy to see why since it offers a lot of useful features that will definitely speed up your WordPress website. I don’t have any direct experience with it but it does look very promising and is worth checking out.
- WP Rocket – This is the only plugin on the list that doesn’t have a free option. One of its biggest selling point is their one-click caching button. It will automatically turn on recommended caching settings such as gzip compression, page cache, and cache pre-loading. They also include other optional features to further improve performance.
Need help installing a WordPress caching plugin?
If you’re a customer using our web hosting and support service, then we’ve already installed a caching plugin for your website. If you’re not a customer and need help with installing a caching plugin, send us an email through our contact page. Depending on the theme you’re using and the type of hosting you have, we may be able to help speed up the website.
Wellspring Web Studio specializes in creating fast loading WordPress websites for small businesses and non-profit organizations. Take a look at our portfolio to see some of the business websites we’ve created. We also offer our website care program for busy small business owners that don’t have time to worry about their website. Let us take care of your website so you can focus on more important things.