How to speed up a WordPress site

Speed matters for visitors and for Google. Here is how to make a WordPress site load fast, from the most impactful changes to the fine-tuning.

1. Page-level caching

A cache plugin (like WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache) saves pages as static files, so the server does not generate them on every visit. This is the biggest improvement.

2. Server-level caching

Add an object cache with Redis, so WordPress does not query the database every time, see Redis as a cache.

3. Optimize images

Images are usually the heaviest content. Use a plugin that compresses them and serves them in a modern format (WebP).

4. A fast web server

Nginx with PHP-FPM and gzip compression makes a big difference, see the LEMP stack and Nginx optimization.

5. A CDN for visitors from other countries

A CDN delivers files close to the visitor, see what a CDN is and Cloudflare.

6. Enough resources

If the site has high traffic or many plugins, it needs more RAM and CPU. With hourly billing you move to a bigger plan in minutes, see also the best VPS for WordPress.