If you’ve any knowledge of web design, then you’re probably aware of just how important it is to have good page load times on your site. When it comes to improving page load times and website performance, there’s a lot you can do, but sometimes, your optimisations are limited by the content management system you’re using.

Content management systems such as WordPress are as popular as ever, so it makes sense to dig a bit deeper and highlight some CMS-specific tips you can use to polish up your site if you’re a WordPress Hosting customer. Plus, the amazing thing about WordPress is that there are thousands of plugins to install, and by choosing wisely, you can get plugins that speed up your site and make user experience even better.

Why should you use plugins to make WordPress faster?

A big part of WordPress’s appeal is the range of free and relatively easy-to-use plugins available for use, and the diverse customisation and site functionality they provide. You can use plugins together with other free tools as a way of making WordPress faster, boosting the speed of your site and giving your visitors a smoother overall experience.

The ultimate goal of making WordPress faster is to have happier users who are more likely to stick around, and potentially give you a higher spot in the Google rankings. 

In addition to improving search engine optimisation (SEO), optimising page loading speeds is essential for improving user experience on your website. Slow, buggy websites cause frustration and make users click away, but a fast, smooth and stable website will keep users interested for longer. This means they’ll have more time to interact with your website and therefore be more likely to eventually convert. So, improving page speed can help you increase conversions and the overall profitability of your website.

While you can employ a range of methods to speed up a WordPress website, which we discuss in more detail in this article and in our article on how to improve page load times on WordPress, the existence of thousands of easy-to-install plugins makes it a total breeze to install a few tools and let them do the hard work for you. 

How to make WordPress websites load faster

There are numerous methods you can try to speed up your WordPress site. Here are our top five favourite tips and the top WordPress plugins you can use to achieve each aim.

1. Optimise image size

One of the noticeable parts of any site, which can also have the biggest impact on speed, are its images.

Images that aren’t properly optimised almost always negatively affect site performance. Compressing images is a simple way to speed up WordPress, since it has a direct effect on how quickly your site loads.

But optimising images yourself using editing software can take time and effort. The good news is that, with WordPress plugins, you have access to a number of free tools that make the job a lot easier and provide extra benefits.

Below are some of our favourites:

  • WP Smush is seen as the leader of image optimisation plugins, which makes it a great plugin for making your WordPress site faster. It performs lossless compression by trimming unnecessary data from images, and also includes other features such as ‘Lazy Loader’, which means images only appear as the user scrolls to them.
  • As a speed up WordPress plugin, Imagify makes it easier to keep your images smaller, as it automatically optimises them as you upload them to your site. It also has three different levels of compression for you to choose from, so you can decide how much quality is lost.
  • ShortPixelis another handy WordPress plugin, capable of updating all of your previous images and any new ones to the file type that results in the smallest size. This method results in little or no loss in image quality, while making WordPress faster.

2. Minimise CSS and JavaScript

Another effective way of speeding up a WordPress site is to reduce the file sizes of your CSS code and JavaScript by removing blank space and unrequired instructions. You could even condense multiple files to decrease the number of HTTP requests made by your site.

Tools useful as a speed up WordPress plugin include:

  • Autoptimize gives you a range of different small optimisations, including compressing CSS code and HTML and optimising Google Fonts. Its API is great at letting you customise the plugin to your liking.
  • WP Super Minify combines JavaScript, HTML and CSS files to compress them and deliver them to users much more quickly, without affecting the functionality of your web pages.

3. Use caching to reduce load times

When deciding how to make a WordPress website load faster, the use of caching is a must.

WordPress retrieves database content every time a page is viewed – a process which is a big contributor to overall loading times. Caching plugins enable you to create a static version of your site, to make loading much faster by minimising the need to fully retrieve the database.

Here are some great plugins to enable this:

  • WP Fastest Cache generates static HTML files from your dynamic WordPress website, which means users can access your content much more quickly. Plus, it includes GZIP compression, code minification and customisable caching settings to give you even more control over site speed.
  • Cache Enabler is able to work with other plugins, such as the previously mentioned Autoptimize, to efficiently cache pages and store them on the server. This means it delivers only the static page to avoid resource-hungry backend processes.
  • Comet Cache can be configured to your needs and works by recognising when a cached page should be shown to users – for example, if the user is not logged in.

4. Clear out your database

The bigger your database, the longer it takes queries to get back to the user. WordPress sites often have automatic backups which save unwanted items, such as drafts, spam, and deleted posts, alongside useful information in the database.

This means you should give your database a regular clear-out, to make sure you’re not backing up unnecessary data. This can be done manually or with the help of handy plugins like these:

  • Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions will automatically delete redundant posts, pages, and other unnecessary items before they’re saved.
  • WP-Optimize is an ‘extensive WordPress database clean-up tool’ that can clean and optimise database tables without using phpMyAdmin.
  • Advanced Database Cleaner is another option for cleaning up old revisions and drafts. It also has a premium version which contains more advanced features, making the process even easier for professional users.

5. Cut down on plugins

It’s ironic, we know, but as handy as all these plugins are, if you’re trying to work out how to speed up a WordPress site, too many can end up adding to the overall bloat.

Specifically, though, we’re talking about plugins that are rarely used or not particularly relevant, adding little if anything to your site’s functionality. Having too many plugins on your WordPress website will give users a more sluggish experience, so it’s worth confirming which ones are actually pulling their weight.

It may even be the case that there are more lightweight alternatives to plugins you already have. By weeding out the WordPress plugins you don’t need or use, you can make your site lean, mean, and fighting fit for any eventuality.

Top 10 WordPress speed optimisation plugins

Since installing too many plugins can be problematic, you need to do your research beforehand to ensure that all of the plugins you pick are of good quality, removing the need for you to install more plugins to fill in the gaps that your other plugins leave. Picking WordPress plugins that fulfil multiple functions is a good way to reduce your overall plugin count, such as plugins that cache pages and implement lazy loading at the same time.

Any of the plugins recommended so far in this article would be a great choice, but if you want a definitive top 10 list, here are the best all-round speed optimisation plugins and plugins for specific functions, such as code minification, caching, image optimisation, and more.

1. WP Rocket

As an all-round speed and performance optimisation plugin, we haven’t mentioned WP Rocket yet for a specific speed optimisation task, but this is because this popular plugin does so much! Primarily, WP Rocket is a caching plugin that comes with all of the caching functionality you would expect, but it also includes much more. For example, it also includes database optimisation features, advanced CSS and JavaScript optimisation functionality, media optimisation, lazy loading and more, allowing you to optimise several elements of your WordPress site with just one installation.

Another one of the key benefits of WP Rocket is that it’s beginner-friendly and easy to use. It features a super simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy to tweak speed optimisations – although there’s minimal tweaking required if you want to stick to general improvements. And since you’re installing one plugin that can optimise so many features, this makes managing your WordPress speed optimisation plugins an absolute breeze.

2. Perfmatters

A great plugin to use in conjunction with WP Rocket is Perfmatters, which disables unnecessary features and scripts to remove bloat and therefore improve page load times. By default, WordPress has options enabled that aren’t needed for every site, but Perfmatters makes it possible for you to disable these options to improve performance, such as by disabling HTTP requests that aren’t needed and disabling unused features like emojis.

However, Perfmatters doesn’t include image optimisation or caching functionality, which is why it’s best used alongside a plugin like WP Rocket rather than on its own. 

3. WP Smush

If image optimisation is your priority, you can’t go wrong with WP Smush. This is one of the leading image optimisation plugins for good reason – it performs lossless compression by trimming unnecessary data from images, which means that file sizes can be reduced without sacrificing significant information or image quality. Plus, it also includes a lazy loading feature to make page load times even faster. 

Other tools tend to use lossy compression, which permanently removes some original data and can compromise image quality, but Smush allows you to optimise your images without compromising them in this way. However, the free version of this plugin doesn’t support image resizing, so you may need to upgrade to the premium version for advanced functionality. 

4. WP Fastest Cache

For caching, WP Fastest Cache is an excellent choice. This plugin is free, popular, well-supported and regularly updated, so it’s a safe choice if you don’t know where to begin with caching plugins.

WP Fastest Cache generates static HTML files from your dynamic WordPress website, which can be served to users much more quickly. Plus, this plugin features GZIP compression and code minification, and you can easily customise caching settings to suit your needs. 

However, like with Smush, the free version doesn’t include advanced caching features, so you’ll need to upgrade to the premium version if you have more specific requirements.

5. WP Super Minify 

Looking for a plugin just to cover code minification? We’d absolutely recommend WP Super Minify. This lightweight plugin combines JavaScript, HTML and CSS files so they can be compressed and served to users much faster, without affecting functionality. 

WP Super Minify will be redundant if you already have a caching plugin that covers minification, so check your existing plugins first to avoid installing more than you need. This plugin can also have compatibility issues with some plugins and themes, so always test your new plugins on a staging site first to avoid introducing errors to your actual website.

6. Autoptimize

Another option for compressing code and optimising features is Autoptimize. This WordPress speed optimisation plugin aggregates, minifies and caches JavaScript, HTML and CSS files to make your pages load faster without impacting functionality. Plus, it supports lazy loading to make your site even more efficient.

Autoptimize is extremely easy to set up and navigate, but one potential issue is that it doesn’t support complex caching rules. However, it’s still a very comprehensive speed optimisation plugin overall.

7. Cache Enabler

Next, we have Cache Enabler. This is another fantastic caching plugin that stores static web pages on your server to be delivered to users extra quickly, allowing you to bypass resource-intensive responses to user requests. Plus, Cache Enabler works well with plugins like Autoptimize to create an overall speed optimisation strategy. It’s not the most advanced caching tool, but it’s a great choice for those who already have plugins like Autoptimize and just want a lightweight plugin to add extra caching functionality without weighing down their site.

8. Advanced Database Cleaner

To clean up your database, we would recommend Advanced Database Cleaner. This plugin deletes orphaned items like old revisions, drafts and spam comments, helping you automatically clear up your database and ensure your site runs more smoothly. Not only will reducing the size of your database make your site faster, but it will also make database backups much easier and quicker too, helping you stay on top of data protection measures. 

Advanced Database Cleaner is free to install, but you can also choose a premium version if you want more advanced features.

9. Imagify

Make your images lighter and easier to load with Imagify, an advanced image optimisation plugin. Imagify lets you compress and resize images without sacrificing their quality, and the intuitive interface means you can do all of this with the click of a button.

When resizing images, they will be automatically optimised at the best compression level, but you have the option to restore them to their original versions if you need to. In addition, Imagify uses next-gen image formats like WebP and AVIF for even better optimisation.

However, Imagify may not be compatible with all plugins and sites. Always test new plugins on a staging site first.

10. LazyLoad by WP Rocket

If you’re just looking for a plugin that implements lazy loading on your site, you can’t go wrong with LazyLoad by WP Rocket. Lazy loading ensures that page elements like images and videos are only loaded when needed as a user scrolls down the page, which cuts down the initial loading time when a user first clicks on your page. This is particularly effective for media-heavy websites like ecommerce sites (which can also benefit from a wide range of ecommerce plugins), so if you’re a WooCommerce Hosting customer, make sure you check out LazyLoad.

On the other hand, many other WordPress speed optimisation plugins include a lazy loading feature, so LazyLoad may not add anything new to your site. Always check if you already have a feature covered by another plugin before clicking install, as installing too many plugins could weigh down your site and introduce security vulnerabilities.

Now you know how to speed up a WordPress site, you’ll need reliable and high-performance hosting to ensure it always loads quickly for your visitors and potential customers.

Our Fasthosts WordPress Hosting packages let you instantly set up your WordPress install, ready for any plugins you might want. They even feature smart SSD storage and dynamic load balancing to guarantee the best possible user experience.

We also offer our very own Website Builder and Ecommerce Website Builder, each of which are completely customisable. Or for even more expert insight and in-depth articles like this, check out the Fasthosts blog.