How quickly your website loads may be the determining factor for some of your visitors. This factor could be the one that will push them to stay or to leave. That is why it is important to install plugins that optimize the loading speed of your website and guarantee a better experience for your readers or visitors.
This article therefore proposes the top ten premium WordPress plugins which meet various needs, such as minification, caching, lazy loading and other types of plugins.
But before, if you have never installed WordPress discover How to Install a WordPress Blog in 7 Steps et How to search, install and activate a WordPress theme on your blog
Then back to why we are here.
1. WP Rocket
WP Rocket and the best WordPress plugin premium caching on the market. This is the simplest and most beginner-friendly caching plugin, which is very useful if you don't know the technical terms used for different caching options.
It allows users to instantly cache their website with one click. Its robot automatically retrieves your WordPress pages to build up the cache, then it automatically activates recommended WordPress caching settings, such as gzip compression, page cache, and cache preloading.
Discover also our 10 WordPress plugins for firewalls to optimize the security of your website
WP Rocket also includes optional features that you can enable to further improve performance. What includes Lazy Loading images, support for CDN, DNS prefetching, minification, etc ...
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2. WP Fastest Cache
WP Fastest Cache is a WordPress caching plugin that offers almost anything a user can look for. The developers of this plugin claim that it is the easiest and fastest WP Cache system. And to be honest, it is! With over 300 active installs, this plugin provides a fast browsing experience for visitors.
Plus, it's easy to install and super easy to use. This plugin uses the rewrite mod to create static HTML files based on the dynamism of WordPress. Better yet, it automatically changes the .htacces file.
Read also our article on 7 WordPress plugins to combat spam
In addition, it offers cache timeout feature. Which means that all cached files will be deleted at a time determined by you.
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3. WP Smush.it
WP Smush.it is another free WordPress plugin, but this time for images. It allows you to delete unused colors or metadata JPEG files. You can also optimize the JPEG compression on the latter.
WP Smush.it allows you to run existing images and is integrated with the Smush.it API.
Read also our article on 7 WordPress plugins to combat spam
The plugin itself is based on the Yahoo service Smush.it. It is used for remove unnecessary bytes from image files and optimize them. It is also important to note the difference between this plugin and similar ones. Unlike them, WP Smush.it uses lossless formats so you don't notice any difference in image quality.
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4. WP Super Minify
Just like the previous two, WP Super Minify is a free WordPress plugin. It allows you to do minification via a simple and user-friendly interface.
By combining CSS, HTML and JavaScript files, it compresses them and then serves them to visitors. This greatly reduces the loading times of your website. In addition to minification, you will also have the option to disable JavaScript or CSS compression in the event of a problem.
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5. WP Super Cache
Another free and popular WordPress plugin, WP Super Cache has a simple interface that also includes advanced features for expert users.
It supports CDN and has an option to preload cache. You will also be able to serve static HTML files. It supports several types of caching such as PHP, Legacy, and Mod_Rewrite.
Also consult the 5 maintenance services for your WordPress blog
It offers a complete parameter section in separate tabs for easy configuration. For detailed instructions, see our article on installing and configuring the WP Super Cache plug-in.
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6. W3 Total Cache
W3 Total Cache is one of WordPress plugins most popular caching. It's a full-featured WordPress caching plugin with a ton of options that can make it a bit daunting for beginners.
It offers all the features needed to properly configure the WordPress cache. Which includes page cache, object cache, gzip compression, limited minification support, support for CDNEtc. ...
Beginners may find it difficult to use W3 Total Cache. For detailed configuration instructions, see our article on W3 Total Cache plug-in installation and configuration procedure.
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7. WP-Optimize
The free version of WP-Optimize allows you to clean up your database and optimize it according to your needs. For example, it allows you to remove all spam or unapproved comments or to clean up copies of your posts. Some things that WP-Optimize removes are spam comments, trash content, etc.
It also shows database statistics and if you want more features you can upgrade to premium version and access multisite support, image optimization, cleaning schedule, to WP-CLI support and Lazy Load.
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8. Perfmatters
performers is a WordPress plugin that has a completely different approach to most plugins. Instead of enabling additional features, you can disable unnecessary processes configured by default on your website. For example, Perfmatters allows you to disable HTTP requests preventing your pages from loading. And you can undo those scripts on every page!
Perfmatters works well with your existing caching plugin, so don't be afraid to install it if you already have one.
See also How to protect your WordPress blog with a firewall
It has DNS prefetch support. Of course, not all of these amazing features are free.
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9. Cache Enabler
Free, lightweight and easy to configure - these three features describe Cache Enabler. Before moving on to its functionality, it is important to note that it has a sister plugin called CDN Enabler, which is used to add a CDN. Now back to Cache Enabler.
With this plugin, you can configure the expiration time and cache minification. You can manage the behavior of the cache, such as clearing it after new posts. There is also an option to erase it with one click. In addition to that, you can set post IDs to exclude them from cache.
See also our 5 WordPress plugins to clean your website database
Even though Cache Enabler doesn't come with a lot of features, it's the perfect choice if you're looking for a free plugin that's easy to install and use. This plugin is probably the best choice for beginners.
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Other recommended resources
We also invite you to consult the resources below to go further in the grip and control of your website and blog.
- The SEO for Non-Profit Organizations
- How to add double-factor authentication to WordPress
- 5 writing techniques to make your content more powerful
- How to find files to edit from a WordPress theme
Conclusion
Finally, it is worth saying that you will definitely find something suitable on this list. Whether you've just started using WordPress or you've been using it for a while, it's always good to improve the speed of your website and there's no better way to do that than using the best WordPress plugins availables.
However, you will also be able to consult our resources, if you need more elements to carry out your projects of creation of Internet sites, by consulting our guide on the WordPress blog creation or the one on Divi: the best WordPress theme of all time.
If you have some Comments or suggestions, please let us know in the reserved section. If you liked this article, ndo not hesitate to share on your social networks.
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