Looking for the best plugin to speed up your WordPress website? Page speed is extremely important for user experience and it’s a Google ranking factor, therefore it’s important we do whatever we can to make our website go faster – especially when it’s as easy as installing a plugin! How can these caching plugins and speed up your website? I’m going to go through each plugin and explain what it does and how it will speed up your WordPress website.
Best Plugin To Speed Up WordPress Site
WP Rocket
WP Rocket is probably one of the best plugins among this list. The reason why is because it’s an all-in-one solution. So for example, it will do caching, it will do LazyLoad, it will compress CSS files, it will optimize your database all in one.
So right here you can kind of see what they do and they can kind of compare it against other plugins. And I’ve used WP Rocket in the past and I know that they are probably among the best because you can install a lot of free plugins that will do with this does, but you’re going to have to install a lot of free plugins equals slow website, a lot of plugins. But with WP Rocket, it kind of does everything in one solution. So be sure to check out WP Rocket. Again, it cleans up your cache, your database, it has LazyLoad, all sorts of really cool features that in my opinion is the best plugin to speed up WordPress site.
WP Smush by WPMU Dev
And another really great plugin, it’s well-known in the community, is WP Smush by WPMU Dev. Now what this plugin does is that it’ll actually smush all your images and compress it, because when you upload images they slow down your website a lot. I’m sure you might get images from Shutterstock and then you just slap them on, it’s like oh wow, this is actually a 20 megabyte picture. It’s really going to slow down your website. Now I do want to talk about the pro version. So there is a free version, of course, and the free version works just fine. But if you want to kind of go a little bit more … you want to get advanced and you really want to see what it can do, I’m going to go ahead show you what the pro version does right now.
I have the pro version because I use it a lot and it really makes a difference. So this is the Smush Pro, and again this is actually available for free on wordpress.org in the WordPress repository. And then right here you can kind of see the pro version. Now what the pro version offers that the free version doesn’t is that it has Super Smush. Whenever you upload an image, it will automatically compress it for you and optimize it to make sure that it’s not huge. So that’s a really cool one right there. It will resize all your images. It’ll also convert PNGs to JPGs. Now PNGs are a little bit bigger than JPGs, so if you activate this, it’s going to go ahead and just convert all of them automatically in your database to PNGs to JPGs.
So I mean instead of actually doing it all from scratch, that’d be a lot of work to kind of re-download everything and re-upload the PNGs, or just install the pro version. It’s like 30 bucks or something like that. But you also get access to the … They have a whole lot of plugins out there. So if you do want to go ahead and purchase this one as well, there are links in the description below. I’m not an affiliate for them. They don’t even have an affiliate program. I don’t make any money if you purchase their products, but it’s still just among the best product out there for image smushing.
WP Fastest Cache
Next is a WP Fastest Cache. Now this is way better than the W3 one. I’ve used W3 Total Cache, I’ve used Super Cache, and I said from the start that WP Fastest Cache was the best. And they even have a comparison chart. Right here you can kind of see WP Fastest Cache against their competitors, and they combine CSS, they combined JS, and a lot of plugins out there don’t do that, like W3 Total Cache does not do that.
Now they do have a premium version as well. So the premium version again, it’s worth getting. The only thing I wish they had … Oh, they do have LazyLoad. So they do have LazyLoad, but do they actually clean up your database? Ah, they do not clean up your database, unlike WP Rocket. So it just depends on you. If you think that WP Rocket is a better bet for you, or you think WP Fastest Cache is a better bet for you, then go with either one. But the free version of WP Fastest Cache, it’s really good. I use it on my website because it really helps speed up the website and clean it all up. Clean ups all the garbage.
WP-Optimize
So next is WP-Optimize. Now again, WP Rocket does have this feature, but if you’re looking for a free alternative you can always go with WP-Optimize, and this will actually clean your database. So by default, when you start making changes and everything, you leave revisions, you leave drafts, and it creates a lot of clunk and jutter in your database. So this right here will actually optimize it. It actually has a pro version, I believe, and they have automatic weekly cleanups to make sure that your database is optimized and it will dramatically speed up your website. So be sure to check out WP-Optimize. A lot of people don’t know about databases and it is kind of a touchy subject because most people are just like, “Oh, just clear the cache.” I’m sure you’ve heard that term before, but a lot of it has to deal with the database from that regard. So be sure to check out WP-Optimize.
LazyLoad by WP Rocket
And one of the other ones is LazyLoad by WP Rocket. Now I did mention that WP Rocket, it’s already included in the pro version. However, if you can’t afford the pro version of WP Rocket, which I highly recommend, just go ahead and get the free one right here. So this right here, it will actually display the images a little later. So whenever you go on a website and then you kind of see the images pop up slowly, that’s LazyLoad. And what that does that it helps the server kind of release the information as needed instead of actually just trying to put it all at once, causing a slower website. So the image optimization is a key factor when you’re optimizing your websites. LazyLoad’s a really good one. There are other plugins out there, I just think that this one right here is good for LazyLoad, but you can do your own research on LazyLoad. There’s maybe a four or five other plugins out there that do the same thing.
Right here, WP-Optimize. These are actually the same creators of Updraft, so we know they’re a reputable company, and you know that these plugins, they’re not crappy, and they’re not going anywhere. So I know when you search for plugins out there, some of the developers just disappear on you. You’re just like, “Oh, where’d they go?” It’s like, “Oh, see you later,” and they’re gone. But the team over there at WP-Optimize … or, I’m sorry, Updraft, they’ve been around for quite a bit and they have a lot of backup plugins, cleaning plugins, et cetera. WP Fastest Cache. They were among my top 10 plugins list that I have because it’s a great plugin. I noticed the difference when I cleared the cache, and even when I call a hosting company they’re saying, “Download this plugin, don’t download the other ones.” It used to be W3 Total Cache, but new competitors come out, they make better products, they see their competitors and they kind of build on it. So that’s why I believe that WP Fastest Cache is better.
And then, of course, you must get this one. This website or this plugin can just really make your site just night and day. It’s a really good plugin. I have the pro version of it because it’s just so good. And then, of course, WP Rocket, which is, I think, among the best plugins out there. It just does everything for you. It cleans up your database, your caching, it minimizes CSS, cleans your database, all the stuff, and it has, yeah, LazyLoad as well. So it’s like the all-in-one solution. It is around $39 for each website. If I do have a coupon code, I will put it in the description below, but you can go ahead and purchase it below if you decide to purchase it or not. Let me just go ahead and give you the backend of it really quick because I use it on my websites. Right here, WP Rocket.
They have mobile caching, user caching, file optimization as well. I’m using another plugin, so it’s basically telling me, it’s like, “Hey, turn that other plugin off before you activate this one.” All right, here we have LazyLoad. We have a preloader as well. You have some advanced rules. You have some optimization for databases, like the spam comments, which I should delete because I get spam comments all the time.
WP Smush
You’ve got to get this one. I mean over 1 million active installs, so it’s a really good plugin.
Best Plugin to Speed Up Your WordPress Website
Overall, the best plugin to speed up your website is WP Rocket.