WP Rocket is a powerful caching plugin that can significantly improve the speed and performance of your WordPress website. However, to get the most out of WP Rocket, you need to configure it properly with the best settings. In this guide, we will take you through the best recommended WP Rocket settings for optimizing your WordPress website.
Best WP Rocket Settings for Optimizing Your WordPress Website
- Cache:
Step 1: Navigate to the “Cache” tab in the WP Rocket settings page.
Step 2: Enable the “Enable caching for this website” option.
Step 3: Choose the “Create a static file for each page” option.
Step 4: Choose the “Preload cache” option to generate cached pages in advance.
Step 5: Save your changes by clicking the “Save Changes” button.
Enabling caching is the most basic setting for WP Rocket. This creates static files of your website’s pages that can be served to visitors quickly, reducing page load times.
- File Optimization:
Step 1: Navigate to the “File Optimization” tab in the WP Rocket settings page.
Step 2: Enable the “Minify CSS/JS files” option to reduce the file size of CSS and JavaScript files.
Step 3: Choose the “Combine CSS/JS files” option to merge multiple CSS and JavaScript files into one.
Step 4: Enable the “Optimize CSS delivery” option to prevent render-blocking CSS from slowing down page load times.
Step 5: Save your changes by clicking the “Save Changes” button.
File optimization settings can help reduce the size of your website’s files, which can improve page load times.
- Database Optimization:
Step 1: Navigate to the “Database” tab in the WP Rocket settings page.
Step 2: Enable the “Post Cleanup” option to remove post revisions, spam comments, and trash items from your website’s database.
Step 3: Choose the “Automatic Cleanup” option to schedule automatic database cleanups.
Step 4: Enable the “Database optimization” option to optimize your website’s database tables.
Step 5: Save your changes by clicking the “Save Changes” button.
Database optimization settings can help reduce the size of your website’s database, which can improve page load times.
- Preload:
Step 1: Navigate to the “Preload” tab in the WP Rocket settings page.
Step 2: Enable the “Activate preloading” option to generate cached pages in advance.
Step 3: Choose the “Preload bot” option to use WP Rocket’s built-in bot to crawl your website and generate cached pages.
Step 4: Choose the “Sitemap preloading” option to use your website’s sitemap to generate cached pages.
Step 5: Save your changes by clicking the “Save Changes” button.
Preloading settings can help ensure that your website’s cached pages are up-to-date and ready to be served to visitors, improving page load times.
- Advanced Rules:
Step 1: Navigate to the “Advanced Rules” tab in the WP Rocket settings page.
Step 2: Enable the “Never Cache URL(s)” option to exclude specific pages or URLs from being cached.
Step 3: Choose the “Cache Query String” option to cache pages with query strings.
Step 4: Enable the “Cache Mobile” option to cache pages for mobile devices.
Step 5: Save your changes by clicking the “Save Changes” button.
Advanced rules settings can help fine-tune caching and ensure that certain pages or URLs are excluded or included in the caching process.
- CDN:
Step 1: Navigate to the “CDN” tab in the WP Rocket settings page.
Step 2: Enable the “CDN” option to serve your website’s static content from a content delivery network.
Step 3: Choose the type of CDN you are using, either self-hosted or third-party.
Step 4: Add the URL of your CDN or the CNAME you created for your CDN.
Step 5: Save your changes by clicking the “Save Changes” button.
CDN settings can help improve page load times by serving static content from a server that is closer to the user, reducing the distance the content needs to travel to reach the user.
- Heartbeat:
Step 1: Navigate to the “Heartbeat” tab in the WP Rocket settings page.
Step 2: Choose the “Control heartbeat” option to limit the frequency of the heartbeat API calls made by WordPress.
Step 3: Choose the “Reduce activity” option to reduce the number of AJAX calls made by WordPress.
Step 4: Choose the “Disallow” option to disable the heartbeat API entirely.
Step 5: Save your changes by clicking the “Save Changes” button.
Heartbeat settings can help reduce server resources used by WordPress, improving page load times and website performance.
- Add-ons:
Step 1: Navigate to the “Add-ons” tab in the WP Rocket settings page.
Step 2: Enable any add-ons that are relevant to your website, such as Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or Cloudflare.
Step 3: Configure the settings for each add-on according to your website’s needs.
Step 4: Save your changes by clicking the “Save Changes” button.
Add-ons can help integrate WP Rocket with other third-party services that you may be using on your website, improving its functionality and performance.
In conclusion
Optimizing your WP Rocket settings is crucial to improving your website’s speed and performance. By following these recommended settings, you can reduce page load times, improve user experience, and potentially improve your website’s search engine rankings. Remember to test the impact of any changes you make on your website’s speed and performance and adjust the settings accordingly. WP Rocket offers support and guidance to help you optimize your settings for your particular website. With the right settings, WP Rocket can help you achieve a faster and more efficient WordPress website.