WordPress Speed Tutorials + Reviews
Yo, I’m Tom! I’ll help you optimize WordPress for core web vitals with tutorials/reviews viewed over 6M times. See my bio for cat/travel pics.
LiteSpeed Setup (Small sites)
ChemiCloud
LiteSpeed hosting with faster NVMe storage in 10 locations, Redis, and a Turbo Boost add-on which scales to 6 CPU/6GB RAM. Faster than SiteGround with a 5/5 rating on TrustPilot. You can get 3 years for $215.64.
LiteSpeed Cache
Powerful (and free) cache plugin for LiteSpeed servers. Learn to configure the settings and setup QUIC.cloud CDN (or ideally Cloudflare APO) + Redis for optimal performance. It also includes several setting presets.
QUIC.cloud CDN
CDN for LiteSpeed. Use the standard plan (not free plan) which uses all 82 locations and DDoS protection. But, you may be better off on Cloudflare APO which has more features and a larger network of 285 locations.
My Setup (large/WooCommerce sites)
Rocket.net
If the fastest hosting means fastest TTFB, Rocket averages <100ms globally on Cloudflare Enterprise. They’ll outperform similar cloud hosts like Kinsta, SiteGround Cloud, Cloudways.
FlyingPress
Gijo Varghese’s cache plugin has more features to optimize core web vitals and real-world browsing speed compared to WP Rocket/SG Optimizer with new features added regularly.
Perfmatters
FlyingPress handles most optimizations in Perfmatters, but you can still use it for the script manager (for disabling plugins on pages). Or just use the free Asset CleanUp plugin.
other Hosting
LiteSpeed Hosting
List of hosts who use LiteSpeed servers which are more efficient (and often faster) than Apache. I suggest ChemiCloud, Scala, or a VPS like on RunCloud/GridPane.
Scala
LiteSpeed hosting with a shared/cloud hybrid plan on 4GHz processors, NVMe SSDs in their US data center, Redis, and custom control panel (sPanel).
FastComet
Cheap LiteSpeed hosting with more CPU cores/RAM and 1-3 year flexible pricing on cPanel. However, they use slower SATA SSDs, Memcached, and MySQL.
NameHero
Similar to ChemiCloud with LiteSpeed/cPanel, but costs more and only uses NVMe SSDs in their US data center. I would personally stick to ChemiCloud.
Cloudways
Several complaints after being acquired by DigitalOcean, but you can still get Vultr HF with my link. Are they still worth it and is performance degrading?
GridPane
What agencies should use. Launch servers from multiple cloud providers, manage them with a suite of tools, and turn your hosting into a profit center.
Servebolt
Extremely fast but starts at $99/mo and their Cloudflare Enterprise (called accelerated domains) is an extra $299/mo. Very solid if that’s your budget.
SiteGround
History of TTFB/DNS/CPU issues. Only popular because they control Facebook groups, affiliates, and censor/threaten bad reviewers. Chemi is better.
Hostinger
CEO admitted to fake reviews with multiple scam reports you can find on Reddit. It’s cheap because you get less resources on slow and unreliable servers.
Kinsta
Overpriced hosting with slow technology and low resource limits on PHP workers, monthly visits, and Redis is $100/month. Rocket.net is both faster/better.
WP Engine
Very similar to Kinsta with prices, incomplete Cloudflare Enterprise integration, SATA SSDs, and low limits on PHP workers, visits, and bandwidth.
WPX
Not the fastest host like they claim. <400ms target TTFB, shared hosting, downtimes, and no redundancy system caused a worldwide outage.
Bluehost
Mainly promoted by “how to start a blog” affiliates who target noobs that don’t know better. Old infrastructure and pays WP to be “recommended.”
GoDaddy
Everyone knows to avoid SlowDaddy. If you bought a domain through them, you’ll want to switch your DNS to Cloudflare since theirs is slow.
Elementor Cloud
Extremely slow, way too minimal, and you should get your hosting from an actual hosting company – not your page builder/domain registrar.
Cache Plugins
LiteSpeed Cache
Cache plugin you should use if you’re on a LiteSpeed server. Learn to configure the settings and setup QUIC.cloud + object cache for optimal performance.
WP Rocket
Poor job optimizing images for LCP/mobile, slower “remove unused CSS,” and RocketCDN is slow. Hardly any new features have been released since 2020.
SG Optimizer
Best used with FlyingPress or Perfmatters which do a better job with web vitals, but you’ll still use it for features such as dynamic cache + Memcached.
CDNs
Cloudflare
In case you setup Cloudflare manually (instead of using a third-party Enterprise service), you’ll need to configure your Cloudflare dashboard settings.
Cloudflare Enterprise
Arguably the fastest CDN on a large network, full page cache, Argo Smart Routing, and image optimization via Mirage/Polish. Found on Rocket + Cloudways.
QUIC.cloud
CDN for LiteSpeed. Use the standard plan (not free plan) which uses all 82 locations and DDoS protection. But, you may be better off on Cloudflare APO.
BunnyCDN
Top performer on cdnperf.com with a nice image optimization solution (BunnyCDN) and geo-replication, but not as powerful as Cloudflare Enterprise’s CDN.
SiteGround CDN
Even after improvements in v2 with Anycast, it’s been proven unreliable and still lacks image optimization/security features. You’re best off using Cloudflare.
RocketCDN
One of the slowest CDNs which basically just serves static files from StackPath’s CDN, no full page caching, and bandwidth isn’t “unlimited” as advertised.
Web Vitals
LCP
Learn the 4 sub-parts of LCP and how optimizing TTFB (and above the fold content) can improve scores. The core web vital people struggle with most.
CLS
Stop things from shifting on your website which is often fixed with CSS/font settings, adding dimensions, delaying JS, and preloading local fonts.
TBT
Blocking time is usually from JavaScript added by plugins, themes, and third-party code (including jQuery). Remove it from the source or optimize it.
TTFB
Test your global TTFB in KeyCDN’s Performance Test or SpeedVitals. A good host and CDN (with full page caching) can solve most TTFB problems.
Third-Party Code
Learn third-party domains loading on your site and host fonts/analytics locally. Delay JavaScript, or consider pushing it down so it can be delayed.
Image Optimization
Image CDNs generally do a better job than plugins and don’t use server resources. Optimize background, mobile, and LCP (above fold) images.
Themes
GeneratePress
Why I used GeneratePress + GenerateBlocks to redesign my site and how it fixed several design/speed issues I’ve been having (cheaper than Kadence).
Speed Up Elementor
Configure Elementor settings, disable Gutenberg, and add exclusions so you can remove unused CSS + delay JavaScript without breaking your website.
Speed Up Divi
Similar to speeding up Elementor only with Divi’s performance settings. Avoid most of Divi’s recommended hosts and use a faster setup.
Plugins
Speed Plugins
Overkilled list of 50+ speed plugins. Which ones you need (or don’t need) largely depend on which cache plugin you use and if you’re using Perfmatters.
Slow Plugins To Avoid
A list of 75 slow plugins that either increase memory usage or add CSS/JS to the frontend. Find your bloated plugins in the Chrome Dev Tools coverage tab.
WP-Optimize
Cleans database better than cache plugins since it removes tables, takes database backups, and keeps a few post revisions (instead of deleting all of them).
tom dupuis
Why I Started OMM
Money, obviously.
Even though I make a living through this blog, I try to tell it how it is.
If I can help people optimize their WordPress site and get paid doing it, I’ll take this job any day. Aff links pay the bills but I won’t refer you to crap for commissions; there’s too much BS out there already. And If you want to creep, my story has plenty of cat/travel pics to go around.
