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.
My Setup
Rocket.net
If the fastest hosting means fastest TTFB, Rocket averages <100ms globally on Cloudflare Enterprise. Which means if you have an international audience or WooCommerce site, use this.
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 already does most optimizations in Perfmatters, but you can still use it for the script manager (for disabling plugins on pages) or use a free plugin like Asset CleanUp for it.
LiteSpeed Setup
LiteSpeed Hosting
List of hosts who use faster LiteSpeed servers. And with LiteSpeed Cache + QUIC.cloud, it’s usually faster/cheaper than shared hosts (like SiteGround).
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.
QUIC.cloud CDN
CDN for LiteSpeed. Use the standard plan (not free plan) which uses all 81 locations and DDoS protection. Also supports HTML caching to improve TTFB.
Hosting
ChemiCloud
LiteSpeed hosting with NVMe SSDs in 9/11 data centers, a Turbo+ Boost add-on which scales CPU cores/RAM to 6/6, and 5/5 star TrustPilot rating.
NameHero
Similar to ChemiCloud with LiteSpeed/cPanel, but costs more and only has NVMe in the US. The main benefit is you get Redis (faster than Memcached).
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.
Scala
Their Entry WP Cloud plan is a powerful shared/cloud hybrid plan on LiteSpeed with NVMe SSDs in their US data center, Redis, and their custom sPanel.
Cloudways
Bought by DigitalOcean, but I prefer Vultr HF with NVMe + Redis Pro (a big upgrade from most shared/cloud hosting). Who I used before Rocket.net.
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, and CPU issues with up to 7.5x renewals. Also controls several Facebook groups and censors/threatens people who write bad reviews.
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
Ripoff. Slow technology with low resource limits to force upgrades from PHP workers, monthly visits, and Redis is $100/mo. Marketing > Hosting.
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
One of the most powerful CDNs offered by third-party services like Rocket.net, Cloudways, and FlyingProxy. Rocket.net’s is the most fully integrated of these 3.
FlyingProxy
Powerful third-party Cloudflare Enterprise service by Gijo from FlyingPress. Several Enterprise features, but doesn’t have Argo Smart Routing like Rocket.net.
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 most people struggle with.
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
Above the fold images and backgrounds are optimized differently, images should be resized for mobile, and image CDNs are better than plugins.
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 “fast 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.
