If you chose WP Rocket to make your WordPress site load faster, you made the best choice, considering it was rated the #1 cache plugin in many Facebook polls.
WP Rocket comes with many features most cache plugins don’t. That means if you were to use most other cache plugins, you would need to use about 6 extra plugins (see below). If you’re like me, you only want to use one. This is why WP Rocket yields better results in GTmetrix/Pingdom (it has more features, while reducing the number of plugins on your site).
Otherwise you would also need:
- Database cleanup (built-in to WP Rocket, or use WP-Optimize)
- Heartbeat control (built-in to WP Rocket, or use Heartbeat Control)
- Lazy load images/videos (built-in to WP Rocket, or use WP YouTube Lyte)
- Host Google Analytics locally (built-in to WP Rocket, or use CAOS For Analytics)
- Host Google Fonts locally (built-in to WP Rocket, or use CAOS For Fonts, or SHGF)
- Integration with Cloudflare + other CDNs (built-in to WP Rocket, or use CDN Enabler)
I tested WP Rocket against 3 top free cache plugins and while they all do a great job, WP Rocket gave me the best results in Pingdom (.4s load times). Your cache plugin and hosting are 2 main speed factors so it’s definitely worth the $49. Configuring the right WP Rocket settings with Cloudflare + StackPath can fix over 20 items in Pingdom and GTmetrix. So let’s do that :)
The WP Rocket settings are WAY easier to configure than W3 Total Cache and they update the changelog regularly so you’ll actually get ongoing updates. If you have questions (or want to share your new load time), drop me a comment. WP Rocket also has documentation which I reference throughout the guide. Good luck – remember to benchmark those Pingdom scores!
If you haven’t bought WP Rocket yet, I would appreciate it if you used my affiliate link. I donate a good chunk of my affiliate income to charity – in 2018 I gave $3,000 to feed homeless people in Denver, and in 2017 $3,000 went to American Red Cross at Hurricane Harvey. Your support would help and I genuinely appreciate it. Thank you!
2. Installation
3. Dashboard
4. Cache
5. File Optimization
6. Media
7. Preload
8. Advanced Rules
9. Database
10. CDN
11. Heartbeat
12. Add-Ons
13. Tools
15. SiteGround (Recommended Host)
16. My Full WordPress Speed Guide
17. Get Help From My Speed Optimizer
1. WP Rocket = #1 Rated Cache Plugin
Here are the Facebook polls:
Had to throw this in here :)
I tested WP Rocket, WP Fastest Cache, and W3 Total Cache… making sure all cache plugin settings were configured optimally. WP Rocket won BUT this with the lazy load feature turned ON. The other cache plugins do not have a lazy load option and when I turned lazy load off in WP Rocket, I got a .5s load time… the exact same as WP Fastest Cache. I didn’t see a huge difference when clicking through my pages – both loaded super quickly. I know Pingdom can show different load times during different tests, but I just wanted to share my own experience.
WP Rocket (.406)
WP Fastest Cache (.527)
W3 Total Cache (.619)
My latest Pingdom report with WP Rocket:
2. Install WP Rocket
Once you purchase WP Rocket you can download it on your account page. Upload it under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. If you’re having issues on Safari see their instructions.
3. Dashboard
Rocket Tester – beta testing for new releases.
Rocket Analytics – lets WP Rocket collect data anonymously. This has minimal affect on load times/CPU, but sending data to any external resource means more work for your server.
Clear Cache – do this when you’re dong configuring the WP Rocket settings.
Preload Cache – generates a cache for your homepage and all internal links you use on the homepage. I don’t do this since I have preload set to “automatic” in the preload tab.
Purge OPcache – purges the OPcache which prevents issues when you update WP Rocket, but it’s still displaying the previous version in the WordPress admin.
Regenerate Critical CSS – do this when you make changes to stylesheets, or add/modify custom CSS via the WordPress Customizer (or a plugin).
4. Cache
Mobile Cache – enable caching for mobile devices, but only “create a caching file for mobile visitors” if you are NOT using a plugin to create a mobile site (eg. free version of WP Touch).
Enable Caching For Logged-in WordPress Users – enable if multiple users are logging into your site (eg. bbPress). This gives each user their own cache, otherwise disable it.
Specify Time After Which The Global Cache Is Cleared – leave as the default. If you rarely update your site or have a lot of static content, you can increase this a bit.
5. File Optimization
Minify Files – ideally these should make all “minify” and “combining” items in your Pingdom and GTmetrix report 99 – 100%. Sometimes enabling these can cause issues with your layout (especially CSS and JS) so check a few pages on your site to make sure this doesn’t happen. If it does, find the problematic files and add them to either the exclude CSS or exclude JS option.
Combine Files – just like minify, enable and check your site for errors.
Combine Google Font Files – Google Fonts are often shown in Pingdom/GTmetrix report. This can help, and you can also trying adding them in “Prefetch DNS Requests” in the Preload tab.
Remove Query Strings From Static Resources – In GTmetix you might see “remove query strings from static resources.” This can help, however most query strings are generated by plugins – expand your items in GTmetrix and see what is making it red – it could be a plugin.
Exclude CSS – if for some reason a minification option messes up your site layout, locate the problematic file and add it here. See WP Rocket’s article on resolving issues with minification.
Optimize CSS Delivery – your page will start loading without CSS styles which is an item in Google PageSpeed Insights. WP Rocket automatically generates this for you. They say…
When you activate the Optimize CSS delivery setting checkbox, CSS will be loaded asynchronously on your site. Additionally, Critical Path CSS will be generated for your website in the background and added upon the next page load.
JavaScript Files – same concept as CSS only with JavaScript files.
6. Media
Lazy Load – delays loading of images, iframes, and videos until you scroll down the page and they become visible (test to see if you like it or not). This significantly reduces load times and HTTP requests however the ongoing loading can be annoying especially for long content. This can also be done using other free plugins like Lazy Load and Lazy Load For Videos but WP Rocket does a great job. I have it lazy load for photos since it’s annoying.
You can also disable lazy load on individual pages/posts using the sidebar:
Disable Emojis – these slow down your site. You can also disable these under Settings → Writing → Formatting, then do not convert emoticons.
Embeds – similar to Cloudflare’s hotlink prevention, this prevents sites from embedding your content on their website which sucks up bandwidth and makes your site slower.
7. Preload
If you want to learn about preloading, WP Rocket has a simple tutorial. Or if you want to dig deeper here is an advanced tutorial which is about WP Super Cache but the same concepts apply. Preload, in somewhat simple terms, is a refresh when the cached pages are all cleared out and refreshed in one go. I would enable it since it improves both website/indexing speed.
Sitemap Preloading – extends the benefit of preload to ALL URLs in your sitemap, not just your homepage and the internal links you use on the homepage. This does not use an external bot like the manual/automatic option… even if the end result is the same. As long as WP Rocket detected your sitemap in “sitemaps for preloading,” there is no need to add it here.
This is what preloading can do for your server:
Prefetch DNS Requests – Luke made an great list of common domains to prefetch including Google Fonts, Analytics, Maps, Gravatars, YouTube, common social sharing plugins, Disqus, and others. Copy and paste this entire list (or just the ones you need) and paste them into the Prefetch field of WP Rocket. This helps browsers anticipate the requests and load them faster.
Don’t forget to add your StackPath CDN URL (or whatever CDN you’re using), and other external resources not included in this list, which you can usually find in your GTmetrix report. Social sharing, comment, and statistic plugins are very common.
8. Advanced Rules
The advanced options are mainly for excluding cart and checkout pages in eCommerce sites.
Never Cache URL(s) – if you’re using an eCommerce shopping cart not listed by WP Rocket (see the note they have in this settings), add your cart and checkout pages here. Learn more.
Never Cache Cookies – same principal as previous option only based on cookies.
Never Cache User Agent(s) – prevents Googlebot or other user agents from caching pages.
Always Purge URL(s) – let’s say you have a blogroll on your homepage. If you create a new post, you want that homepage blogroll updated immediately by emptying the homepage cache. That’s what this setting does, however WP Rocket automatically clears the cache for your homepage, categories and tags once new content is created… so there is no need for this. But if there are other page’s cache you want cleared when new content is added, add them.
Cache Query String(s) – mainly used to cache search result pages and price filtering pages for eCommerce sites.
9. Database
Post Cleanup – revisions, auto drafts, and trashed posts can be deleted if you don’t use them. Unless you have old versions of posts (or deleted posts) you would like to use, delete them.
Comments Cleanup – spam and trashed comments can be deleted.
Transients Cleanup – stores data that takes a long time to get (like social counts) so the next time you need it, it returns super fast. But sometimes when transients get expired they stay in the database and should be deleted. WP Beginner has a great explanation of transients.
Database Cleanup – when you delete a plugin it can leave unused tables in your WordPress database, which you can delete.
Automatic Cleanup – schedule WP Rocket to cleanup your database. Weekly is good unless these accumulate quickly (eg. many people work on your site). If you have WP-Optimize or another database cleanup plugin installed, you can delete it since WP Rocket does this for you.
Optimize – click the optimize button when you’re done, just be sure to backup your database especially if it’s your first time doing this.
10. CDN
StackPath’s CDN mirrors your site on 30+ data centers across the world, reducing the geographical distance between your server and visitors. I use both Cloudflare and StackPath since more data centers = faster delivery of your content. This can shave multiple seconds off your load time especially for visitors who (used to be) far away from your 1 origin server. You can use WP Rocket’s CDN tutorial or StackPath’s CDN tutorial, but here’s exactly what to do.
Step 1: Sign up for StackPath (they have a 30-day trial):
Step 2: In the dashboard, click the CDN tab, then create a StackPath CDN Site:
Step 3: Copy CDN URL from StackPath and paste into WP Rocket’s “CDN CNAME(s)” field:
Step 4: In StackPath go to CDN → Cache Settings, then click “Purge Everything”:
Step 5: Exclude Files From CDN – there may be files being served by the CDN you would like to serve locally. Usually these files are parts of plugins designed to disregard cross domain load. To change this, simply add these files or directories into the “rejected files” area of WP Rocket (add one filedirectory per line) which you can use directives to locate WP directories.
Example:
- {uploads_dir}/wpcf7_captcha/*
- {uploads_dir}/imagerotator.swf
- {plugins_dir}/wp-fb-autoconnect/facebook-platform/channel.html
Step 6: Run your site in GTmetrix and “content delivery network” should be green in YSlow.
If you expand items in GTmetrix and see it has to do with your CDN, contact StackPath’s support team who should be able to help you fix these. They have outstanding support.
11. Heartbeat
Instead of using the Heartbeat Control plugin, WP Rocket has it built-in.
12. Add-Ons
1. Google Tracking (Improve Browser Caching For Google Analytics) – you may see Google Analytics errors in your speed testing tool. Having WP Rocket host Google Analytics locally should fix these, specifically in GTmetrix under Page Speed → Leverage Browser Caching.
2. Facebook Pixel (Improve Browser Caching For Facebook Pixel) – same concept as previous option only for Facebook Pixel.
3. Cloudflare – sign up for Cloudflare, add your website, and Cloudflare will run a scan. You will eventually come to a page with your Cloudflare name servers and a link to your API key.
Change name servers in your hosting account to the ones Cloudflare assigned you:
Enter your Global API Key (found in your Cloudflare profile) into your cache plugin.
- Global API Key – used to activate Cloudflare in WP Rocket.
- Account Email – same email used in your Cloudflare account.
- Domain – yourwebsite.com
- Development Mode – use when making a lot of code changes to your site.
- Optimal Settings – activates optimal Cloudflare settings: minification, aggressive caching, and deactivates Rocket Loader for better compatibility. Most common issue is Rocket Loader, but I also noticed it turns on email decoding which made my GTmetrix report worse, so I don’t use this (and instead configured Cloudflare in their dashboard).
- Relative Protocol – sometimes if people download files from your site, there are no contents in them. Leaving this option OFF will prevent this from happening.
- Clear All Cloudflare Cache Files – do this after you’re done configuring WP Rocket.
4. Synchronize Sucuri Cache – enable if using Sucuri. This will automatically clear Sucuri’s cache whenever you clear WP Rocket’s cache, keeping your content syncronized.
- Sucuri Firewall API Key (For Plugin) – login to Sucuri here, click your site, go to the API tab, then copy your API Key (For Plugin) and paste it into WP Rocket.
13. Tools
Export Settings – export your settings to use on multiple sites.
Import Settings – import your pre-configured settings here.
Rollback – if you update to a new version of WP Rocket and it causes issues, this will fall back on the previous version.
14. FAQs / Documentation
I spent many hours digging through their documentation to make sure this tutorial uses the best WP Rocket settings, but they are extremely helpful if you haven’t checked them out.
Tutorials I found the most helpful:
- Getting Started
- My Site Is Broken
- Hosting Compatibility
- Using WP Rocket With A CDN
- Using WP Rocket With Cloudflare
- Resolve 500 Internal Server Error
- Resolving Issues With Minification
- Using WordFence With WP Rocket
- NGINX Configuration For WP Rocket
- Using iThemes Security With WP Rocket
- How To Check If WP Rocket Is Caching Your Pages
15. SiteGround (#1 Host In Facebook Polls)
SiteGround is used by Yoast, myself, and recommended by WordPress. They are #1 in nearly every Facebook poll and give most people significant load time improvements especially if they were using mediocre hosts: GoDaddy, Bluehost, HostGator, InMotion, Dreamhost, EIG.
I use their semi-dedicated GoGeek plan which comes with 4x more server resources than shared hosting. Click through my pages to see how fast they load, check out my GTmetrix report, or see people who migrated and posted new load times. They also do free migrations.
DigitalOcean on Cloudways and Kinsta are also good and start at $10/month and $30/month. Cloudways is more for developers who don’t need cPanel, email hosting, or the support you get with SiteGround. Kinsta is basically what WP Engine used to be (pricey, but awesome). My entire blog is basically dedicated to helping people make their website load faster. I refuse to recommend $2/month hosting since it’s most people’s biggest regret when running a website.
How To Check If Your Hosting Is Slow
Run your site through Google PageSpeed Insights to see if reduce server response time is in your report. Google recommends it should be <200ms. Anything above 1 second is not good. You can also check your TTFB (time to first byte) in GTmetrix’s Timings tab or bytecheck.com.
A few threads:
SiteGround has 3 plans which are 77% off for Labor Day:
Higher plans include more server resources (#1 factor in the WordPress optimization guide). Here’s the full comparison chart, but GrowBig gives you about 2x more server resources than StartUp, and GoGeek is semi-dedicated hosting which gives you even more. GrowBig and up comes with a free migration, staging, advanced caching, and ability to host multiple websites. GoGeek comes with priority support. Their cloud hosting is quite the price jump at $80/month.
You can see this on their features page:
I use SiteGround because:
- My GTmetrix + Pingdom reports speak for themselves
- My pages load instantly (click through them if you want)
- Fast speed technology (PHP 7.3, NGINX, SG Optimizer, Cloudflare)
- Recommended by Yoast, WordPress, Ivica from WordPress Speed Up
- Free Let’s Encrypt SSL, easy to use cPanel, and features for eCommerce
- WordPress support is unbeatable even without GoGeek’s priority support
- GrowBig comes with staging, more storage, and more server resources (scroll down to “we allocate the resources you need” and hover over the server tab)
- GoGeek comes with even more server resources, storage, priority support
- Free migrations, migrator plugin, and a 30-day money back guarantee
- Plenty of praise on Reddit, Facebook conversations, Twitter, TrustPilot
- Tons of praise on Facebook: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11
- Many people already migrated and posted results on Twitter: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23, #24, #25, #26, #27, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32, #33, #34, #35, #36, #37
Affiliate Disclaimer – if you sign up for SiteGround using my affiliate link I will donate a good chunk at no cost to you. Each year I donate $3,000 to GoFundMe campaigns (2018 was to feed the hungry in Denver, 2017 was to Red Cross at Hurricane Harvey). Your support helps and I genuinely appreciate it. I try to make my reviews unbiased and backed by evidence in the form of Facebook polls, tweets, and real conversations. If you don’t want to use it, here’s a non-affiliate link to SiteGround. Either way, I suggest doing your research, see who Yoast uses, and results of people who migrated.
People usually migrate because their speed technology can cut load times in half:
16. My Full WordPress Speed Guide (35+ Tips)
Watch My Video – it’s a 42 minute video, but I cover pretty much everything (timestamps in video description) and you should learn a ton of great information on WordPress site speed:
Image Optimization – you can run any page through GTmetrix and it will show you all unoptimized images but ONLY for that page – so start with the ones that appear on multiple pages. Image can be optimized 3 ways: serve scaled images (resizing images that are too large), specifying image dimensions (adding a width/height in the image’s HTML or CSS), and optimize images (losslessly compressing them using a plugin like Imagify). GTmetrix will tell you the correct dimensions for the first two if you expand them, and these are all high priority items.
For more tips, see my complete guide to WordPress speed optimization.
17. Get Help From My WordPress Speed Optimizer
Still need help with your GTmetrix/Pingdom report? I’ve been working with Pronaya for 7 years (he’s the one who helped me get a <1s load time in Pingdom). You can hire him by creating a profile on freelancer.com and searching for username bdkamol. Here is his full WordPress speed portfolio. He’s $40/hour from Bangladesh (so there is a time change) and you can email him at bdkamol@gmail.com. He also has a perfect 5 star review on his profile. Serious inquiries only, and please don’t expect 100% scores if you’re using slow hosting, a bloated theme, and tons of heavy plugins. Please follow my full WordPress speed guide first.
Here are some reviews on his profile:
So… how are those Pingdom scores looking? Let me know in the comments or tell me if you’re stuck. You also paid for a premium plugin where they offer support (the last and final tab in the WP Rocket settings), so I would use that to your advantage too, or view their documentation.
Otherwise, nice job!
See Also: How I Got 100% Scores In GTmetrix
If you found this tutorial helpful, a share is always appreciated :)
Cheers,
Tom
Ian says
Thanks for your great article on WP rocket.
I have installed it and its improved the site.
I am having issues with GTM, fb, and live chat (Gtmetric)
I am using Cloudflare, do you think installing maxcdn will assist with this issue?
Or do you have any suggestions to reduce these scripts issues?
Thanks
Tom Dupuis says
They are all external resources so there’s not too much you can do. You can try loading them asynchronously and check out Kinsta’s article: https://kinsta.com/blog/third-party-performance/
CDN won’t help much, maybe the Rocket Loader feature in Cloudflare.
Paula says
Thank you so much for this extremely useful guide. I’ve just installed WP Rocket with Cloudflare and everything works great. Still lots of things to fix, but on a good track :)
Tom Dupuis says
They’re a great combination. Took a quick look at your site/GTmetrix report. Add SSL, resize large images, and compress them with a plugin like ShortPixel (but backup your images beforehand just in case) would help a lot. Then try to eliminate unnecessary plugins like your stats plugin (might be JetPack which will slow it down) and just rely on Google Search Console + Google Analytics for stats. Let me know how it goes and if you have questions!
Richie says
Hi Tom,
Have you a rough idea of how often the plug-in is updated?
For someone writing a small blog as a hobby it would be handy to keep costs to a minimum. Buying as a ‘one off’ I can probably justify but having to re-buy it every year probably not (unless I start getting some affiliate income to offset costs but that is some way off yet).
Thanks,
Richie
Tom Dupuis says
Hey Richie,
Changelog is here – it’s usually about every week.
In that case I would test a couple free plugins first like Swift Performance and WP Fastest Cache, and see if you can get good results with them. Certain cache plugins yield different results across multiple websites, so it’s worth a try.
Sumon says
I personally use wp-rocket and it really is the best all-in-one caching plugin out there. I am definitely going to give a short pixel a try.
Corey says
Would I do this same thing in WP Rocket for Cloudflare if I have it through Siteground?
Tom Dupuis says
Yes. Activating CF through SiteGround is good but you should login to the actual CF dashboard for better control of your settings.
Jennifer says
Any recommendations on the conflicts/duplication with latest WP Rocket version and SG Optimizer 5.0? Any insights are appreciated.
Received the following error after updating to latest version of both WP Rocket and SG Optimizer: Their error note here:
“Important message from SG Optimizer plugin: We have detected that there is duplicate functionality with other plugins installed on your site: WP Rocket and have deactivated the following functions from our plugin: GZIP Compression, Browser Caching, HTML Minification, JavaScript Minification, CSS Minification. If you wish to enable them, please do that from the SG Optimizer config page.”
Tom Dupuis says
I would just use WP Rocket and manually upgrade PHP versions in SG’s cPanel – I believe that’sthe only important function SG Optimizer does that WP Rocket does not. You don’t want duplicate functionality.
Yohan says
Hi Tom, Amazing content! Going to give this a whirl.
One bit of confusion… Are you suggesting to use stackpath AND cloudflare or choose one or the other?
– Would prefer not to change the nameservers for now.
Seems stackpath doesn’t need a change the NSs but cloudflare does?
Thank you!!!!!
Tom Dupuis says
Hey Yohan!
Yes, StackPath provides you with a CDN URL to enter into WP Rocket, while Cloudflare requires changing name servers. Both are CDNs, both are good. Using multiple CDN gives you more data centers, but 1 CDN is much better than none :)
Rodrigo says
Hi Tom
Great article. I’ve been using WP Rocket for a couple years now and generally had my site well optimised. I just went back and did some tweaking to it so hopefully will help out a bit. I’m getting load times down to about 0.5 sec on average now.
I have also been using StackPath for the past couple years and am running my site through their servers (i.e., changed my IP address to a StackPath IP address in the A record in my DNS settings). I think it provides a bit of extra protection via their WAF. On that note, a question for you….
I see you configured both StackPath AND Cloudflare. Is there any conflict with these two on the same site. I’m not website guru by any means, but I thought they were both CDNs. I know I’ve got Stackpath CDN activated, but I thought Cloudflare might not play nice together with Stackpath.
Thanks in advance for any tips you can provide.
Cheers
Tom Dupuis says
Hey Rodrigo,
Yes, both are CDNs and both have their own set of data centers (about 150 with Cloudflare, 31 with StackPath). More data centers means faster content delivery, so it would be optimal to use both, but not absolutely mandatory. No conflicts on my end though. Been using Cloudflare + MaxCDN (previously StackPath) for many years and they’ve worked great together.
kelvin says
please can i hire you to do all of this task for me. I am running a user generated content site, and i would really love to give my users the ultimate experience.
Tom Dupuis says
Hi Kelvin,
My freelancer can help you, we’ve been working together for about 7 years and he takes care of all speed optimization projects: https://www.freelancer.com/u/bdkamol
Suanlian Tangpua says
Hi,
I am using Siteground the Grow Big plan and used the inbuilt SG super cacher. Do you think It’s still worth buying this WP Rocket? Will it make any difference on my site in which SG Super cacher is enabled.
Thank you
Tom Dupuis says
With cache plugins you never really know until you try it out. I would say it’s worth the $39 though to try.
Dom says
Hi Tom,
I’ve followed your guide and it seems like a clients site is much faster now.
But it seems you can’t click on the mobile menus anymore. You know when a site is auto resized and the top menu bar turns into three dashes on top of each other. That is not clickable anymore.
What part of WP Rocket would be potentially causing this do you think?
Dom
Tom Dupuis says
It’s probably a setting in the “file optimization” tab, or mobile cache. Can you play around with those and do trial and error?
Tanya says
Hello Tom… First thanks a lot for such great detailed instructions and recommendations for WP Rocket plugin.
I just installed it and achieved very good improvement of 655 ms loading time on Pingtom compare to 2,7 s before plugin installation.
I have a question for seeing different load times of GTMetrix, WebPageScore and Pingtom. On GTMetrixm and WebPageScore I see 2,9 and 2.4 s fully loaded times though.
What information is more accurate for speed testing and what time Google use to define how fast your site loads: load or fully load time? What time is more important for Google ranking improvement?
I meant should I keep working on optimizing my site in order to improve GTMetrix fully loaded time ( A94% and B83% scores) 2,7 s fully loaded time or for now 655s load time on Pingtom will be enough? My hosting is not the fastest one as well. So, I am planning to change it as well. I am thinking moving to Site Guard as WPEngine is pretty pricey. Is SiteGuard good with protecting sites from hacking?
And last one: on PageSpeedTool I have recommendations for prioritize visible content and eliminate render-blocking JavaScript and CSS in above-the-fold content issues. And it shows that I have a low mobile speed there.
Should I keep looking for solutions to improve it, specially prioritize visible content? I though WP Rocket will help with it. But it didn’t not.
Thank you very much for your help in advance,
Tanya
Tom Dupuis says
Hey Tanya,
Load time (in GTmetrix I would pay attention to fully loaded time) is definitely the most important metric, and Pingdom is generally the most accurate tool for that. If you can still fix items in GTmetrix I would, since those tend correlate with load time (and IMO, GTmetrix has more detailed recommendations than any other speed testing tools) – but I wouldn’t drive yourself crazy over it. If you can get to 2s, that is great. I did this then hired my developer to reduce it more.
GTmetrix says:
Onload time – is when the processing of the page is complete and all the resources on the page (images, CSS, etc.) have finished downloading.
Fully loaded time – is the point after the Onload event fires and there has been no network activity for 2 seconds.
Are you referring to SiteGuard or SiteGround hosting? For security, make sure you’re on reliable servers (good hosting) then just configure a security plugin like Wordfence or iThemes security – both are free. No need to pay for SiteGuard or SiteGround’s security scanner, the free plugins should be enough.
I honestly wouldn’t pay any attention to Google PageSpeed Insights. Just load time. For mobile load time uou can try using AMP pages, however this will effect the design of your mobile design so it’s best to test to see what it looks like. You can customize it a little with Glue For Yoast & AMP plugin. If you don’t like the design, you can simply delete the AMP plugin, I would try it though. Also gives you an AMP stamp in mobile search results. Generally though, improving load time for your desktop site will also improve it for your mobile site.
In short: focus on GTmetrix recommendations, hosting, and use Pingdom’s load time as the main metric. These should also improve your mobile site, but try also try an AMP plugin. Use iThemes or Wordfence for security :)
Paco says
i used before wp fastest cache had 2 seconds loading i thought to try wp rocket, now it goes on 6 seconds or more… so i deactivated it…
Tom Dupuis says
Ah, usually it’s an improvement but cache plugins can yield different results from website to website.
Martin says
I check your site via pingdom again and see what you have 800ms load time, not 200. This number change every time, but 1-2sec for pingdom is a great result.
Tom Dupuis says
Ah yes it fluctuates sometimes. Achieving 100% scores with 200ms load times seems to require some maintenance.
Jake says
Wow! I’m surprised there are not more comments. Fantastic guide and well written. I followed all of your steps and I’m so glad I found you. You helped me BIG time! I will be following you in the future, thanks Tom!
Tom Dupuis says
Thanks Jake! :)
Got some big plans with infographics, videos, and eventually an ebook. More content to come though – thanks for supporting and let me know if you have any questions!
Mauwiks says
Great content Brother. Thanks for this! You rock!
Tom Dupuis says
Appreciated! Thank you :)
Chuck says
This is a very valuable article. I may create a backlink to this post in my future posts.
Thank you, Tom.
Bella Ross says
Hello Tom Dupuis,
I’m very thankful to you for this great in detail post. I have followed every step to set up the WP Rocket. I have done it smoothly except the settings of CDN. I have registered Cloudflare account and configured everything you said. But one thing is still confusing me that is Enabling CDN option. I have enabled the Cloudflare addon and tweaked the settings as your instruction. But what about the CDN enable? Should I need to activate that option too from the CDN menu of WP Rocket? Or it doesn’t need to activate this option as this option is only for MAX CDN?
Please help me to solve this problem. I’m really confused to move to the next step. I’ll be waiting for your reply.
Thanks in advance!
Warm Regards,
Bella Ross
Mani Teja says
I have implemented same on my site but results are same
Simon says
It’s almost too good to be true. But it works 110% I’ve installed it on several of my pages, and they all run super fast now. Now the rest of my pages also will get WP Rocket installed. Thanks for a super good guide, about how to setup WP Rocket.
Ruperth Simth says
Hi
Nice and clean article. I wish to know which is better combined with W3 total cache? is it either MaxCDN or Cloudflare
Tom Dupuis says
Using both is ideal but is only necessary for higher traffic websites https://www.maxcdn.com/blog/multi-cdns/
I generally recommend starting off with Cloudflare, but then to also test MaxCDN.
Mehdi says
Thanks for a great and thorough tutorial.
Great work!
Laura says
It looks like Cloudfare is only free for personal sites. I am working on a small-business startup site so don’t think I qualify for that. I am just feeling nickle and dimed with every step I make with wordpress…Is there an alternative to Cloudfare that is actually free?
Thanks for the tutorial though. I think I am getting there.
Tom Dupuis says
Hey Laura,
I run Cloudflare’s free plan on my business blog. I think “personal” is just used broadly as a type of plan with certain features. I would still go for the personal plan… your startup should be plenty qualified. It’s by far the #1 best free CDN.
What do you feel nickel and dimed with as far as WP goes? Maybe I know some free alternatives.
Hachim says
Hi,
thank u so much for the article.
can I use maxcdn and cloudflare at the same time? I already have a max cdn pro account, but can I use both to improve the loading time?
Tom Dupuis says
Yes you can use both. I do on my blog. More data centers = better :)
Falk says
Thanks for your reply, Tom!
(BTW, I now tried to hit “reply” to your reply: didn’t work.)
A few things/questions:
* do your instructions on this page here reflect WP Rocket’s new user interface?
See https://wp-rocket.me/blog/3-0/ – or would things look different now & I as a newbie may get confused to what you are referring to? Just checking…
* you wrote “Yes using both (Cloudflare + CDN (like MaxCDN or KeyCDN) will make your site even faster as you’ll be using more data centers which will further reduce the geographical distance. But… Cloudflare alone is usually sufficient.”
FYI, here is what Marko from WP Rocket support wrote to me yesterday:
“… It’s just fine to use WP Rocket + Cloudflare or WP Rocket + CDN. However, it’s useless to use all three at the same time, as well as Cloudflare + CDN at the same time. It would not give you any benefits.”
Thoughts?
* FYI, their config service is now $299, not $199.
Thanks for providing such a super-valuable website & resource!!
Tom Dupuis says
Hi again Falk!
1. Yes they reflect Version 3.0+
2. Hm that is interesting considering Cloudflare also has Rocket Loader, Railgun, Accelerated Mobile Links, and other speed features outside of just a CDN. And while Cloudflare handles the majority of my requests, MaxCDN does handle a decent amount as well (the static assets). Both have dashboard reports to check this, and MaxCDN’s support team says using both MaxCDN and Cloudflare is one of the best cross-CDN setups https://www.maxcdn.com/one/tutorial/how-to-use-cdn-with-cloudflare/
3. I will update the pricing of the configuration services – thank you and you’re welcome!! :)
Falk says
Newbie question: am on Siteground GoGeek and using their SuperCacher & the free Cloudflare plan that comes with it.
Now wanna add WP ROCKET as well…
1) if I carefully follow your plan above: still a point for WP Rockets $199 SETUP thingy?
(Which would include the $39 for 1 site…)
I am good at following instructions – but NOT an overly techy webmaster.
2) is there a point to use MAXCDN besides already using CLOUDFLARE?
What am I gaining from that, which Cloudflare doesn’t already do?
Thanks! :)
Tom Dupuis says
Hey Falk,
I dont think you need the $199 configuration service if you use my tutorial. Unless it completely screws up your site which I don’t think it will.
Yes using both will make your site even faster as you’ll be using more data centers which will further reduce the geographical distance. But… Cloudflare alone is usually sufficient.
No problem :-)
dan says
Thanks for the great tutorial
Got the same plugin versions and hosting on Siteground. Unfortunately i do have css issues as soon as i enable maxcdn in the WP-Rocket settings. Even if i set MaxCDN only to serve images.
Site speed is also everything else then fast since i moved to Siteground. While i know they do have some of the best hosting, it seems some settings or plugins do have issues and slow down.
Anyone else?
Kip Kniskern says
We’re using WP Rocket and AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages for WordPress. Do you recommend using WP Rocket’s mobile caching with AMP, or no?
Tom Dupuis says
Yes, I do on my site.
DNN says
Hey Tom,
I’ve been experimenting with using different WordPress caching plugins in hopes of speeding up blog site loading time. One thing I’m noticing on Alexa is it will tell on you if your WordPress blog loads slow. As my search engine rank is steadily improving on a daily basis, Amazon’s Alexa keeps saying that the blog or maybe the website in overall loads very slow. Which specific WordPress plugin can I install would you recommend that can speed up the blog loading time so that my SEO can improve faster? Thanks in advance for your suggestion. :-)
Tom Dupuis says
WP Rocket is definitely the cache plugin I recommend (and use on my own site) but is $39/year. Otherwise I would try WP Fastest Cache.
But what tool is Alexa using? GTmetrix and Pingdom are really the only speed testing tools I use. I would go by them :)
DNN says
Thanks for the good information Tom. I may look into that momentarily and see what good I can make of it. I’ll strive to keep you posted if I do make anything of it. :-)
Ed says
Do you use WP Rocket and SG Optimizer at the same time? I use Siteground and currently running SG Optimizer. Any reason to use both?
Best hosting support in the world BTW – Go Siteground!
Tom Dupuis says
I do use both, SiteGround says you’re not suppose to, but I got good results when using both. I think it’s worth testing.
Love SiteGround :)
dan says
WP-Rocket says you can use all Caching layers on Siteground and this will auto disable the caching feature of WP-Rocket leaving only the other options running. https://docs.wp-rocket.me/article/115-can-i-use-wp-rocket-with-sg-optimizer
Ernest says
i still cant remove query strings
Tom Dupuis says
It’s probably because of a plugin? Check GTmetrix’s expandable items and Waterfall tab.
creebhills says
thanks so much for this tutorial as i can always count on your expertise when it comes to managing wordpress
jenny says
good luck how can i contact with you ?
Sarah says
Thank You So Much, Thanks for informatic details configurations, I really enjoy your Post and in 4 minutes I would setup of my WP Rocket setting. Thanks again. Love You.
Tom Dupuis says
:) you’re welcome Sara, glad it helped you!
Angela says
Hi, I’m confused, when I use the Critical Path CSS generator it has two results boxes. Do I copy and paste from the top or the bottom one? Critical Path CSS or Load combined CSS file after page load?
Thanks.
Colin says
Tom – Thank you for putting this in-depth, and easy to follow guide together. I used it on XboxDIY.com, and I went from having Page Speed scores in the 30-40s, and F’s across the board almost every where else, to being up in the high 70s, low 80s, and looking at green A’s across the board everywhere else.
Speed is significantly better in both mobile, and desktop applications, and using this guide helped me think about other ways to improve performance across my site.
Tom Dupuis says
Thanks so much for that feedback Colin, awesome improvement! So happy the guide was helpful – let me know if you have any questions on those other GTmetrix/Pingdom items!
Matt says
Did WPRocket pull their critical render path css out from the platform? I don’t see it in there anymore
Dhaval Kenia says
Can you tell me what are the analytics with Maxcdn and Cloudflare?
How much cached data Maxcdn/CF analytics show they are taking care of? I am trying to debug this.
Tom Dupuis says
For me, in the last 24 hours Cloudflare cached 14.62 MB and didn’t cache 1.44 GB. MaxCDN cached about 3.75 GB.
Tamizzle says
Hello Tom,
Thanks for the detailed and step by step walk through, I did as you adviced and it came very well as a final result.
Want to ask one question, If i use cloudflare and maxcdn together, does my site speed will improve dramatically?
Means now my site loads at 0.88 ( i am in a shared hosting, India server), can it goes down to some thing like 0.5 or 0.4.
Please suggest
Tom Dupuis says
It could potentially – definitely worth trying out since Cloudflare is free and MaxCDN has a free trial. Both are easy to setup too, so ya I would go for it.
Tommie Secher says
MaxCDN doesn’t have a free trial??
Tom Dupuis says
Yes they do https://www.maxcdn.com/test-account/
Aima Khan says
I have follow the instruction of Rocket settings in the same way, and it helps to improve the speed of my website upto 99%.
Tom Dupuis says
Amazing, nice work!
Laima says
I am new, i start to open store and need preferences for homepage title,i feel very difficult, but i funded nice guys, hope i lear ,i getting more clear what to need .Thank you.
hossam says
hi tom Do you have a solution to this problem:
Prioritize visible content
Your page requires additional network round trips to render the above-the-fold content. For best performance, reduce the amount of HTML needed to render above-the-fold content.
Tim Evans says
You say to only use “‘create a caching file for mobile visitors’ if you are NOT using a plugin to create a mobile site (eg. free version of WP Touch).”
Is using an AMP plugin considered using a plugin to create a mobile site? My understanding is it’s just rendering a more mobile-friendly format, not creating the mobile site, but I know just enough to be dangerous.
Tom Dupuis says
I use an AMP plugin and yes it render a different mobile version… definitely more minimal and simple. Wouldn’t call it creating a completely new mobile site but yes, definitely changes the appearance.
Gerva sharma says
Why maxcdn when cloudflare can do the CDN job?
Tom Dupuis says
Definitely need to write a tutorial for this but MaxCDN provides additional 54 data centers which have SSD servers with 10GB connections (very fast), they do not charge for HTTPS traffic (Cloudflare does), but I think the most valuable part is their support (no support with free Cloudflare plan). MaxCDN’s support team is very good and helped me configure their CDN to improve my GTmetrix YSlow score by about 8%. That’s why I recommended giving the free trial a shot then contacting their support for configuration help to see how much it improves your site’s performance.
Tommie Secher says
Did you deactivate Supercacher? The support team at SiteGround claims that it is not compatible with WP Rocket?
Tom Dupuis says
I know SiteGround says they’re not compatible but I have both activated since it got me the best results. Maybe I’m playing with fire but it’s working great for me.
Justin says
Tom, thank you for the article. I do have a question. How far does the CloudFlare integration go? I know I have DNS records that were provided to me from CloudFlare, but I have not any DNS changes. I did however add my email (from CloudFlare) as well an API with the configuration of WP Rocket and it seems to act funny. To be more specific, I had to deactivate CloudFlare in WP Rocket because of my website links would work….a user couldn’t get past the homepage. I also noted that WP Rocket requests a ZONE ID? When i celar the CloudFlare Cache it asks for a ZONE ID.
I have MAX CDN currently configured.
Also, how does this work with the CloudFlare package that my host at SiteGround offers? Could configuring it be more simple than what’s proposed in your article to avoid the current conflict I have been getting with my site’s functionality? My guess is NO, if the site can only be pointed to and resolved through one CNAME record.
What am I missing from your article that’s creating conflict with the site functioning as it should?
Thanks in advance!
JS
Abhishek Kumar says
Thank You So Much, Thanks for informatic details configurations, I really enjoy your Post and in 4 minutes I would setup of my WP Rocket setting. Thanks again. Love You.
Tom Dupuis says
Love you too :) enjoy the plugin.
Sathvik Gubba says
Thanks a lot man I’m pretty much sure your website is a fantastic website your tutorial helped me a lot I went from 42 to 75 in page insights by this and I did some stuff my own to make my website to score 100 anyways thanks a ton man God bless you
Tom Dupuis says
Awesome job Sathvik, 100% is tough – hopefully your load time reflects that too. I just write instructions, WP Rocket does the rest ;)
hitesh says
Thank you soo much for this! Tom, you made my day!
Tom Dupuis says
Comments like yours make it all worth it :)
MajesticWarrior says
Tom,
Great post on ideas, documentation and tools to speed up your wordpress website. We actually went through a lot of the same trials and testing and also found that WP Rocket was one of the best, if not the best caching plugin to use. We use it in conjunction with Imagify to optimize the images and help with speed load times. I analyzed your scores with Pingdom, GTMetrix & Google Page Insights, all checked out with positive results. I was most impressed with Pingdom and GTMetrix and your load time on Pingdom was coming in at .555 to .60 from Dallas servers. Your page size is 468.6 kB and I am wondering if utilizing the CDN is reducing your page size because they are hosting the media files across a network. I tested mine and I load in 1.25s to 1.55s cached run, but my page size is 3.1MB, which is a much larger page size. I am thankful of the 1.3s load time, but wanted your thoughts on adding a CDN and if it would have an impact. Thanks
Tom Dupuis says
Yes, I use a CDN and have asked MaxCDN’s support team to help me with configuration as they were able to further improve my load time/scores once they were done. But I have also heard people say their load times/scores were worse after implementing a CDN – but I don’t know how they configured it and whether they actually got help from the support team.
I would try doing a free trial and getting help from MaxCDN (or whoever’s) support team then testing your GTmetrix/Pingdom scores. You should also test in various regions since that’s what the CDN does. If you see a good improvement, keep it. If not, cancel. But a CDN is definitely suppose to help with hosting media/other files so it can deliver content faster.
Waqas Rahman says
I am Unable to download the pre configured setting…Please recheck the link and let me know !
Tom Dupuis says
Can’t share them anymore due to the settings be exported in .json format which is for security :/
Alex says
thanks Tom, Awesome stuff.
Tom Dupuis says
Thanks Alex :)
rahmat rian says
tom i have instaled wp rocket also upgrade my host and cdn but i want to ask , but in chase my speed just in 2.6s also i want to ask ,is live chat web plugin affect in speed ? in chase i using tawk to
Tom Dupuis says
Yes, live chat plugins can slow down your site. I try to avoid them but if you use one, make sure it’s lightweight. I think Zendesk was a good lightweight option…
Tommie Secher says
Or try to use it less on very important pages – like your index page ;)
scholarshipsads says
That is perfectly fine and detailed information. but you have provided the setting for the plugin, the download link is not working anymore, please upload once again for the new version 2.10.3
Tom Dupuis says
Just updated it, sorry it can be hard to keep up!
Juliet says
I can’t remove “Remove query strings from static resources” I marked from advanced options. But after testing through Pingdom it shows Grade E. What should I do?
Tom Dupuis says
When you expand the item in Pingdom/GTmetrix do you see the source (eg. a plugin)? Removing query strings has always been the hardest from my experience… hiring a developer experienced with speed optimization is always worth a shot too.
ponemusic says
very usefull information,
Amanda says
Thank you! I found this post incredibly helpful for optimising WP Rocket
Tom Dupuis says
Awesome!
Rakesh Ranjan says
Thanks for the great article!
Tom Dupuis says
For sure!
Ernest says
Hi,
Thank you for this tutorial, I followed your step by step instruction to optimize my blog but it still doesn’t load fast.
Tom Dupuis says
The ads (eg. from Amazon) are slowing it down :/
Lawrence Lo says
Thanks for writing this post. I follow your instruction. Installed WP Rocket. I try to use MaxCDN. However, as I lives in Hong Kong, the cost of adding a site in HK is very high. Eventually, I try KeyCDN. After installation, the test result is not noticable. I use GTMetrix and compares (1) WP Rocket activated without CDN activated, (2) WP Rocket deactivated, (3) WP Rocket activated and CDN activated.
The results are shown based on five categories:
PageSpeed Grade
YSlow Grade
Fully Loaded time
Total page size
Total # of requests
(1) WP Rocket activated without CDN activated:
B (81%)
D (68%)
4.2s
1.39MB
58
(2) WP Rocket deactivated:
B (80%) -1%
D (64%) -4%
5.0s +0.8s
1.43MB +43.7KB
64 +6
(3) WP Rocket activated and CDN activated.
B (81%)
C (75%) +7%
4.7s +439ms
1.40MB +8.53KB
59 +1
The test server is set in Hong Kong. I can see the loading time is about 4 to 5s no matter which option I choose.
If I use pingdom.com, the loading time varies widely from 1s to 5s depends on the testing location.
It seems that activating WP rocket is a bit faster based on the test. However, I do not notice any actual difference when I browse my web site. Using KeyCDN (supposingly has a server in Hong Kong) do not make any difference.
Is there anything I should do to speed things up?
Tom Dupuis says
Have you looked through my WordPress speed guide? I see you can do things like losslessly compress images using Imagify, specify image dimensions (adding a width/height to image’s HTML or CSS), resizing your logo, disabling Jetpack if possible and using a more minimal/lightweight plugin for the functionality you need, and avoiding the Google Maps Builder plugin you’re using if possible. Try to minimize those plugins if you can…
Jack Venturi says
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the in depth article on WP Rocket. I just started using WP Rocket a few days ago and I could see right away that it works really good. I have my website hosted with WP Engine and my package includes a Max CDN also. All I had to do is uncheck the box for JS on the basic setting page due to the fact some of my quoting forms disappeared. Everything else works fine on the plug-in. All the information you included in this article was great, thanks a million!
Tom Dupuis says
So glad it worked well for you Jack and that configuration was so easy. Sounds like you have a nice setup going.
Sandeep Reddy says
Awesome! Thanks man. This guide really helped my site “techflout.com”
Lance says
There seems to be issues with the preconfigured file you have for download. Can you share it again?
Tom Dupuis says
I can’t share them anymore due to the new .json format which is for security.
Zsolt says
Hi,
has anybody the same problem like me? I have installed the app and configured my site with the Tom’s pre settings for wp rocket and I have on the site trouble to display with images and other sections. What can be wrong in the pre setting or on my site. I have divi theme.
Tom Dupuis says
See here:
http://docs.wp-rocket.me/article/106-my-site-is-broken
It covers issues related to broken images, minification, lazyload, and CDN. Instructions are pretty clear but let me know.
Pierre says
Hi Tom.
Thanks a lot for sharing your information :). I tried to download your pre-configured WP Rocket settings but it seems that the file is corrupted :(…
Could you inform me, please, if you generate an other release ;)?
TIA
Amicably,
Pierre
Tom Dupuis says
Doesn’t work anymore with new .json format :/
Mohamad says
Hi Tom,
Thank for this detailed tutorial!
what do I need to modify in these settings if I’m using SuperCacher on SiteGround?
Tom Dupuis says
Hey Mohamad,
You should only use 1 cache plugin so I would just use WP Rocket :)
Adarsh danicha says
Oh great it is an interesting plugin glad i found it.
Thank for this amazing settings which really helped me setting up in my website.
Tom Dupuis says
Anytime, hope it loads fast!
Sandesh Chauhan says
Hello i am not able to add Globle API key as it showing Your CloudFlare credentials are invalid even though i entered the correct email and API Key,now what to do i already added domain and every details in cloudflare.
Tom Dupuis says
Many hosting companies like SiteGround and even Bluehost have an option to enable Cloudflare in the cPanel which also works.
Daniel Muvd says
i installed clean my data base destroy my website i have a huge problem now thanks to wp rocket.
Tom Dupuis says
You should always backup your site before cleaning your database, as with any database cleanup plugin. These things can happen it’s not just WP Rocket.
Tom Deane says
What settings within Cloudflare itself do you have activated?
Mainly with the following:
– Auto Minify
Javascript
CSS
HTML
– Polish
– Mirage
-Rocket Loader
And do any of these interfere with Siteground’s Super Cacher or WP Rocket?
Tom Dupuis says
I have everything activated though I don’t have the pro plan so polish/mirage aren’t activate, but I would enable each one 1 by 1 and test your results. Generally try to do as many as you can.
Just to clarify you should only use 1 cache plugin, but no they shouldn’t interfere. And if it does, it’s probably Rocket Loader.
Gagan Kamboj says
Yup really number one plugin.
Installed tomorrow and i can see the change in speed.
Tom Dupuis says
Awesome, glad you had good results Gagan.
Zee says
The speed difference is noted, but what other reasons make this plugin better, if any? Is it ease of use, better options that aren’t offered in others, or what? Thanks.
Tom Dupuis says
Yep ease of use, extensive options like preload bot, mobile cache, built-in database cleanup, awesome support, Cloudflare/MaxCDN integration… it’s all quite nice.
NicePedia says
Really explain wonderful’ve liked very much .. and found him exactly what I want .. thank you my friend.
Tom Dupuis says
You got it.
Pete Lautenschlager says
I think a major problem is I can’t seem to configure the free cloud flare CDN without the site getting weird. I did email Pronaya yesterday haven’t heard back yet.
Tom Dupuis says
Try Usama, his freelancer username is i333
Pete Lautenschlager says
Thanks for the detailed instructions. I tried going by your steps I got the speed up and then it went from bad to worse. I seem to be going around in circles. I am going to get in touch with Pronaya hope he can help. Or Tom do you have any advice.
Tom Dupuis says
Get in touch with Pronaya or i333 from freelancer.com – they can help you. Sorry it got worse :/
Don says
Hello, do you have to change your name servers if you want to use cloud flare? Or does wp take care of that as well?
Tom Dupuis says
No need to change nameservers when using WP Rocket.
Mukesh Mali says
Can you please share your WP Rocket settings..Bcoz, it’s quite difficult to work with it and I’m not able to speed up my site ?
Tom Dupuis says
Just added them to the tutorial :) let me know if you have any issues.
I ran your site through GTmetrix and noticed you’re using images that are hosted on BlogSpot. You should download these then upload them to your WordPress site so your server is hosting them, not Blogspot. This is what “Serve resources from a consistent URL” means in your GTmetrix report. Losslessly compressing images with Imagify should fix the “optimize images” item… then finally it looks like AdSense is slowing down your site. Try these and let me know what happens.
Joris says
Hi! Thank you for the great article! What I don’t understand is why you use cloudflare AND maxcdn?! In my (still very limited) understanding cloudflare is a cdn? What additional service/advantage would I benefit from using both?
Right now I use WP Rocket and cloudflare and still have load times around 5 sec, so I’m very interested ;-)
Thank you and all the best
Joris
Tom Dupuis says
Hey Joris,
Sorry for the late reply – been out the last few days. They have different features (like MaxCDN having more data centers than Cloudflare) but this article does a good job of explaining the difference. I’ve also just had better performance when using both for both my site and client’s.
Looks like you have a nice GTmetrix report though which from my experience means the 5s load time might be because you need to add more server resources to your hosting plan. Plus if you run your site through Google Page Speed Insights you can see “reduce server response time” shows up in the report.
Pieter says
Hi Tom,
Great read!
Do have a question about something that isn’t clear to me:
Using Cloudflare and WP-Rocket together; does this bring -anything at all- in regards to -significant- speed improvements? I already use Cloudflare and am considering WP-Rocket but have doubts if it is worth the extra investment.
I have read at the WP-Rocket site that Cloudflare and WP-Rocket basically do the same/similar things but WP-Rocket just has one extra thing called concatenation (combining files in little groups).
Does this really make a big difference?
I’m getting more and more doubtful about this, especially when even WP-Rocket themselves mention that Cloudflare can perform tasks just as well as WP-Rocket. :-/
Do you or anyone else have any experience with using both at the same time?
Thanks,
Pieter
Tom Dupuis says
Hey Pieter,
Combining files is definitely important and you will usually see multiples items in Pingdom/GTmetrix that have to do with this. So yes, it’s important.
WP Rocket definitely DOES have features that Cloudflare does not (and they’re constantly releasing new ones). Like their preload bot, database cleanup option, lazyload, cache lifespan, remove query strings… among others.
I would say WP Rocket is definitely worth trying out, or at least trying a free cache plugin like WP Fastest Cache to see how it impacts your load time/scores.
Pete says
Great article. Much appreciated!
Just wondering, WP Rocket + CloudFlare + MaxCDN gives you a 0.3s load time.
What load time does only WP Rocket + CloudFlare give you?
Also, CloudFlare has a 102 data center global footprint. Would that mean that visitors will get pretty much the same fast load times (e.g. less than 1 second) when using WP Rocket + CloudFlare no matter where they are on the planet since they would likely always be near a CloudFlare data center?
Tom Dupuis says
GTmetrix recently started using a fully loaded time metric which increased load times pretty significantly for their tests so it’s around 1s now.
I honestly didn’t run tests when implementing MaxCDN but I know it significantly improved my GTmetrix YSlow score especially after their team helped me with configuration. I will be running more extensive tests soon…
Anywhere on the planet? I don’t think so as various regions can have fluctuating load times from what I have seen. And the distance from the data center/connection speed will be different.
Ronald Segura says
Hi Tom,
I bet there is many people reading this article during this week since there was an update for W3TC and also YOAST SEO. This caused one of my sites to crash with a 500 error when having these two active, I first thought it was Yoast but after testing with all plugins I was able to determine that W3 total was the issue. After this, I learned not to update plugins so quickly when they release a new version.
Tom Dupuis says
Hey Ronald,
Thanks for letting me know… you’re the 3rd person who said their site crashed after updating W3TC with the new version. I will warn people about this on my W3TC tutorial… used to love that plugin but I think it’s time to move on (aka use WP Rocket).
Vic Dorfman says
Thanks so much for putting this resource together, Tom.
We, too, are bullish on pushing the envelope in terms of speed, security, and any other kind of incremental optimizations we can implement for our own businesses and our customers.
All of these little things really do add up over time. And it’s good to know that I can come back to your site to stay up to date on the latest goings on (e.g. AMP).
Thanks again,
Vic – Founder, SpeedKills.io
Tom Dupuis says
That’s awesome Vic, “incremental optimizations” … great way to describe it. Glad you’re a fan of the tutorials, just wrote one on click-through rates. If there’s anything I can help with just let me know.
Marc says
Thanks for this excellent comparison of Caching-Plugins for WordPress. I agree that WP-Rocket is the most capable one. What I do not like is their licensing policy. There is no way to try it out and you have decide right away, if you buy a license or go with a free alternative instead. I gladly came along these instructions on how to disable the license check of WP-Rocket and thus have the option to try before I buy: https://gpldl.com/remove-license-code-check-wp-rocket-wordpress-plugin/
These instructions work and I would not recommend to anyone to download a nulled version from the web – just do it yourself!
Vijaygopal Balasa says
Can you please share your WP Rocket settings..Bcoz, it’s quite difficult to work with it and I’m not able to speed up my site ?
Hosting: GoDaddy
Theme: Optimized Speed theme by MyThemeShop.
Tom Dupuis says
Hi Vijaygopal,
You need to upgrade your hosting or switch to a faster host, it’s not WP Rocket. If you run your site through Google Page Speed Insights your report includes the “reduce server response time” item which is taking 1.9 seconds (200ms or less is recommended by Google). That’s why your GTmetrix scores look good (A/B) but your page load time is still around 4.5 seconds… see this article if you want to see screenshots, hosts I recommend (SiteGround), etc.
But… here are my settings in a txt file if you’d like to use them.
Ryan says
“Cloudflare is a free service that improves both your speed and security. You should do this.”
Always great to hear that. Thanks for the great write-up!
Tom Dupuis says
Anytime Ryan, always pointing people to Cloudflare because it’s awesome.
Iwan says
Thank you for the detail review. I want use your coupon code to sign up at max cdn.
Tom Dupuis says
Hi Iwan,
You can click my MaxCDN coupon link and it will automatically take the 25% off (no code, just a link). You probably know it’s an aff link so thank you for doing that. Anytime and glad you liked the tutorial :)
Iwan says
Thank you for your response.
Discount 25% just for the first month?
Or if we subcribe yearly get 25% off ?
Tom Dupuis says
Discount is just for 1st month, annual is actually cheaper at $90/year, free trial is good if you want to test it out (you might as well get a free month anyway).
vijaygopal says
Wow, Thanks for the detailed review and Complete guide on WP rocket. Once again thanks for sharing WP rocket settings that I asked you in previous comment section.
Tom Dupuis says
I try to deliver :) glad you like it.