The present age is the age of the Internet. Without this versatile tool, it would be really difficult to imagine life as it exists today. Hence, the websites which you make should be fast loading as well, and so is the case with even a WordPress website. At this juncture, you will understand that a slow website can be a strong reason for a terrible user experience. Also, it could have a terrible influence on your search engine rankings.
Fortunately, as a WordPress website owner or manager, you can make use of a caching plugin which can dramatically reduce load times. Since WordPress runs off a database, every time you request a WordPress website, you are actually retrieving stuff like CSS, images, and JavaScript from the database.
Since WordPress is dynamic, it could slow down your site while trying to update content every now and then from the database. A cache creates a static version of your website and helps your website to run much faster. In this article, let us profile some of the best-in-class caching WordPress plugins available for WordPress, without the need to upgrade your host.
W3 Total Cache
This is an extremely powerful caching plugin that offers a plethora of options at you disposal and is widely popular with some of the major websites around the world. It is a go-for option in the world of WordPress development for many world–standard websites. This caching plugin can cache pages, WordPress database and objects, while enabling caching at the browser end too. Other versatile features include use for CSS and JavaScript minification and compatibility with dedicated servers, content delivery networks, and virtual private servers. This is perhaps the reason why it can be used for high traffic websites. On the flip side, the high number of options can actually daunt the novice user, but that’s not really for whom the cache plugin has been made.
WP Rocket
For those discerning users who want a premium plugin, WP Rocket offers a brilliant mix of speed as well as simplicity. The user involvement is to a minimum as page caching is activated immediately after installation. Cache preloading and images on request are carried out only when needed. With WP Rocket, you can implement lighter HMML, CSS, and Javascript on your website.
You can even utilise WP Rocket on an e-commerce website since this plugin is fully compatible with e-commerce plugins. You also get DNS prefetching besides the fact that it is extremely easy to handle as well as developer friendly.
WP Super Cache
Compared to the previous plugin, it is easier to figure out the basics of this one as there aren’t as many options as the W3 Total Cache has. However, there are multiple tabs which can be accessed easily. This makes it a simple setup for professionals as well as new WP users too. With WP Super Cache, it is possible to create a static HTML file to pretty much every visitor to the website, such as those who are served to users who haven’t logged in or those users who have not viewed a password protected page or post on your WordPress website.
This plugin caches files in three basic ways – supercached static files (PHP is completely bypassed), supercached static files (served by PHP), and legacy caching. It is also possible to selectively choose which sections of your website can be cached. Also, it is possible to handle sudden traffic spikes with this plugin. The best part is that with WP Super Cache you can delete your cache files at specified intervals of time. You can also pre-load files to create supercached static files.
WP Fastest Cache (FREE + PREMIUM)
This plugin is a WordPress cache plugin that rightly delivers a fast browsing experience for its visitors. Since it is easy to setup and easy to use, it is possible to create static HTML files that are based on the dynamic WordPress blog. This cache plugin also automatically modifies the.htaccess file along with offering a cache timeout feature. This cache uses Mod_rewrite, which is the fastest method of caching and also supports CDN and SSL.