Website speed is crucial factor when it comes to SEO & website usability. Slow website equals less visitors and less SEO benefits. There are multiple ways to speed up your website and make it load faster, but this time I’ll focus on one very neat plugin called WP Super Cache.
What this plugin actually does is page caching, which means that every page on your site gets temporarily cached (saved) and served to the visitors. Without caching every time when someone visit your site, WordPress serve pages individually to every visitor, which is resulting with higher consumption of available hosting resources (server memory, CPU usage and other resources that are always limited, so if you have more visitors on your site, you’ll need more memory, more CPU power in order to have the site function properly).
So, the lack of resources makes your site load slower.
Before you install the plugin, check your website speed by clicking here, so you can compare it with the results after you install and set up the WP Super Cache.
WP Super Cache takes all that server stress (resources consumption) on it’s back by creating static page files and reducing the interaction with the database.
Install and setup guide
The process of install and setup is fairly simple and understandable even for complete WordPress beginners. In order to install WP Super Cache plugin, log in to your WP admin dashboard, click “Plugins” >> “Add New” >> in the search box located on the top right side type “WP Super Cache” and hit enter on your keyboard. When plugin shows up in the search results, click “Install” and then activate the plugin.
Now, the plugin is successfully installed and activated. What is left is to change the settings in order to reach the best possible results and make your site load faster than ever before.
In your admin dashboard, click “Settings” >> “WP Super Cache” >> and choose “Advanced” tab. Copy the settings from the image below.
On the bottom of “Advanced” settings, don’t forget to enable “Clear all cache files when a post or page is published or updated.” When you’re done with advanced setup, click “Update Status”.
After you update the status (save the settings), on same page click the “Update Mod_Rewrite Rules” button on the bottom.
Now scroll up to the top of the page and choose “Preload” tab and copy the settings from the image below.
After you’re done with the “Preload” setup, click “Update Settings” and then “Preload Cache Now”.
Now, everything is set up. Next step would be to test the caching and the settings. From the top menu choose “Easy” tab and click “Test Cache”. If everything is functioning properly, you should get the same results as on the image below.
Important notice:
If you add a new page/post or update an existing one the cache will be deleted automatically, which means that all new content updates will be saved in the cache directory and become visible for the visitors. If you do some manual coding changes, install new plugins or add/edit widgets, you should manually clear the cache. The best way to clear the cache is by visiting the plugin settings page >> “Contents” tab >> “Delete Cache” button.
If you need any help with the install and setup of WP Super Cache, I’m at your service.