You can make your website significantly faster by using a cache plugin for WordPress. Most well-known plugins are WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache.
A lesser-known cache plugin is the LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress, or the LSCache plugin. This plugin works optimally with the LiteSpeed web server that is enabled by default on every one of our hosting servers. The LSCache plugin can make your website a factor of 3 faster than it is now, with a few relatively simple settings.
The best thing about this plugin is that you get very advanced functionality that is made available to you for free, because we use the ultra-fast LiteSpeed web server. Here's how to install and configure the LSCache plugin.
Note: Before proceeding, deactivate and remove all the current cache plugins you have installed on your WordPress website. Otherwise, the different caching plugins may conflict with each other in terms of settings, which may result in a broken website.
Install the LiteSpeed Cache plugin
- Login on as a WordPress admin user. You can use <domain>/wp-admin, or see the full guide at WordPress: Login and Dashboard.
- In the the admin area of your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins, and click on New plugin (left top).Then search for LiteSpeed Cache and click Install now.
- When the installation is complete, click Activate.
The LiteSpeed cache plugin has now been installed and activated for your WordPress website. Now you just need to configure it to make your website even faster!
Activate LiteSpeed Cache Plugin
In the LiteSpeed Cache plugin, connecting to QUIC.cloud is required to utilize the plugin's features. You can choose to connect anonymously or register (e.g., via Google) to access all functionalities.
- In the WordPress Dasboard, on the left side click LiteSpeed Cache and then Dashboard.
- A welcome screen appears where you can click Enable QUIC.cloud.
- You will be redirected to the QUIC.cloud login page and choose Stay Anonymous.
- Note: If you choose Register or Login via Google, additional DNS changes are required. These changes will also affect the email that is routed through us. If you need a CDN or more caching control, we recommend having it set up by your website developer. For default caching the Stay Anonymous option is good enough.
- After confirming, you will be returned to your WordPress environment.
Cache optimization with a cache preset
The LiteSpeed Cache plugin has a number of presets (setting profiles) that you can use to optimize your website to take a lot of work off your hands. As you use a higher profile, more parts will be cached and optimized. This also increases the chance of errors in your website, so experiment a bit with the settings.
You can choose a preset through LiteSpeed Cache > Presets.
We recommend using the Advanced preset, which contains the most important setting for caching your website. Choose a profile and click on Apply preset.
All basic settings have now been loaded and your website will place all pages in the memory of the server during the next visit to your website, making your website a lot faster on a second visit!
Clear cache
You’re done!
However, if you make any changes to your website in the future that aren’t visible on the updated website, you might need to clear the cache first. Go to ‘LiteSpeed Cache’ and click on ‘Toolbox’. Click on ‘Purge All’. Any new changes you’ve made will be directly visible for website visitors.
Object Cache (Redis Cache)
Note: this is only available on our Managed Plans (Managed WordPress, Managed WooCommerce, and Managed VPS).
This is a storage method that keeps frequently used data in the server’s memory (RAM) instead of on the hard drive. As a result websites and webshops with a lot of visitors and dynamic content, can load faster. That’s why this feature is only available with our Managed Plans (Managed WordPress, Managed WooCommerce, and Managed VPS).
To enable Redis Cache, go to your WordPress Dashboard, open LiteSpeed Cache, and click on the Cache section. Then, under [6] Object, you can adjust the following settings:
Managed WordPress / Managed WooCommerce
- Object Cache: ON
- Method: Redis
- Host: /tmp/redis.sock
- Port: 0
Managed VPS
- Object Cache: ON
- Method: Redis
- Host: localhost
- Port: 6379
Once enabled, Redis Cache (Object Cache) is active and running. If you want to clear the cache, follow the same steps as described above in the Clear cache section.
To conclude:
As you might have seen, there are many settings you can manage to optimize your website, but when you customize your website, it may cause problems. That’s why we’ve prepared a basic configuration setup for you, which works with most websites.
If you’re an advanced user and want to see if you can speed up your website even more, have a look at the extensive LiteSpeed Cache for WordPress documentation. There are often many things you can do to further optimize your website, but this usually requires in-depth technical knowledge.
If you need some help, you can always reach our support desk by email support@cloud86.io and on weekdays from 9:00 to 16:00 (CET) you can also reach us by phone and via the chat in My Cloud86.