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
Connect to QUIC.cloud (version 7.0+)
From version 7.0.0.1 of 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.
If you are not prompted for this, then you are probably using an older version of LiteSpeed Cache. In that case you can activate the plugin by manually requesting a domain key see the section Request domain key below for those instructions.
- 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:
- Choose Stay Anonymous if you do not want to create an account (see image below).
- Or choose Register or Login through Google if you want to link an account.
- After confirming, you will be returned to your WordPress environment.
Request domain key (version <7.0)
Note: This step is no longer necessary as of version 7.0.0.1 of liteSpeed. If you are using this or a newer version of LiteSpeed, you can now proceed to the section Setup a cache-preset.
With the domain key you authorize your website with the LiteSpeed optimization servers. If you want to use functionality such as optimizing your images and/or CDN, you will need a domain key.
- In the WordPress Dashboard on the left, navigate to LiteSpeed Cache > General.
- Click Request Domain Key. It may take up to 15 minutes to get your domain key, but you can continue with the next steps while waiting for it.
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.
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 10:00 am to 4:00 pm you can also reach us by phone and via the chat in My Cloud86.