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June 19, 2024

7 Best WordPress CDN Services in 2024 (Compared)

We get thousands of global visitors every day on WPBeginner, so we know how important content delivery networks are for website performance.

A CDN is a service that can significantly speed up your website. It works by caching and serving your website content from the servers nearest to your user’s location, reducing your page load time.

While we use Cloudflare on our own site, we know there are lots of other great options for WordPress users. That’s why we have tested the top options on the market, paying attention to the location and number of data centers, pricing, and user-friendliness.

In this article, we will show you the best WordPress CDN providers to speed up your website.

Expert Tip: Are you looking for more ways to speed up your WordPress website? It might be time to call in the experts.

Our experts will do a full performance audit on your website and then optimize it for lightning-fast loading times. Check out our WPBeginner Site Speed Optimization Service today!

How Does a CDN Help WordPress Sites?

A CDN is a global network of servers that saves your website’s static content, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files, in a cache. When a user visits your site, the CDN will serve the content from the server closest to the user, making it load faster.

With a CDN, your website will be much faster and less likely to crash when the traffic is high. This is because your site will rely on multiple CDN servers (called edge servers) instead of just a single origin server to deliver your content.

Here are some benefits of using a CDN:

You get a faster page load speed. CDNs can decrease latency, or the time it takes for a server to deliver content to a browser.
Your site will also be more SEO-friendly. This is because Google prioritizes web pages with good user experience, such as how fast your pages load.
You get better uptime. CDNs use load balancing, so when one of the edge servers fails, the others can cover for it and keep the site running.
You can make your WordPress website more secure against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. The CDN will absorb and route the attack’s traffic to the network of servers to avoid overwhelming the origin server.
You can reduce your WordPress hosting’s bandwidth usage, meaning you won’t need to upgrade to a more expensive hosting plan.

For these reasons, many WordPress website owners use CDNs to make their sites faster and more secure. So, let’s take a look at some of the top WordPress CDN services and how they stack up against each other.

Why Trust WPBeginner?

At WPBeginner, we have 16+ years of experience in running WordPress websites, optimizing them for speed, and reaching readers all over the world. We have also thoroughly tested each of the CDN services mentioned in this article.

For more details, just see our editorial process.

1. Bunny.net

Out of all the CDN services we have reviewed, Bunny.net is the best WordPress CDN on the market. Their WordPress plugin is easy and fast to set up, so you can start using the CDN right away.

Our team has been using Bunny CDN on OptinMonster because their pricing is very affordable for small businesses. If you are based in North America, then the pricing is just $0.01 per GB.

Not sure how much the total will be? Bunny.net has a handy calculator you can use.

They also have data centers worldwide, so you can reach users anywhere they are based. Simply select one of its 123 PoP (point of presence) locations across North America, South America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Oceania.

Bunny.net knows that beginner WordPress users may be new to CDN services. That’s why they provide 24/7 customer support through live chat to help their customers, and they typically respond within an average of 5 minutes.

Pros of Bunny.net:

User-friendly control panel to manage your CDN features, like activating your free SSL certificate in one click or clearing your cache to keep your content updated.
Wide network coverage with its 123 and growing PoP locations.
Video CDN to load videos faster.
Up to 80% image optimization to reduce the size of your image files.
99.99% global Service Level Agreement, which means if your website is down, you will be eligible for credits to offset any loss caused by the outage.
Real-time analytics to help you pinpoint performance issues on your website.

Cons of Bunny.net:

There is no free tier, though there is a 14-day free trial.

Why we recommend Bunny.net: This high-performance CDN service is one of the best options for beginner WordPress users. Despite their affordability, Bunny.net has everything you need to make your website faster and offer a better user experience.

2. Cloudflare

Cloudflare is known as the best free CDN for small business WordPress websites. With a global network of 310 cities and 120 countries, you can rest assured that your site will always be online.

Setting up Cloudflare CDN in WordPress is easy. All you need to do is sign up for a plan, add your website to Cloudflare, and replace your domain’s nameservers with Cloudflare’s.

Cloudflare’s free plan also includes unmetered DDoS protection. This means Cloudflare will detect and mitigate DDoS attacks without limiting the traffic volume that can be protected.

We actually use Cloudflare for their paid security and CDN services on WPBeginner, and we have been very happy with their fast performance, huge CDN network, and excellent uptime.

For more details, you can see why we switched from Sucuri to Cloudflare.

Pros of Cloudflare:

Cloudflare’s global network coverage is vast.
The CDN has a built-in web application firewall to protect users against not just DDoS attacks but also other threats, like email spammers.
Simple bot mitigation to differentiate legitimate bots, like search engine crawlers, from malicious bots like DDoS attackers or phishing campaigns.
Special tools to handle dynamic content caching and delivery to make your site faster.

Cons of Cloudflare:

There is no uptime guarantee for Free and Pro plan users.
Direct support is only available for paid plan users.

Why we recommend Cloudflare: We use a paid Cloudflare plan on WPBeginner for our security and CDN needs. Overall, we appreciate how fast the Cloudflare CDN is, along with its advanced firewall rules to keep our website safe.

3. Sucuri

Sucuri is one of the most popular website security companies out there. Besides offering powerful website security features, they provide an easy-to-use CDN that’s optimized for WordPress.

To use Sucuri’s CDN, you need to sign up for one of their website security platform plans, which includes a web application firewall (WAF).

You can then add your site to the WAF, activate the firewall by changing your site’s DNS settings, and choose a CDN caching option. Besides speeding up your site and preventing DDoS attacks, the WAF also blocks spam and malware.

Sucuri’s data centers are vast, with locations in North America, Europe, and Asia. They also have CDN edge servers operating on Amazon Web Services in Australia and Brazil.

Pros of Sucuri:

According to Sucuri, they can improve website performance by 60%.
Multiple caching options, so you can choose the one that suits your site’s needs best. These include minimal caching, which is great if your site has lots of dynamic content (e.g., personalized text).
Automatic SSL certificate installation for your firewall server to protect your data as it is being transmitted.
Automatic malware removal, meaning Sucuri will delete any malware that it detects right away.
For small business owners, Sucuri offers a basic firewall with CDN plans that start at $9.99 per month.

Cons of Sucuri:

You cannot use the CDN alone as you have to purchase it with Sucuri’s main security features.

Why we recommend Sucuri: Sucuri is a great option if you are looking for a combination of WordPress security features and a CDN. It’s also pretty affordable, making it an excellent choice for small businesses.

4. KeyCDN

KeyCDN is another good option for a WordPress CDN service. It has a user-friendly CDN Enabler plugin that can automatically rewrite your website URLs to serve them through the CDN.

With the CDN Enabler plugin, you get more control over how your CDN works. For example, you can select what type of files need to be served using the CDN to focus on only the essential elements of your website.

You can also instantly purge your CDN cache right from your admin area. As a result, you can keep your website content up-to-date.

KeyCDN’s network of servers is spread across the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Oceanic regions. This way, your site always performs fast no matter where your audience is.

Pros of KeyCDN:

High-performance CDN with support for HTTP/2, GZIP compression, IPv6 support, and image processing, all of which are important features that contribute to faster load times.
Instant CDN purge right from the CDN Enabler plugin to easily update your website content.
Pay-as-you-go pricing with a low minimum charge of $4 per month.
Free 14-day trial with no credit card required.

Cons of KeyCDN:

Despite the low minimum charge, you must purchase a minimum of $49 worth of credit to use KeyCDN.

Why we recommend KeyCDN: This CDN service’s wide network coverage, easy-to-use plugin, and affordable pricing make it worth recommending for small business owners who are just starting out. Just remember to have at least $49 worth of credit in your account to use it.

5. RocketCDN

RocketCDN is a WordPress CDN service offered by the same team as WP Rocket, one of the most popular WordPress caching plugins. That plugin has powered over 3 million websites, so you know you are in good hands with RocketCDN.

RocketCDN is powered by Bunny.net, which means they also have a global network of over 120 edge locations. However, what makes them different is their respective pricing models.

Instead of a pay-as-you-go scheme, RocketCDN comes in a single plan costing $8.99 per month. This already includes unlimited bandwidth for all regions, so you won’t have to worry about hitting any data caps or slow speeds due to limited resources.

When you activate RocketCDN, they will automatically adjust the settings of your website to ensure that it runs smoothly and quickly. These settings include Gzip compression and serving assets over HTTP/2.

Pros of RocketCDN:

Monthly pricing with unlimited bandwidth, which can be a good option if you don’t want the hassle of calculating your own resource usage.
Easy WordPress setup, as you only need to install their plugin and activate their API key.
Everything is enabled for you once the CDN is active, from Gzip compression, and HTTP/2 support, to serving all images using CDN.
Automatic canonical header setup so that search engines know which version of your website to show even though some of your assets are served using a CDN address.

Cons of RocketCDN:

Compared to other CDN solutions on the list, RocketCDN’s features may seem too basic.
No free trial.

Why we chose RocketCDN: Many WPBeginner users use WP Rocket for their websites, and RocketCDN is one of the best solutions to complement this caching plugin.

6. Imperva

Imperva is a cyber security company that offers many website and application protection solutions, including a CDN. They have 62+ data centers with 10 TB per second capacity, which is very high.

If your site receives 1 million visitors per day, and each visitor downloads 1 MB of data, Imperva could handle all that traffic without breaking a sweat.

Additionally, Imperva has self-service customization. This means you can decide how content is cached or traffic is routed based on factors like device type and user location. This feature can help optimize your website’s performance and reduce costs.

Pros of Imperva:

Large bandwidth capacity to handle high traffic volume, making it perfect for online businesses.
Self-service customization feature to configure how the CDN behaves to optimize performance.
99.999% uptime guarantee with a 3-second mitigation SLA, which means downtime is extremely low, and Imperva promises to fix any issue within 3 seconds.

Cons of Imperva:

The self-service customization feature may be too advanced for the average WordPress user.
There is no fixed pricing, and you have to contact their team for custom pricing.

Why we chose Imperva: When reviewing Imperva, we were thoroughly impressed by their high-performance CDN and advanced features that not all CDNs provide. We recommend Imperva if you have a growing, multinational business.

7. Amazon CloudFront

Last but not least, we have Amazon CloudFront. It’s a powerful WordPress CDN service for people who use Amazon services like Amazon SES and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

That said, despite its name, this WordPress CDN solution works with many other hosting providers, not just AWS.

When you use CloudFront, you will also get the AWS Shield Standard automatically enabled. This technology is like a more comprehensive version of DDoS protection, securing your website against attacks at all network layers.

Amazon CloudFront has 600+ points of presence in 90 cities across 47 countries, so its CDN service has vast coverage. It also offers a free tier that allows you to send 1 TB of data from CloudFront each month at no extra cost.

Pros of Amazon CloudFront:

Seamless integration with AWS services, so it’s a great option if you already use them.
A global network of servers, with hundreds of points of presence worldwide.
Robust security features at the edge servers to protect your content from DDoS attacks, malware, phishing, and other threats at all levels.
Generous free tier plan, as 1 TB of data transfer can serve approximately 1 billion web pages.

Cons of Amazon CloudFront:

Not the most beginner-friendly setup.

Why we chose Amazon CloudFront: If you run WordPress on AWS, then you already have a great WordPress CDN service at your disposal. The vast network and generous free-tier plan also make CloudFront worth recommending.

Bonus: Use a Hosting Provider With Free CDN

These days, many WordPress hosting providers come with their own custom CDN solutions. This way, you won’t have to pay extra to make your website fast and secure.

Hostinger, for instance, has a built-in CDN available for Business plan users or above. It includes features like WebP image compression, CSS and JavaScript minification, and a handy under-attack mode to fight rapid DDoS attacks.

SiteGround also has an excellent CDN feature designed specifically for users who receive traffic from multiple countries. The team behind it has reported that loading speeds have increased by 20% on average.

While a free plan is available, they also have a premium plan with unlimited monthly bandwidth.

On the other hand, some hosting providers like Bluehost and WP Engine have integrated third-party CDN services like Cloudflare.

Which Is the Best WordPress CDN Provider for Your Site?

After carefully evaluating all these top WordPress CDN services, we believe that Bunny.net is the best WordPress CDN on the market. It has a wide global network coverage and offers a great set of features at a reasonable price.

For people on a tight budget, Cloudflare’s free CDN plan can do the job. It comes integrated with popular web hosting providers like Bluehost and WP Engine. Plus, you get unmetered DDoS protection.

If you want a CDN focusing on security, then Sucuri is the one for you. Besides multiple caching options, you can get a powerful WAF with automatic malware removal and SSL installation.

WordPress CDN Services: Frequently Asked Questions

Now that we’ve covered the best WordPress CDN services, let’s cover some frequently asked questions about using a CDN.

Which CDN does WordPress use?

The WordPress software does not use any CDN as it is only a content management system that requires a hosting service to run. Instead, the user has the freedom to choose any CDN service they prefer.

How do I choose a CDN for my WordPress website?

To choose a CDN for your WordPress website, you can consider your website needs, your own budget, and the platform’s ease of use.

If you need a beginner-friendly CDN with affordable pricing, then look no further than Bunny.net. On the other hand, if your website handles a lot of sensitive data, then you may want a CDN with a good set of security features, like Sucuri.

Can I use Cloudflare CDN with WordPress, and how does it compare to other CDN services?

Yes, you can use Cloudflare CDN with WordPress. In fact, many hosting providers like Bluehost and WP Engine have Cloudflare integrated into their dashboards, so you can immediately use it.

While Cloudflare CDN is free, it has great unmetered DDoS protection. However, there is no direct support.

Does CDN increase website speed?

Yes, a CDN can increase your website speed and make it faster. It will cache your website content into multiple servers spread worldwide. When users visit your site, the server closest to them will deliver the content.

That said, many factors affect website speed, so we recommend implementing other best speed optimization practices as well. For more information, check out our ultimate guide to boost WordPress speed and performance.

Ultimate Guides to Boost Your WordPress Site Performance

We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress CDN solution for your website. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress performance guide or our expert pick of the best website speed test tools.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 7 Best WordPress CDN Services in 2024 (Compared) first appeared on WPBeginner.

April 10, 2024

5 Best WordPress Caching Plugins to Speed Up Your Website (2024)

Are you looking for the best WordPress caching plugin for your website?

Caching essentially stores a copy of your WordPress site on your server. When users open your website again, the server can simply pull up the copy so that visitors won’t have to reload your site from scratch again.

Since there are so many different WordPress cache plugins, it can feel overwhelming to pick the right option.

To help you pick the best plugin, we tested some of the best options on the market. While testing, we focused on a bunch of factors like ease of use, caching options, and price.

In this guide, we will show you the best WordPress caching plugins to improve your site speed.

In a hurry? No worries! Take a look at our top picks so you can quickly choose the right WordPress cache plugin for your site.

Ranking	Plugin	Best For	Price
#1	WP Rocket	Overall performance	$59/year	Read more
#2	WP Super Cache	Beginners	Free	Read more
#3	W3 Total Cache	Multiple caching options	Free + paid	Read more
#4	Sucuri	Firewall + caching	$9.99/month	Read more
#5	Cache Enabler	Simple caching	Free	Read more

Why Use a WordPress Caching Plugin?

Using a WordPress caching plugin is one of the easiest ways to increase your website speed. When installed, the caching plugin will store parts of your site (like static HTML files, CSS files, JavaScript files, and so on) on your server.

Every time someone visits your site, they are served the cached version of the site instead of having to wait for your server to load the web pages from the beginning.

By storing cached pages of your site, a caching plugin drastically reduces the amount of processing required to serve those pages. Some cache content at the server level and others leverage browser caching. This leads to:

A faster website and better WordPress SEO. Search engines give a significant SEO advantage to fast web pages, which helps you rank higher in search results.
More power to handle larger amounts of traffic without slowing down your site performance or affecting your uptime. This is important if you run an eCommerce website.

Plus, caching can create a better user experience. Users who visit your site will experience faster page loading times, making it less likely for them to bounce from your site.

The probability of bounce increases 32% as page load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds.
Think with Google

How We Tested and Reviewed WordPress Caching Plugins

We used them on our websites: Throughout the years, we have used different WordPress cache plugins on our websites to improve our site performance.
We tested the most popular plugins: We tested some of the most popular caching plugins on the market to see if they are worth the hype. We analyzed those plugins based on the following factors: ease of use, features, types of caching, and pricing.
We categorized them based on your needs: Not every website will benefit from the same caching plugin. That’s why we analyzed all the features to help you decide which tool fits your needs.

Why Trust WPBeginner

At WPBeginner, we are a dedicated team of people with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, design, and online marketing. Our WordPress experts extensively review each plugin or tool that is featured here and thoroughly test them on real websites. To learn more, you can see our complete editorial process.

1. WP Rocket

After trying out different plugins from this list, we found WP Rocket to be the overall best WordPress caching plugin. It is the easiest and most beginner-friendly option, which is a big help if you are new to this topic.

With WP Rocket, WordPress users can instantly cache their website with just one click. Once the plugin is activated, its crawler automatically fetches the WordPress pages to build up the cache.

The plugin then automatically turns on the recommended WordPress caching settings. These include page caching, cache preloading, Gzip compression, browser caching, and mobile device caching.

WP Rocket also offers optional features to configure to improve your website performance further. These include lazy loading images, CDN (content delivery network) support, minification, and more.

Pros of WP Rocket:

User-friendly plugin interface for beginners.
Essential caching functions are available out of the box, from page caching and browser caching to mobile device caching.
Additional optimization features to speed up your website loading time, like options to minify CSS files and enable a CDN integration.
Advanced features like database optimization, multisite support, and cache exclusions based on URLs or cookies.
Supports caching for dynamic content, including WooCommerce cart items.

Cons of WP Rocket:

Unfortunately, there is no free version, but WP Rocket does offer a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Pricing: Starting from $59 per year for one website, product updates, and support.

Why we chose WP Rocket: We have reviewed WP Rocket before at WPBeginner, and we strongly recommend it as the best WordPress caching plugin on the market. While there is no free version, its prices are quite affordable compared to other paid options.

You can also check out our step-by-step guide on how to install and set up WP Rocket in WordPress.

2. WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache is a popular, free caching plugin created by Automattic, the company that runs WordPress.com.

This WordPress caching plugin has 2 caching settings: Expert and Simple. The first one is a much faster option than the other because it doesn’t execute any PHP scripts, but it does require you to edit your .htaccess file.

The second is a happy medium between fast site loading speed and ease of use. We recommend choosing this method instead if you are not confident editing your own .htaccess file.

Other than that, WP Super Cache includes other speed optimization features like cache preloading. This setting will generate cached files of your pages, posts, categories, and tags that are ready to load as soon as someone accesses the content for the first time.

Pros of WP Super Cache:

Completely free of charge.
Advanced caching settings are available, such as expert caching that can handle high traffic and custom caching options to control how the plugin works.
Cache garbage collection to delete old cache pages and keep your website updated.
Basic CDN support that will rewrite your website content URLs so that they are loaded with CDN.

Cons of WP Super Cache:

While the interface is pretty user-friendly, it uses technical terms designed for advanced users that may confuse beginners.

Pricing: Free plugin.

Why we chose WP Super Cache: If you are looking for a free caching plugin to speed up your website loading time, then WP Super Cache is a great choice.

For beginners, we recommend taking the time to explore the plugin and understand some of the more technical terms so that you can make the most of it. See our article on how to install and set up WP Super Cache for detailed instructions.

3. W3 Total Cache

If you want to use a WordPress caching plugin with tons of optimization features, then check out W3 Total Cache.

Firstly, W3 Total Cache offers various types of caching besides page caching and browser caching. It also has object caching and database caching, both of which can speed up the execution of dynamic parts of your site (the ones that change frequently), not just the static ones.

Secondly, it has a Google PageSpeed Insights integration. During our testing, we liked that this feature lets you test your website speed without leaving your WordPress admin area, so it’s very user-friendly.

Other than that, you can find other speed enhancement features like CSS and JS file minification, lazy loading, and an image converter from other formats to WebP for better performance.

Pros of W3 Total Cache:

Multiple caching options are available for free: page caching, browser caching, opcode caching, database query caching, and object caching.
Google PageSpeed Insights integration to test website speed.
Image optimization features like lazy loading and WebP conversion.
Pro features in the premium version, like CDN support for the entire website and fragment caching for plugins and themes using the WordPress Transient API.

Cons of W3 Total Cache:

The feature set is comprehensive but can seem intimidating for beginners.
Unlike other plugins on the list, the preloading feature is not available out of the box.

Pricing: Free plugin available. The premium version’s plans start from $99 per year for one website license.

Why we chose W3 Total Cache: The free version of W3 Total Cache offers many caching options that you may not find in other plugins on the list, especially not in the free versions.

That said, the sheer range of features can feel overwhelming for beginners. For detailed setup instructions, see our article on how to install and set up the W3 Total Cache plugin.

4. Sucuri

Sucuri is technically a WordPress firewall plugin, but it has built-in caching options to speed up your website in just a few clicks. We used to use Sucuri on WPBeginner, so we are very familiar with this plugin.

If you run an online store or a membership site, Sucuri recommends using Site Caching, which will keep your cache for up to 180 minutes. Meanwhile, blogs or news portals can use Minimal Caching, which will only cache your pages for up to 8 minutes before they are refreshed.

If you make significant changes to your site, then you can clear your old cache in one click. Sucuri also lets you clear the cache for a file or folder instead of the whole site. This allows you to optimize specific parts of your site without affecting its entirety.

Additionally, Sucuri supports Brotli, a data compression algorithm by Google that is faster than Gzip compression. It’s effective for compressing large files and reducing bandwidth usage. This means people with slow internet can visit your website quicker.

Pros of Sucuri:

Easy-to-use caching features that can be enabled in a few clicks.
User-friendly cache-clearing functions for the entire website and specific files or folders.
Support for compression algorithms, like the more popular Gzip, and a newer option like Brotli.
Reliable CDN service with worldwide network coverage, a great feature for websites with a global audience.
Top-notch security features like a web application firewall, malware removal, and DDoS protection.

Cons of Sucuri:

If you are just looking for a plugin with caching functionality, then Sucuri may seem like overkill.

Pricing: Comes in two types of subscription plans: Website Security Platform and Firewall with CDN. The first starts from $199.99 per year and includes the complete Sucuri security kit. The second starts from $9.99 per month and only comes with a firewall and CDN.

Why we chose Sucuri: If you are looking for a security plugin that doubles as an optimization plugin, then Sucuri is the perfect solution. Besides offering user-friendly caching features, you can get great protection without installing other plugins.

5. Cache Enabler by KeyCDN

Cache Enabler is a free WordPress caching plugin by KeyCDN, one of the most popular WordPress CDN services.

When we first activated the plugin, the plugin page looked rather simple. In reality, it’s quite powerful on its own. You can customize how long cached files last to suit your website needs instead of choosing a time period that’s been set for you.

There are also many cache-clearing settings that you can enable. For example, you can automatically clear the cache when a post type has been published, updated, or trashed so that your blog content stays up-to-date.

Pros of Cache Enabler:

Simple-to-use plugin page interface that’s easy to understand for beginners.
Gzip and Brotli compression support to reduce your file sizes.
Custom post types support, which is great for portfolios, online stores, membership sites, and so on.
A real-time display of your website’s cache size in the WordPress dashboard helps you keep track of how much space your cache is taking on your server.

Cons of Cache Enabler:

Compared to other caching plugins on the list, the features of Cache Enabler can seem pretty limited.

Pricing: Free plugin. However, if you choose to get KeyCDN as well, then the prices start from $0.04 per GB per month for the first 10 TB (for North America/Europe region). The cost varies by region, but you can use its pricing calculator to get estimates.

Why we chose Cache Enabler: As a free caching plugin, Cache Enabler is great at being easy to use yet packed with the most essential caching features. It can be a good option if you just need a simple caching solution.

Bonus Tip: Use Built-in Caching Features From Hosting Providers

These days, many WordPress hosting companies offer their own built-in caching solutions.

The benefit of using these built-in caching settings is that you won’t have to find or install a plugin yourself. Plus, the caching functionality is readily optimized for your hosting, so you may experience fewer errors.

The downside is that the feature set widely varies. Some may only include basic page caching, while others may have more advanced options. Depending on your website, you may not be able to rely solely on these built-in options.

That being said, we still think these hosting caching settings are worth talking about because they are very easy to enable. Let’s look at the caching features offered by some of the most popular web hosting providers on the market.

Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the biggest hosting companies in the world and an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider. Their hosting plans include built-in caching that you can enable from your hosting dashboard.

You can select one of these caching levels:

Assets Only – For eCommerce and sites that update frequently or display real-time information, you can use this level to cache your site’s static assets for 5 minutes.
Assets & Web Pages – If you have a WordPress blog, an educational site, or a website that updates at least once a week, consider using this level to cache static assets for 6 hours and other web pages for 5 minutes.
Assets & Web Pages – Extended – For portfolios or websites that update every month or less frequently, you can choose this option to cache static assets for 1 week and web pages for 5 minutes.

If you compare Bluehost’s caching options to the other plugins on the list, they may seem basic. But they also offer a Cloudflare CDN integration to boost your website performance further.

SiteGround

We use SiteGround to power WPBeginner and have seen many performance improvements since we switched. If you are curious, then you can check out our article on why we switched to SiteGround for more information.

By default, SiteGround offers 3 caching solutions: Nginx Direct Delivery for static content, Dynamic Cache, and Memcached (optional).

The last two are caching modules that not many WordPress hosting offers by default, which is what makes SiteGround so powerful. In fact, they can improve your website speed anywhere from 50% to 500%.

For WordPress sites, SiteGround recommends installing their Speed Optimizer plugin to speed up your website by 20%. The plugin can also compress image sizes by up to 85% without losing quality.

Overall, if you use SiteGround, you really won’t need any caching plugins like WP Rocket or others.

Hostinger

Hostinger is one of the fastest-growing WordPress hosting providers in recent years. They are powered by the LiteSpeed Web Server, so their caching settings also come from LiteSpeed.

From the get-go, Hostinger offers two types of caching modules: the LiteSpeed Cache plugin and the Object Cache.

The LiteSpeed Cache plugin is included in all plans and offers page caching, cache preloading, and image compression for your website. By default, Hostinger will update your cache every 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Object Cache will cache your database queries and is only available for Business plan users or above. It has been said to improve website speed by up to 3 times.

WP Engine

WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting company, which means they will take care of most of your back-end maintenance tasks as much as possible. As a result, you won’t have to handle them as much.

Since WP Engine is a more premium hosting service, it comes with tons of caching features by default. These include page caching, CDN caching, object caching, and local browser caching.

You can also set exclusion rules for dynamic content, like shopping cart, checkout, or login pages. If you need to clear your cache, then you can just log in to your user portal and click a few buttons.

What Is the Best Cache Plugin for WordPress?

After comparing the different options on the list, we found that the best WordPress caching plugin is hands down WP Rocket. It has a great balance between being beginner-friendly and powerful to elevate your website performance.

If you are looking for a free caching plugin, then we recommend W3 Total Cache. It has plenty of caching features out of the box, from basic to advanced.

We also recommend checking out the caching modules that hosting providers like Bluehost have to offer. These may already be good enough to speed up your website, and they are already customized to suit your hosting needs.

Best WordPress Caching Plugins: FAQs Answered

Now that we’ve covered the list of best WordPress caching plugins, let’s answer some frequently asked questions.

Do I need a caching plugin?

Yes, we strongly recommend installing a WordPress caching plugin, as it can significantly improve your WordPress site’s speed.

Caching can reduce server load, improve the user experience by reducing load times, and potentially boost your site’s SEO rankings due to improved speed.

However, if your hosting provider offers built-in caching solutions like SiteGround, then you might not need to install a separate caching plugin.

Should I use multiple cache plugins in WordPress?

Using multiple caching plugins simultaneously can lead to conflicts and potential issues with your site. We generally recommend using only one caching plugin to avoid these problems.

However, if you need to use multiple caching tools for specific purposes, make sure they can complement each other and do not result in the same action being performed twice.

Which is better: WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache?

Both WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache are highly-rated WordPress caching plugins. However, the choice between the two depends on your specific needs and preferences.

WP Super Cache is a free plugin with some basic and advanced caching features. But some settings require some technical knowledge, so we don’t recommend it if you are a complete beginner.

W3 Total Cache is a freemium plugin with a comprehensive set of caching settings. The abundance of features may intimidate beginners, but the ease of use is generally much better than WP Super Cache.

Check Out More Guides to Speed Up WordPress

We hope this article helped you find the WordPress caching plugin to speed up your website. You may also want to see our list of the best WordPress plugins for business websites, and the best WordPress SEO plugins to help you boost your rankings.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

Disclaimer: We also looked at other WordPress cache plugins and solutions for this article, including WP Fastest Cache, Hummingbird, and WP-Optimize. However, we picked only the very best WordPress caching plugins to help you avoid choice paralysis.

The post 5 Best WordPress Caching Plugins to Speed Up Your Website (2024) first appeared on WPBeginner.

April 5, 2024

6 Important WordPress Server Requirements You Should Know

Recently, one of our users asked what the recommended server requirements are for running a WordPress website.

The best thing about WordPress is that it will work in almost any kind of environment. However, when you’re picking a hosting solution for your site, it’s important to check whether it meets the basic prerequisites or not.

In this article, we will share important WordPress server requirements you should know.

Why is it Important to Check Server Requirements?

All WordPress websites on the internet need a server to function. They are used to store and use website files, databases, media files, content, and other important data.

When it comes to running WordPress smoothly, there are some server requirements you should look into. Technically, WordPress will work in minimalist conditions, like on outdated versions of PHP or basic hardware, but it’s not ideal.

WordPress server plays a big role in your site’s performance. Limited server specifications can slow down your site, which can have a negative impact on user experience and keyword rankings.

It will also make it difficult to handle large spikes in traffic. If you run multiple WordPress plugins and third-party tools, then meeting server requirements is critical. Otherwise, you’ll risk breaking your site or experiencing sluggish performance.

That said, let’s look at the server requirements for WordPress. You can click the links below to jump ahead to any section:

Ensure the Server Supports Recommended PHP Version
Check for Suggested MySQL or MariaDB Versions
Look for NGINX or Apache Web Server Software
Support for HTTPS by WordPress Server
WordPress Server Hardware Requirements
Check Your WordPress Server Location and CDN Option

Important WordPress Server Requirements

To run WordPress, you will need to check some prerequisites. These include the PHP version, MySQL or MariaDB version, HTTPS support, web server type, storage space, and other hardware specifications.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these requirements.

1. Ensure the Server Supports Recommended PHP Version

WordPress currently requires PHP version 7.4 or higher to work smoothly. PHP is a programming language for creating dynamic interactive websites. It is open source and WordPress is written using PHP.

Just like any other programming language, there are many versions of PHP you can use. Each version receives updates and fixes for up to 2 years. While WordPress officially recommends PHP version 7.4, it no longer gets any security updates.

That’s why we would suggest using the latest version. If you already have a WordPress site, then it’s better to update the PHP version at the earliest.

This will protect your site from security vulnerabilities, bugs, malware, and hackers. Plus, it will improve performance by running processes much faster and reducing memory usage.

You can also check the PHP version of your server by going to Tools » Site Health from the WordPress dashboard. From here, switch to the ‘Info’ tab.

Opening the Info tab inside the Site Health menu in the WordPress admin area

Next, you can scroll down to the ‘Server’ tab.

Go ahead and click the tab to expand the Server section and view the server’s system information along with the PHP version.

Checking your server's PHP version in the WordPress Site Health page

Besides that, you should also check the PHP memory allocated by the WordPress server. PHP memory is the amount of memory reserved for running PHP-based processes.

The standard PHP memory used by WordPress is 64MB, but this is often not high enough. If a task or process requires more memory to work, then it could lead to the WordPress memory exhausted error.

A simple fix is to increase the PHP memory by manually editing the wp-config.php file or .htaccess file. Or you can reach out to your web hosting provider and increase the limit.

2. Check for Suggested MySQL or MariaDB Versions

WordPress recommends MySQL version 5.7 or greater and MariaDB version 10.4 or higher to function.

MySQL and MariaDB are database management systems used by WordPress to store and retrieve blog information. You only need any one of the systems to install and use WordPress on a server.

You can easily access the databases from your hosting provider’s cPanel. For instance, simply use phpMyAdmin to access the MySQL database in your web browser.

However, when checking the WordPress server requirements, make sure that the database is stored on a solid-state drive (SSD). It is the fastest storage technology currently available and offers quick performance.

You should also see if the server offers automated database optimization and if there is an option for automated database backups.

3. Look for NGINX or Apache Web Server Software

The optimal web server software recommended by WordPress is NGINX or Apache. While it is not mandatory to run WordPress, using either software has certain advantages.

For instance, Apache is an open-source server software that is fast, reliable, and secure. It powers almost 31% of web servers and is highly customizable. You can use different extensions and modules to meet the needs of any environment.

On the other hand, NGINX is newer and faster and requires fewer resources to run than Apache. It runs more than 34% of web servers and is developed to address performance issues. However, it doesn’t offer the flexibility that you’d get with Apache.

When looking for a web server for your WordPress site, either Apache or NGINX is a great choice.

PRO TIP: Many users have had great success with Litespeed server software as well. If you’re interested in checking it out, we recommend using Hostinger because they have optimized Litespeed hosting for as low as $2.99 per month.

4. Support for HTTPS by WordPress Server

HTTPS, or hypertext transfer protocol secure, is an encryption method that secures the connection between your server and your user’s browser. It is an extension of HTTP, and all web addresses begin with HTTPS.

The HTTPS protocol in WPBeginner's domain

HTTPS makes it harder for hackers to eavesdrop on your connection, and it helps make your site more secure. Plus, it also sends a positive signal to search engines like Google and helps improve your WordPress SEO.

That’s why it’s important to check if your WordPress server supports HTTPS and offers SSL certificates.

For more details, you can see our guide on how to get a free SSL certificate for your WordPress website.

5. WordPress Server Hardware Requirements

When choosing a WordPress server, you should also look into some basic hardware specifications.

That’s because a web server is actually a physical server that stores and shares websites with people on the internet. If the hardware requirements are limited, then you could run into storage issues, poor performance, and other WordPress errors.

Some important hardware requirements include checking the disk space available for storage, RAM (random access memory), and CPU (central processing unit).

Storage (Disk Space) – The minimum disk space requirement for WordPress is 1 GB. However, we suggest looking for servers that offer at least 10 GB or more storage. WordPress will use disk space to store website files, images, videos, plugins, themes, and other data. So, as your site grows, it is better to have enough space to keep your website running smoothly. Plus, look for SSD drives as they are faster than the standard HDD (hard disk drives).
Memory (RAM) – It acts as a link between your server’s hard disk and processor. RAM speeds up server processes by temporarily storing data required by the CPU from the hard disk. WordPress itself only requires at least 512 MB of RAM, but look for a web server that has an option for expansion. As your site grows, you’ll need more RAM to improve performance.
Processing Power (CPU) – The processor or CPU is the brain of your web server, and it controls how many processes can happen at a given time. Its performance is usually measured in gigahertz (GHz) or the number of cores available. WordPress requires only a 1.0 GHz CPU to work normally. However, more powerful processors will have multiple cores and deliver faster performance.

To learn more, please see our guide on how to determine the ideal size of a web server for your website.

6. Check Your WordPress Server Location and CDN Option

The physical distance between your site’s server location and the user’s location can affect the loading speed of your website. If a user is located near your server, then your site will load faster compared to someone living further away.

To speed up your WordPress site, many web servers offer a content delivery network (CDN).

It is a network of servers spread across the globe, and they store static versions of your site. When a user wants to view your content, the closest server in the CDN will instantly load the website.

Even though it’s not a technical server requirement, when you’re looking at hosting companies for your site’s needs and requirements, there is an added advantage if the one you choose offers a CDN.

You may want to see our list of the best WordPress CDN services.

Bonus: Pick the Best WordPress Servers

Now that you know some important WordPress server specifications, the next step is to pick a hosting solution that meets these requirements.

In our 16+ years of experience, we’ve tested multiple website hosts. And to help you out, here are some of the best hosting providers you can choose from.

1. Bluehost

Bluehost is the oldest web host in the market, and they’re an official WordPress-recommended hosting provider.

It offers a free domain for 1 year, a free SSL certificate, and a 1-click WordPress installation with every plan. Plus, you get SSD web storage space starting from 10 GB and going all the way up to 100 GB.

Besides that, it offers free CDN with every pricing plan. If you opt for dedicated hosting, then you get a minimum of 4 CPU cores (2.3 GHz) and 1TB HDD storage.

2. SiteGround

SiteGround is one of the most popular and highest-rated hosting providers. They provide a unique in-house speed and security solution for WordPress.

With SiteGround, you get free WordPress installation, 10 GB of web storage space that goes up to 40 GB, a free SSL certificate for HTTPS support, free CDN, and more.

It easily meets the minimum WordPress server requirements and offers advanced solutions. For instance, it automatically updates the PHP version once it is stable, and lets you create unlimited MySQL databases, offers SSD storage, and more.

3. Hostinger

Hostinger is one of the fastest WordPress hosting services in the industry. It offers automatic 1-click WordPress install, free CDN, free domain name, and 24/7 customer support.

The best part about Hostinger is that the minimum storage space it offers is 100 GB, which goes up to 200 GB. Plus, it offers the fastest SSD technology currently available.

Besides that, you get free SSL, unlimited bandwidth, regular backups, unlimited databases, and multiple PHP version support. Their shared plans also run on Litespeed web server software, a popular alternative to Apache and NGINX.

If you want more options for picking a website server, then please see our guide on how to choose the best WordPress hosting.

We hope this article helped you learn about important WordPress server requirements you should know about. You may also want to see our guide on the difference between a domain name and web hosting and how to move WordPress from HTTP to HTTPS.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 6 Important WordPress Server Requirements You Should Know first appeared on WPBeginner.

March 15, 2024

6 Best Cheap WordPress Hosting (Compared)

Are you looking for a cheap hosting plan for your WordPress website?

When creating a new WordPress website, you will need to choose a hosting provider and a domain name. If you are starting out with a limited budget, then you need an affordable option.

In this article, we will share some of the best cheap WordPress hosting plans.

Why Choose Cheap WordPress Hosting?

When you create a WordPress website, you will need to pay for two things: a web hosting plan and a domain name. Web hosting is where your website files and content are stored, and a domain name is the address your users will use to visit your site.

Because all websites need these, WordPress hosting prices are very competitive and often cover the cost of your domain name for the first year.

If you are just starting out or have a tight budget, then you may be looking for the best cheap hosting you can find. Or you might prefer not to spend much on hosting if you are creating a test website or a site for students to practice on.

We recommend that you avoid free website hosting. These companies may try to save money by limiting your website traffic, and will often try to make money by displaying ads or upselling their other services, leading to a poor experience for you and your visitors.

You will have a better experience by choosing an inexpensive plan from one of the best web hosting companies.

How to Get the Best Cheap WordPress Hosting

Reputable web hosting companies usually offer multiple pricing options so that you can find something that fits your needs and budget. Here are a few ways you can save money.

Save Money on Hosting by Choosing the Cheapest Plan

If you are just starting out or have simple needs, then you can save money by choosing the cheapest plan the hosting company offers.

But be aware that you get what you pay for. A company’s cheapest hosting plan is designed to save beginners money and is cheap because it is limited.

For example, the cheapest plans can usually only host one website and offer less storage space than more expensive plans. They also may lack features offered by other plans.

So make sure that the cheapest plan meets your needs before you choose it.

Save Money on Hosting Using an Introductory Offer or Coupon Code

Most hosting companies offer heavy discounts to new customers. That means when you first sign up for hosting, you will be paying a fraction of what the hosting normally costs.

To save even more money, you can use one of our coupon codes. We have negotiated the best web hosting deals for WPBeginner readers, so make sure you don’t miss out.

Save Money on Hosting by Paying in Advance

To get the special initial price, most hosting companies will need you to pay at least a year in advance. That’s a good thing and will save you money because you will be charged the normal amount when it is time to renew your hosting.

You can save even more money by paying for multiple years in advance. Some hosting companies allow you to pay for 3-4 years upfront.

Save Money on Hosting by Considering the Renewal Price

If you are looking to save money in the long term, then make sure you consider the renewal cost. The introductory discount lasts for just one payment, and the renewal price is what you will be paying for years to come.

By default, most web companies will automatically renew your hosting for the same period as when you first signed up. You can save money by renewing 12 months or more in advance.

Lower Individual Payments by Paying Month-to-Month

To get the best deal on web hosting, you need to pay for a year or more in advance. While you will be saving money in the long term, your individual payments will cost more.

If you have limited money on hand, then you may prefer to pay for your web hosting month-to-month. While you will end up paying more in the long term, your monthly payments will be more manageable.

However, since the cheapest web hosting plans cost just over $30 for the first year, we recommend that you choose the month-to-month option only when absolutely necessary.

All that being said, let’s take a look at the best cheap WordPress hosting companies.

1. Bluehost

Bluehost is a good option for beginners, and their budget-friendly plans are suitable for all kinds of websites. They are one of the biggest web hosting companies and an official WordPress-recommended hosting provider.

Learn more in our complete Bluehost review.

Their Basic plan is the cheapest, and this lets you create one website with 10GB of storage and chat support. It also includes a free domain name and SSL certificate for the first year.

If you upgrade to their Choice Plus plan, then you can create 3 websites with 40GB of storage. You will also be able to contact customer support via phone.

Bluehost Pros and Cons

Bluehost is reliable, fast, and affordable. Here are some pros and cons.

Pros:

Cheapest hosting prices for new customers
Free domain name
Free CDN + SSL certificate
1-click WordPress install
Excellent customer support
Officially recommended by WordPress

Cons:

Hosting renewal prices are not as affordable as the cheapest companies
Higher renewal price for domains
They don’t offer month-to-month hosting

Why We Chose Bluehost

Bluehost offers affordable starter plans that fit any budget requirement, and they are often ranked the #1 web hosting provider. Their hosting plans offer tons of features and excellent support.

Bluehost Pricing

Bluehost offers many payment options. Here are some options for their Basic plan:

Month-to-month pricing: Not available
Cheapest rate: $1.99 for the first 12 months using our Bluehost coupon
First year in advance: $23.88 using our Bluehost coupon
Renewal price: $143.88 for 12 months

2. HostGator

HostGator is one of the most popular hosting companies in the world. We consider them one of the best web hosting options for businesses.

You can learn more in our complete HostGator review.

The company’s cheapest plan is the Hatchling Plan, which lets you create a single website with unlimited bandwidth and 10GB of storage. This plan also includes free domain name registration for your first year, but support will be by chat only.

Some users may prefer to upgrade to the Baby plan. This lets you create 2 websites with 20GB of storage and allows you to contact customer support via phone or chat.

HostGator Pros and Cons

HostGator offers reliable web hosting and quality customer service. Here are some of the company’s pros and cons.

Pros:

Affordable introductory hosting prices
Free domain and SSL certificate
Free business email address
1-click WordPress install
Reliable web hosting

Cons:

The cheapest plan includes chat support only
Renewal prices cost more than the cheapest companies
Higher monthly pricing
HostGator uses a lot of aggressive upselling tactics

Why We Chose HostGator

HostGator offers a variety of fast hosting plans that fit all budgets and requirements. They are trusted by over 2 million customers.

HostGator Pricing

HostGator offers many payment options. Here are some of the pricing options for their Hatchling plan:

Month-to-month: $4.78
Cheapest rate: $2.52 for the first 36 months using our HostGator coupon
First year in advance: $30.84 using our HostGator coupon
Renewal price: $143.88 for 12 months

3. DreamHost

DreamHost is one of WordPress.org’s officially recommended hosts. They offer affordable introductory pricing, better-than-average ongoing renewal pricing, a free domain name and SSL certificate, automatic daily backups, and WordPress privacy features.

Learn more in our complete DreamHost review.

DreamHost’s cheapest plan is Shared Starter. This allows you to host one website with unlimited traffic. It includes a free domain name and SSL certificate.

When you upgrade to the Shared Unlimited plan, you can host unlimited websites.

DreamHost Pros and Cons

DreamHost is known for making web hosting easy and affordable. You might like to see some pros and cons for the company.

Pros:

Officially recommended by WordPress
Award-winning hosting
Affordable introductory deals for new customers
The second best ongoing renewal pricing when paying a year or more in advance
Best price on month-to-month hosting
Free domain name, SSL certificate, and privacy
1-click WordPress install
Excellent customer support
Automatic daily WordPress backups

Cons:

No free business email address

Why We Chose DreamHost

DreamHost offers fast and affordable hosting that is suitable for bloggers, online store owners, developers, and web designers. They are recommended by WordPress, have won many awards, and get excellent reviews from their customers.

DreamHost Pricing

DreamHost offers many payment options. Here are some of the pricing options for their Shared Starter plan:

Month-to-month: $4.95 for 3 months, then $7.99
Cheapest rate: $2.59 for the first 36 months using our DreamHost coupon
First year in advance: $35.40 using our DreamHost coupon
Renewal price: $83.88 for 12 months

4. Hostinger

Hostinger is a popular web hosting provider that offers affordable shared hosting plans with great customer support, a free domain name, a free SSL certificate, and more.

You can learn more in our complete Hostinger review.

Their cheapest plan is the Premium plan, which lets you create up to 100 websites with standard performance. It includes a free SSL certificate, unlimited bandwidth, and a free domain name. Customer support is by live chat.

Hostinger Pros and Cons

Hostinger is a robust platform to host your website. You might like to see some of their other pros and cons.

Pros:

Affordable introductory hosting prices
Renewal pricing is also the most affordable when paying a year or more in advance
3 months free when you sign up
Free SSL certificate
1-click WordPress install
Performance-optimized hosting
Excellent customer support
Many data centers across the world

Cons:

Month-to-month pricing is a bit higher and requires an initial setup fee

Why We Chose Hostinger

Hostinger is the best choice for beginners who want to start a website without spending too much money. They offer great introductory deals to new customers, as well as the cheapest ongoing renewal pricing.

Hostinger Pricing

Hostinger offers many payment options, such as these options for their Single plan:

Month-to-month: $10.79 plus $4.99 setup fee
Cheapest rate: $2.69 per month for the first 48 months using our Hostinger coupon
First year in advance: $34.45 using our Hostinger coupon
Renewal price: $143.88 for 12 months

5. GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks is an environmentally friendly web hosting provider whose goal is to be as effective as possible. Their hosting plans are not the cheapest but offer great performance while saving the planet.

You can learn more in our complete GreenGeeks review.

The cheapest GreenGeeks plan is Lite, which is suitable for small websites that are just getting started. You will be able to host a single website with 50GB of storage space.

The plan includes unlimited bandwidth, a free domain name, a free SSL certificate, a free CDN, and one tree planted.

If you need more, then the Pro plan lets you host unlimited websites with unlimited storage.

GreenGeeks Pros and Cons

GreenGeeks offers affordable plans with plenty of useful features. You might like to see some of their pros and cons.

Pros:

Introductory pricing for new customers is competitive
A free domain name
Free SSL certificate, CDN, and website backups
Environmentally-friendly hosting
Built-in performance tools, including LiteSpeed caching
Great customer support
1-click WordPress install

Cons:

Renewal prices are more expensive than the cheapest companies
Their phone support isn’t available 24/7

Why We Chose GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks offers web hosting that is environmentally friendly and suitable for anyone who is just starting out.

GreenGeeks Pricing

GreenGeeks offers many payment options, such as these choices for their Lite plan:

Month-to-month: $11.95, plus a $15 setup fee
Cheapest rate: $2.95 for the first 12 months using our GreenGeeks coupon
First year in advance: $35.40 using our GreenGeeks coupon
Renewal price: $143.40 for 12 months

6. SiteGround

SiteGround is one of the most recommended WordPress hosting companies. While the introductory deal for new customers is very competitive, renewal prices for their hosting plans are more expensive.

However, SiteGround hosting is very reliable, and they provide a 99.9% uptime guarantee, so many users find the extra cost worthwhile. In fact, we use SiteGround hosting on WPBeginner.

Learn more in our complete SiteGround review.

SiteGround’s most affordable plan is StartUp. It is suitable for one website and includes 10GB of storage space. It also includes a free SSL and CDN, but not a free domain name.

Some users will want to upgrade to the GrowBig plan. It lets you host an unlimited number of websites using 20GB of storage space. However, you will still need to pay separately for a domain name.

SiteGround Pros and Cons

We find SiteGround hosting to be fast and reliable. Here are some of their pros and cons.

Pros:

While SiteGround doesn’t focus on budget hosting, their introductory prices for new customers are comparable to other hosting companies
Free domain name, SSL certificate, CDN, and website backups
Free website migration
1-click WordPress install
Speedy servers powered by Google Cloud
Excellent customer support

Cons:

Renewal prices are more expensive than other hosting companies

Why We Chose SiteGround

SiteGround focuses on fast and reliable web hosting with great customer support. While they are not the overall cheapest option, they have hosting plans for every budget.

SiteGround Pricing

SiteGround offers many payment options. Here are some of the pricing options for their StartUp plan:

Month-to-month: $19.99
Cheapest rate: $2.99 for the first 12 months using our SiteGround coupon
First year in advance: $35.88 using our SiteGround coupon
Renewal price: $215.88 for 12 months

What Is the Best Cheap WordPress Hosting?

Now that we’ve looked at the best cheap WordPress hosting providers, let’s put all of their pricing options into a table so we can compare them more easily.

	Cheapest Monthly	First Year	Annual Renewal	Month-to-Month
Bluehost	$1.99	$23.88	$143.88	n/a
HostGator	$2.52	$30.84	$143.88	$4.78
DreamHost	$2.59	$35.40	$83.88	$7.99
Hostinger	$2.69	$34.45	$143.88	$10.79
GreenGeeks	$2.95	$35.40	$143.40	$11.95
SiteGround	$2.99	$35.88	$215.88	$19.99

As you can see, Bluehost has the cheapest introductory pricing for the first year overall. This makes it easy to get started with your first website. However, you will pay more each year from your second year onwards.

HostGator is another good option. Their cheapest introductory rate can be used for the first three years of hosting. This will make the initial payment more expensive but is better value in the long run. Besides that, their renewal price for subsequent years is quite affordable.

Alternatively, DreamHost is a great choice if you are looking for the best cheap hosting. The introductory deal for new customers is very competitive, and the renewal price is the most affordable when paying for 12 months or more in advance.

DreamHost is also the best choice when paying for hosting month-to-month.

However, price is not the only consideration when choosing a hosting plan for your new website. You may like to see our guide on how to choose the best WordPress hosting. It includes a helpful quiz that will help you work through the issues and choose the best option.

FAQs About WordPress Hosting

Over the years, we have helped over 2 million users start their websites, so we hear a lot of questions about WordPress hosting. Here are some of the answers to the most frequently asked questions about WordPress hosting.

What are the costs of creating a new website?

When creating a new website, you will need to pay for web hosting and a domain name. These are ongoing costs that you will need to continue paying as long as your website is live.

Some users may pay additional costs, such as purchasing premium plugins and themes or hiring professional developers and designers.

The cost of building a WordPress website depends on what you need and can range from $100 to as high as $30,000. We have created a detailed guide explaining how much it really costs to build a WordPress website.

Do I need WordPress hosting to start a new website?

Yes, you need to choose a WordPress hosting plan before you can build a WordPress website. This is where your website files are stored.

How do I install WordPress on my WordPress hosting account?

Installing WordPress is easy. Our recommended WordPress hosting providers let you install WordPress easily with a single click.

You can see how this works in our guide on how to install WordPress on your host.

Can I change to a different WordPress hosting provider in the future?

Yes, you can absolutely switch if you are unhappy with your WordPress hosting company or your needs or budget change.

Most WordPress hosting companies offer free migration services, which makes the process fairly smooth. However, if you want to do the migration yourself, then you can follow our step-by-step guide on how to move WordPress to a new host with no downtime.

Should I use free WordPress hosting?

No, we highly recommend that you stay away from free website hosting companies.

That’s because free hosting providers usually put advertisements on your website and in some cases may even distribute malware to your users. They may also shut down your website at any time without any notification.

You can learn more in our guide on why having a ‘free website’ is a bad idea.

Expert Guides for WordPress Hosting

Now that you have learned about the best cheap hosting providers, you may like to see some other guides on WordPress hosting:

We hope this tutorial helped you find the best cheap WordPress hosting. You may also want to see our guide on important reasons why you should use WordPress for your website or our expert pick of the best analytics solutions for WordPress users.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 6 Best Cheap WordPress Hosting (Compared) first appeared on WPBeginner.

October 19, 2023

How to Determine the Ideal Size of a Web Server for Your Website

Are you trying to pick the ideal web server size for your website?

The size of a web server depends on different components and resources. More popular websites will need a larger web server, but lower-traffic websites can get by with a smaller one.

In this article, we will show you how to determine the size of a web server best suited to your website.

Choosing the perfect web server size for your website

Here is a quick overview of the topics we will cover in this guide:

What Is a Web Server?
What Makes Up the Size of a Web Server?
How to Calculate the Web Server Size You Need
Shared Hosting Web Server Sizes
Managed WordPress Hosting Web Server Sizes
VPS Hosting Web Server Size
Dedicated or Enterprise Hosting Web Server Size
Frequently Asked Questions About Web Server Size

What Is a Web Server?

A web server is a computer that stores and shares websites with people on the internet.

You can think of it like a librarian who keeps websites neatly organized and gives them to anyone who requests them so that they can see the information on their computer or phone.

To do all this, these computers have specialized web server software installed on them. The most common web server software currently in use are Apache and Nginx.

A web server can have different configurations just like a home computer, making it less or more powerful.

You can rent out web servers from companies specializing in website hosting. These service providers offer web servers in different configurations and pricing to cater to a wide variety of needs.

As a customer, you can choose the web server size you want to start with. Later on, you can upgrade your web server with more powerful components as needed. These upgrades can be more storage space, processing power, memory, and more.

What Makes Up the Size of a Web Server?

The size of a web server is determined by the capacity of the components installed on it.

Higher capacity components increase the web server size, making it faster and more powerful.

By contrast, lower capacity components reduce the web server size, making it less capable of working efficiently under peak traffic.

Here are some of the most important components of a web server that determine its size and performance.

Processing Power (CPU)

Each web server has a computer processor or CPU (central processing unit). This processor is the brain of your web server and helps it put all the website’s pieces together quickly.

It grabs the text, pictures, and videos, mixes them up, and serves them to a user’s computer or phone so they can see the website.

The faster and more powerful the processor is, the quicker the web server can do this job. This is super important because it makes websites load faster and work smoothly.

More powerful processors may have multiple cores (dual-core, quadcore, and higher). Each core adds a separate brain to your processor, making it faster by allowing it to do many tasks at once.

Memory (RAM)

Memory or RAM (random access memory) is a super-fast memory area where a web server can temporarily store needed files.

RAM allows your web server to temporarily collect all the files needed to display a webpage for quicker access.

More memory gives your web server more temporary storage for those files, allowing it to work faster and more efficiently.

Storage (Disk Space)

Storage or disk space is the physical storage the computer has. A higher storage size allows you to keep more data on your website.

You can think of storage as a big, digital closet where the server keeps all the website’s files, like pictures, text, and videos.

If your closet is well organized, it helps you find things more quickly and easily. Similarly, having more space allows you to store more items and quickly find them.

Like the closet analogy, having plenty of well-organized storage for your WordPress website makes it more efficient.

Internet Speeds & Bandwidth

A web server needs to be connected to the internet so that it can receive user requests and send back data.

If your website is hosted on an internet server with high bandwidth, that will help it send data more quickly.

Bandwidth is the amount of data your website can send. You can think of bandwidth as a straw. A narrow straw doesn’t have much space (low bandwidth), so you will not be able to drink much water. However, a wider straw (higher bandwidth) allows you to sip more water.

Increasing the internet and bandwidth size can make your website respond to user requests more quickly and send data much more efficiently.

How to Calculate the Web Server Size You Need

Now that we know what makes up the web server, you will need to calculate the size that fits your needs.

This is important because web hosting costs money, and bigger web servers with many resources are expensive.

Here is our formula to calculate the ideal web server size for your WordPress website.

1. Average Bandwidth and the Amount of Data Your Website Serves

Each time a user makes a request, your web server sends them data. More data means using more server resources.

You can calculate how much data your WordPress uses by first seeing your average page size.

This is easy to do by running your 10 most popular pages through website speed checker tools like GTMetrix.

You then need to multiply the average page size by your website’s monthly page views.

Google Analytics collects data about the traffic to your website, including page views, average session duration, and more. While you can go directly to Google Analytics to see your page views, it’s much easier to use a WordPress Google Analytics plugin.

You can get the total number of page views using MonsterInsights. It is the best Google Analytics plugin, and it helps you track your website traffic and see all the data from your WordPress dashboard.

Simply go to Insights » Reports in your WordPress dashboard.

Then, you can use our sample formula to calculate the average amount of data your website consumes:

Average page size x total monthly pageviews = average bandwidth consumed

For example, it might be:

200KB x 60,000 views = 12,000,000 KB bandwidth used

You can then convert it into MB or GB for convenience:

12,000,000 KB / 1,000 = 12000 MB
12,000 MB / 1,000 = 12 GB bandwidth consumed per month

2. How Much Storage You Will Need

You will also need to know how much storage space your website requires. You can calculate this by tracking the storage your website is currently using.

The easiest way to find this is by using the Site Health tool. Just go to the Tools » Site Health page in your WordPress admin dashboard and switch to the ‘Info’ tab.

From here, you can calculate the disk space used by your WordPress files and database.

As you can see in the screenshot above, our test site’s Total installation size is 1.30 GB. The ‘Total installation size’ shows how much storage space your website currently needs.

However, as your website grows, you also need to estimate how much data it will upload each month.

The easiest way to calculate this is by monitoring the total installation size each month and noticing the difference from the one before.

For instance, if your total installation size was 1.0 GB last month, and this month it is 1.4 GB, then you uploaded 0.4 GB or 400 MB of data.

We recommend choosing a web server that has at least 3 times the storage your website currently uses.

Now that you have calculated the web server size you need, you can shop around for web hosting services to meet your requirements.

Shared Hosting Web Server Sizes

On shared hosting plans, your website shares its server resources with other sites. This allows the hosting company to offer cheap hosting plans for smaller websites and blogs.

Suitable For: Small websites and blogs under 10,000 page views per month.

Web server size: Most good shared hosting companies spend a lot of money to ensure that their shared servers have fast processors, sufficient RAM, and plenty of storage.

The resources provided by a host vary a lot. If you cannot find this information on their website, then you can ask individual hosts before signing up.

Typically, you get a single-core CPU with 1 GB of RAM and 10 GB of disk storage for a starter shared plan.

However, the amount of web server resources available to your website will depend on the number of sites sharing those resources.

Our Recommendation

We recommend Bluehost as the best WordPress hosting company offering shared hosting plans.

Their web servers use state-of-the-art components, unlimited bandwidth, and highly optimized software to manage resources so that your site gets 99.9% uptime.

Depending on which plan you choose, you will get access to either 10 GB, 40 GB, or 100 GB of disk storage.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

Alternatives: Hostinger and HostGator

Managed WordPress Hosting Web Server Sizes

Managed WordPress hosting is an upgrade from shared hosting services. It allows users to use a custom-built platform for WordPress websites.

Managed WordPress hosting companies offer automatic updates, additional security, and easy options to scale your website as it grows.

You can think of it as a concierge service for your WordPress website.

Suitable For: eCommerce websites, growing blogs, and small to medium-sized businesses. Starting from 25,000 page views.

Web Server Size: The web server size varies based on your plan. Managed WordPress hosting companies also have strict disk and bandwidth limits to ensure fair usage.

Typically, you can expect at least 10 GB storage, 50 GB bandwidth, single or dual-core CPU, and 1 GB RAM.

Our Recommendation:

We recommend WP Engine as the best managed WordPress hosting provider.

They are the pioneers in the managed WordPress space and consistently raise the bar with state-of-the-art infrastructure.

Their plans range from 10 GB of storage and 50 GB of bandwidth to 50 GB of storage and 500 GB of bandwidth per month.

Alternative: SiteGround

VPS Hosting Web Server Size

A VPS hosting plan allows you to create a virtual private server and use it as your site’s web server. It is an upgrade from managed and shared WordPress hosting plans.

The advantage of VPS hosting is that you can choose your web server size and scale it as your website grows.

This ensures that you get the amount of resources you need without upgrading to a dedicated server or enterprise hosting plan.

Suitable For: eCommerce stores, large and content-rich websites with a lot of multimedia files like hosted audio or video files. Ideal for 30,000 to 100,000 page views, depending on the server configuration.

Web Server Size: Server configurations vary among companies and are priced accordingly. You can choose from different configurations or create your own from a hosting control panel.

Our Recommendation:

We recommend SiteGround VPS hosting plans. They offer generous web server sizes starting from 4-core processors with 8 GB memory and 40 GB storage space.

They have a powerful hosting infrastructure built on top of Google Cloud. Plus, you get all the features of managed WordPress hosting with access to additional developer tools.

Alternatives: Bluehost VPS

Dedicated or Enterprise Hosting Web Server Size

Dedicated or enterprise hosting is the ultimate upgrade, with custom-made web server sizes designed for the highest performance and massive amounts of traffic.

On a dedicated server, your website doesn’t share any of its web server resources. You can choose the processor speed and cores, RAM size, disk storage, and the bandwidth you need.

Enterprise hosting plans are the last tier of dedicated hosting plans. One of these plans gives you access to the hosting company’s engineering team. They will manage the hosting infrastructure according to your needs, with 24/7 phone support from your dedicated support team.

Suitable For: Big-name brands, mission-critical websites with massive traffic, and larger eCommerce stores. Ideal for 200,000 to millions of page views.

Web Server Size: Companies offer dedicated servers with different configurations. Typically, you can expect dual or quad-core CPUs with 4-8 GB RAM and 500 GB to 1TB disk storage. You can also configure your own dedicated server with different components.

Our Recommendation:

We recommend SiteGround’s dedicated hosting plans. Hosted on the Google Cloud platform, you can choose up to 33 core processing power, 130 GB memory, and 1TB of SSD storage.

Alternatives: DreamHost dedicated servers

Frequently Asked Questions About Web Server Size

Following are some of the most commonly asked questions about choosing a web server size.

1. How much disk space does a web server need?

The amount of disk space a web server needs depends on how much data you will be uploading to your website. Typically, starter hosting plans start with 5-10 GB of disk storage, which is enough for a small business website or a starter blog.

2. What is the average size of a web hosting server?

Most websites are hosted on shared hosting web servers. The average size of a starter shared hosting web server is under 10 GB of disk storage, 1 GB of RAM, and a single or dual-core processor.

3. What does unlimited bandwidth mean?

Normally, shared hosting companies advertise unlimited bandwidth with their hosting plans. However, bandwidth costs money, and there are usually restrictions on how much bandwidth your website can use based on a fair usage policy. You can get further information by asking your hosting provider about their fair usage policy for bandwidth limitations.

We hope this article helped you learn how to choose the ideal size of a web server for your WordPress website. You may also want to see our WordPress performance guide to make sure your WordPress website is ready for peak traffic and our expert pick of the best monthly web hosting plans.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Determine the Ideal Size of a Web Server for Your Website first appeared on WPBeginner.

June 22, 2023

How to Set Up WP Mail SMTP with Any Host (Ultimate Guide)

Do you want to set up WP Mail SMTP on your WordPress site?

WP Mail SMTP is the best WordPress SMTP plugin that allows you to easily send WordPress emails using a secure mail transfer protocol (SMTP). It makes sure your emails go to the inboxes of your users and not to the spam folder.

In this article, we will show you how to easily set up WP Mail SMTP with any host or third-party SMTP service.

Setting up WP Mail SMTP with any WordPress host

This is a lengthy article, so we have added a table of contents. If you know what you are looking for, then you can click the link to jump to that section:

What Is WP Mail SMTP, and Why Do You Need It to Send WordPress Emails?
Hosting SMTP Server vs. Third-Party SMTP Server – Which One Should You Use?
Installing and Setting Up WP Mail SMTP
Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on Bluehost
Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on SiteGround
Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on HostGator
Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on DreamHost
Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on InMotion Hosting
Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on GoDaddy
Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on iPage
Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on GreenGeeks
Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on JustHost
Setting Up WP Mail SMTP With Third-Party Email Services

What Is WP Mail SMTP, and Why Do You Need It to Send WordPress Emails?

WP Mail SMTP is the best WordPress SMTP plugin on the market. It allows you to send all your WordPress emails using an SMTP server.

Once you set up your WordPress site, you may notice that you are not getting any emails from WordPress. These include WordPress notification emails and emails from your WordPress contact form plugin.

The reason you are not getting emails is usually that WordPress uses the PHP mail() function to send them.

Most WordPress hosting companies do not configure this function properly, and some simply disable it to prevent abuse.

The easiest fix for this issue is to use SMTP to send WordPress emails.

SMTP stands for ‘secure mail transfer protocol’, and it is pretty much the standard way to send emails. It requires you to log in to a mail server to send emails. This prevents the abuse of the hosting server and improves email deliverability, which means that you and your users will receive all WordPress emails.

Hosting SMTP Server vs. Third-Party SMTP Server – Which One Should You Use?

Most WordPress hosting companies offer free business email addresses that you can use with your own domain name.

We recommend setting up a separate email address for your WordPress website. It can be anything like support@example.com or info@example.com.

However, your WordPress hosting provider does not specialize in sending emails. Their SMTP servers are basic and have strict limits on the number of emails you can send.

If you run a small business website or a blog, then you will probably be fine with your hosting provider’s SMTP servers.

On the other hand, if you run an online store or a membership website, then emails become mission-critical for your business. You want to make sure that your customers get important email notifications delivered to their inboxes.

This is where you need a third-party SMTP service provider. These companies specialize in securely sending large numbers of emails without triggering spam filters.

We recommend using SendLayer, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), or SMTP.com for most online businesses. They are reasonably priced and can scale as your business grows.

For more information, you can see our article on the top SMTP service providers.

Once you have chosen an email delivery method, the next step is to connect your WordPress website to your mail server.

This is where the WP Mail SMTP plugin comes in. It allows you to send WordPress emails via SMTP by entering your SMTP credentials.

WP Mail SMTP is the most popular SMTP solution for WordPress, currently used by over 3 million websites. It’s maintained by the same team as WPForms.

There is also a free WP Mail SMTP lite version that is fully functional and can be used with any WordPress hosting company or third-party SMTP service provider.

The premium version of the WP Mail SMTP plugin supports all the top SMTP service providers and works with any WordPress hosting company that offers email accounts.

It also comes with powerful features like email logs, email controls, priority support, and a white glove setup.

Installing and Setting Up WP Mail SMTP

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the WP Mail SMTP plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you will see the setup wizard. You can skip it as we will show you how to set up WP Mail SMTP manually.

Just click on ‘Go back to the Dashboard’.

Next, you need to visit the WP Mail SMTP » Settings page to configure the plugin settings.

You need to enter your SMTP settings to use WP Mail SMTP. The first part of the settings will be similar regardless of your hosting company. It includes the following fields:

From Email – This email address will be used to send all WordPress emails.
From Name – This name will be used to send emails. We recommend using your website’s title.
Return Path – Check this box to receive delivery notifications or bounced messages.
Mailer – You need to select ‘Other SMTP’ here as you will be sending emails using your host’s SMTP server

Note: If you want to use third-party mailers, follow this guide to send WordPress emails via Gmail SMTP. We also have a similar guide for the Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) SMTP setup.

WP Mail SMTP return path and mailer settings

If you want to continue using your host, you need to select ‘Other SMTP’ and enter the SMTP server settings provided by the hosting company.

SMTP Host – The SMTP host address provided by your hosting company.
Encryption – The encryption method used by your mail server to send emails. Usually, it is TLS.
SMTP Port – The port used by the outgoing mail server.
Auto TLS – This setting should be set to On.
Authentication – Needs to be On.
SMTP Username – Usually the email address you are using to send emails.
SMTP Password – The password for the email account you are using to send emails. We don’t recommend saving SMTP passwords here. Instead, you need to store your password in the wp-config.php file.

These settings are required to connect with any SMTP server. However, their values may differ from one WordPress hosting company to another.

Let’s see how to set up the WP Mail SMTP plugin with different hosting companies.

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the biggest hosting companies in the world and an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.

We recommend Bluehost to all users who are starting a WordPress blog or making a small business website.

Here are the SMTP settings you will be using to connect WP Mail SMTP to the Bluehost SMTP server:

SMTP Host – mail.example.com
Encryption – TLS
SMTP Port – 587
SMTP Username – Your email address (e.g. wordpress@example.com)
SMTP Password – Your email account password

Don’t forget to replace example.com with your own domain name.

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on SiteGround

SiteGround is another popular WordPress hosting company. They offer excellent shared, managed, and WooCommerce hosting services.

Here are the SMTP settings you will be using to connect WP Mail SMTP with SiteGround servers:

SMTP Host – mail.example.com
Encryption – TLS
SMTP Port – 587
SMTP Username – Your email address (e.g. wordpress@example.com)
SMTP Password – Your email account password

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on HostGator

HostGator is another popular WordPress hosting company. WPBeginner is hosted with HostGator, and we have been using them for over a decade.

Here are the SMTP settings you will be using to connect WP Mail SMTP with HostGator servers:

SMTP Host – full.servername.com
Encryption – SSL
SMTP Port – 465
SMTP Username – Your email address (e.g. wordpress@example.com)
SMTP Password – Your email account password

You will notice that instead of using your domain as the SMTP Host, it uses the server name. You can find the server name in your cPanel hosting dashboard.

Simply log in to your cPanel, and you will see the full server name in the right column towards the bottom.

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on DreamHost

DreamHost is a popular WordPress hosting company. They have been around since 1997 (way before WordPress, Google, or Facebook) and offer shared WordPress hosting, managed, and VPS hosting plans.

Here are the SMTP settings you will be using to connect WP Mail SMTP with DreamHost servers:

SMTP Host – full.servername.com
Encryption – SSL
SMTP Port – 465
SMTP Username – Your email address (e.g. wordpress@example.com)
SMTP Password – Your email account password

You will notice that Dreamhost doesn’t use your domain name as the mail server. Instead, they use different servers to manage emails, and you will need to find out which one is used by your hosting account.

You can do this by logging in to your DreamHost hosting panel and then going to the Support » Data Centers page. From here, you need to scroll down to the Mail service section.

You will find the name of the email cluster under the Details column next to your domain name.

Next, you need to visit DreamHost’s email configuration page and scroll down to the ‘Where to find your mail hostname (cluster) name’ section.

Here, you can match your email cluster with the names in the table and copy the outgoing server address next to it.

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on InMotion Hosting

Here are the SMTP settings you will be using to connect WP Mail SMTP with InMotion Hosting servers:

SMTP Host – server##.inmotionhosting.com
Encryption – SSL
SMTP Port – 465
SMTP Username – Your email address (e.g. wordpress@example.com)
SMTP Password – Your email account password

InMotion Hosting SMTP settings for WordPress

In the SMTP host field, you need to replace ## with your server number.

You can find this by logging in to your cPanel dashboard and then clicking on the ‘Account Technical Details’ icon.

Finding your InMotion Hosting server number

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on GoDaddy

GoDaddy is the world’s most popular domain name registrar, managing more than 76 million domain names for over 17.5 million customers. They also offer different hosting plans (For details, see our article on the difference between a domain name and web hosting).

Here are the SMTP settings you will be using to connect WP Mail SMTP with GoDaddy shared hosting plans:

SMTP Host – mail.example.com
Encryption – TLS
SMTP Port – 587
SMTP Username – Your email address (e.g. wordpress@example.com)
SMTP Password – Your email account password

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on iPage

Here are the SMTP settings you will be using to connect WP Mail SMTP with iPage hosting servers:

SMTP Host – smtp.ipage.com
Encryption – TLS
SMTP Port – 587
SMTP Username – Your email address (e.g. wordpress@example.com)
SMTP Password – Your email account password

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on GreenGeeks

Here are the SMTP settings you will be using to connect WP Mail SMTP with GreenGeeks:

SMTP Host – mail.example.com
Encryption – SSL
SMTP Port – 465
SMTP Username – Your email address (e.g. wordpress@example.com)
SMTP Password – Your email account password

GreenGeeks SMTP settings for WP Mail SMTP

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP on JustHost

Here are the SMTP settings you will be using to connect WP Mail SMTP with JustHost:

SMTP Host – mail.example.com
Encryption – SSL
SMTP Port – 465
SMTP Username – Your email address (e.g. wordpress@example.com)
SMTP Password – Your email account password

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP With Third-Party Email Services

Some managed WordPress hosting companies do not offer email services as part of their hosting plans. So, you will need to use a third-party SMTP service provider to send emails.

WP Mail SMTP supports multiple popular mailing services, including SendLayer, Gmail/Google Apps for Work, Microsoft Outlook and Office 360, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), SMTP.com, and more.

Simply click on the mailer service, and the plugin will show you the information required to use that mailer.

For details, you can see our tutorial on how to use a free SMTP server to send WordPress emails.

We hope this article helped you learn how to set up WP Mail SMTP with any host. You may also want to see our guide on why you should never use WordPress to send your newsletter emails and our expert picks for the best newsletter plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Set Up WP Mail SMTP with Any Host (Ultimate Guide) first appeared on WPBeginner.

September 16, 2022July 31, 2023

5 Best Monthly Web Hosting Plans (Starts at $4.95/mo.)

Are you looking for the best monthly web hosting plans?

Most popular web hosting companies offer big discounts on annual, bi-annual, and multiple-year payment terms.

These discounts may be promoted as low monthly payments, but when you go to the checkout page, you’ll pay a hefty amount upfront to buy the web hosting.

In this article, we will share some of the best monthly web hosting plans that let you truly sign up for a month-to-month hosting service.

Why Choose a Monthly Web Hosting Plan?

Many web hosting companies only offer discounts if you buy hosting for a full year or multiple years. That makes it can cost hundreds of dollars just to get started.

Plus, if you don’t like the web hosting service, you may not be able to get a full refund, and you will lose your initial investment.

A true monthly web hosting plan will be cheaper to get started. With a month-to-month hosting plan, you won’t commit to a hosting provider long-term, and it’s easier to move to another web hosting company.

This allows you to choose the best hosting provider with the features you need to host your WordPress website.

And more importantly, you will only pay a low monthly cost for the web hosting service you use.

Without further delay, let’s look at some of the best monthly web hosting plans for small businesses.

1. Dreamhost – $4.95/mo.

DreamHost is one of the most well-known web hosting companies, and they’re an official WordPress-recommended hosting provider. They offer the cheapest month-to-month web hosting plan on the market.

They provide a custom control panel to add your domain name, manage emails, and access web hosting features.

Moreover, DreamHost comes with automated website backups. These daily backups ensure the complete safety of your content.

When it comes to DreamHost’s monthly pricing, their WordPress Starter or Shared plan costs $4.95/month with a free SSL certificate, free website migration, and more.

You will have to pay for the domain name separately, which is fair.

But if you’re willing to commit for the year, WPBeginner users can get up to a 72% discount on their Shared plan with a free domain name, website builder, SSD storage, and more.

Our DreamHost coupon code is applicable on the 1-year and 3-year payment plans.

DreamHost pricing plans and payment options

DreamHost has other web hosting solutions, including VPS hosting, managed WordPress hosting, dedicated server hosting, WooCommerce hosting, and cloud hosting.

Don’t miss our complete DreamHost review for more details on their shared hosting options and pricing plans.

2. Hostinger – $2.69/mo.

Hostinger is one of the leading web hosting companies on the global market. It offers WordPress website hosting, shared hosting, and cloud hosting plans.

The month-to-month shared hosting plan from Hostinger starts at $11.99 for a single website.

If you’re looking for a web hosting plan for multiple sites, then we recommend their WordPress Starter plan. It comes with a free domain name, a free SSL certificate, and free unlimited email accounts.

The Hostinger WordPress Starter plan costs $11.99/month.

You can use WPBeginner’s exclusive Hostinger coupon code to get a discount on your monthly web hosting plan. The Hostinger promo code offers more discounts on longer commitments.

For example, if you choose to pay for up to 12 months, the cost for the WordPress basic hosting plan reduces to $2.99/month.

And WPBeginner users get an additional discount that makes it $2.69/month.

In short, you’ll pay $32.29 at once to get WordPress hosting for the full year.

Their shared hosting plans cost similar to WordPress hosting. However, you’ll need to pay an additional setup fee.

Hostinger also offers Virtual Private Server hosting (VPS hosting) plans, Minecraft server hosting, and other solutions.

We ran several tests on Hostinger, and here’s our complete Hostinger review that may interest you.

3. Bluehost – $2.75/mo.

Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosting providers and an officially recommended WordPress hosting partner.

Though they don’t offer a month-to-month web hosting plan, the initial cost is so low that we couldn’t resist adding them to this list.

And you’ll save triple your investment with a free domain name, free SSL certificate, and a BIG discount on your web hosting package.

So if you’re just starting out, we recommend Bluehost as the best web hosting for beginners, startups, and small businesses.

The initial cost for your web hosting plan will be as low as $33 for the first year.

This also includes your free domain name, free SSL certificate, and a cPanel for a one-click WordPress installation.

However, on the renewal, you’ll need to pay the full cost for your web hosting plan and domain name. But by then, you’ll be able to grow your business to afford the price.

And if you still want to switch, you can easily move your WordPress site to a new web hosting company for a month-to-month hosting plan. Some web hosting providers also offer free migration services, so you’re safe anyway.

On a side note, we thoroughly tested Bluehost for its features, speed, and uptime. And we recommend it to everyone, all the time.

Most of our WPBeginner users start their websites with Bluehost web hosting and grow their businesses to the next level.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

4. SiteGround – $19.99/mo.

SiteGround is one of the best WordPress hosting providers. Their web hosting is optimized for speed and security. We use SiteGround to host the WPBeginner website.

Among top features, SiteGround offers automatic WordPress updates, a free CDN network to improve page load time, a custom web application firewall to protect your web server against malware and DDoS attacks, and more.

Their customer support team is available 24/7 to help you with any of your concerns, which you may rarely have with SiteGround web hosting.

SiteGround has data centers all over the world since they use the Google Cloud network. It’s the reason they can provide a 99.9% uptime guarantee on their web hosting platform. Over the years of using their platform, we have never had downtime for the WPBeginner site.

The SiteGround’s StartUp plan costs $19.99/month.

It’s an expensive monthly web hosting plan compared to other hosting providers on the list, but it also includes functionality like free site migration, free SSL certificate, eCommerce support, basic WordPress site management, out of the box caching addons, and more.

And WPBeginner’s exclusive SiteGround coupon code lets you buy their WordPress hosting plan with an 80% discount.

This reduces the cost to up to $2.99/month for the StartUp plan.

SiteGround pricing plan and payment options

SiteGround’s discount deal is only valid when you choose to pay for up to 12 months upfront. So you’ll pay $35.88 for 12 months and get access to all their WordPress hosting features.

The best part is that they also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Aside from WordPress, SiteGround also has cheap web hosting for other content management systems like Drupal, Joomla, Magento, and basically any other Linux based app.

We have done a detailed SiteGround review which shared performance tests from various locations along with coverage of their additional services like Site Scanner.

5. WP Engine – $30 / mo.

WP Engine is the most popular managed WordPress hosting company in the market. They are typically the go-to choice for large websites, enterprise customers, as well as small businesses and developers who want a fully managed web hosting platform with speed, security, and support.

WP Engine offers monthly cloud hosting plans starting at $30 per month on a month-to-month billing which gives you access to 10GB of disk space, 50GB of bandwidth, 10 premium themes from StudioPress, free automated migration, automated website backups, and more.

All their plans come with advanced developer tools like one-click staging, dev & prod site environments, threat blocking & security, built-in CDN for turbo website speed, transferable sites for easy client handoff, activity log, and more.

WP Engine also offers managed hosting solutions for WooCommerce online stores starting at $50 per month as well as enterprise cloud hosting starting at $600 per month.

But if you use the WPBeginner’s WP Engine coupon code and pre-pay for annual plans, then you will get 4 months free.

WP Engine also offers additional services like automated plugin updates, extra SOC2 level security with managed WAF, site monitoring, and more which can be purchased separately.

We did a detailed performance test of their platform in our WP Engine review that we highly recommend you check out.

BONUS: Other Popular Month-to-Month Web Hosting Options

6. HostGator: One of the most popular web hosting providers, HostGator offers unmetered bandwidth, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and more. Their shared hosting plan costs $7.65 for the first month (including tax) for WPBeginner readers. The plan renews at $11.95 per month from the second month.

7. GreenGeeks: The eco-friendly WordPress hosting offered by GreenGeeks comes with multiple types of hosting, including reseller hosting, dedicated hosting for websites, and more. It has built-in caching for fast performance, which costs $11.95 per month. You also need to pay a setup fee of $15 for the first time.

Which Month-To-Month Web Hosting Plan Should I Buy?

If you’re looking for true monthly web hosting with no long-term commitment, then DreamHost has the best monthly web hosting packages.

DreamHost’s top features include free website migration, free SSL, security, and a 97-day money-back guarantee.

With that said, when you’re starting a website, you want to get the best web hosting deal because it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be switching hosting providers every month.

Most people that choose a reliable hosting provider rarely ever switch. In over a decade of running the WPBeginner website, we have switched hosting providers only once, and that was after 10 years when we outgrew our previous provider.

So, in that case, what’s more important is that you choose a provider that’s giving you the best deal with one-year commitment.

We recommend Hostinger, SiteGround, or Dreamhost for those just starting out.

Hostinger’s WordPress Starter plan ($32.29 for the first year) is the cheapest web hosting option on paying upfront for 12 months, and you get a free domain name worth $9.99/year.

On the other hand, SiteGround’s StartUp plan on a 12-month upfront payment ($35.88/for the first year) is close to Hostinger’s pricing for the basic starter plan.

However, SiteGround servers are blazing fast since it’s hosted on Google Cloud, and you get tons of advanced performance and security features which is why we use SiteGround for the WPBeginner website.

If you’re looking for a more managed web hosting provider with enterprise support, then WP Engine is going to be your best bet since they offer monthly web hosting plans for cloud hosting.

Note: At WPBeginner, we regularly look into dozens of web hosting companies that are not listed in this article, like A2 hosting, GoDaddy, InMotion Hosting, Cloudways, Namecheap, LiquidWeb (Nexcess), and others. We decided not to list them all in this article because we don’t want to cause choice paralysis. If you choose a host from our recommended list, you won’t go wrong.

We hope this article has helped you find the best monthly web hosting plan.

You may also want to check out our other guides on related web hosting and business growth.

Best Web Hosting Guides for Small Businesses

Best WordPress Guides for Small Businesses

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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September 17, 2021

6 Best Reseller Hosting Plans of 2021 (Best Value + Quality)

Are you looking for the best reseller hosting?

Reseller hosting lets you sell hosting services just like a web hosting company. Web designers, developers, and agencies can offer reseller hosting as an addon service for clients and customers.

In this article, we’ll share our favorite reseller hosting so that you can choose the right hosting company for your business.

What is Reseller Hosting and Who is it For?

With reseller hosting, you purchase web hosting services and then sell the server space and features to other customers.

Think of it like running your own web hosting business, but without all of the expensive costs like hardware, servers, maintenance, support, and more. Every technical task is managed behind the scenes by the web host.

It’s important to choose a high quality hosting provider, since their service will be the foundation for your business.

If you’re a developer, agency, or manage WordPress websites for clients in any way, then reselling hosting can be a great way to make money online.

With that said, let’s take a look at some of the best reseller hosting options available on the market today.

1. SiteGround

SiteGround is a popular hosting provider that’s known for its high quality support and fast loading speeds. It’s also one of the hosts officially recommended by WordPress.

The reseller hosting plans let you pass on all of SiteGround’s great hosting features to your clients.

All reseller packages support an unlimited number of hosting accounts, have free WordPress installation and updates, daily backups, and more.

Free SSL certificates, email accounts, and a CDN are included with your customers’ hosting accounts too.

You can also offer your clients access to the site staging features, datacenter selection, and free migration for those coming from other web hosts.

Pricing: SiteGround reseller plans start at $7.99 and include 20GB of storage and support for unlimited websites. If you want custom branding for your account, then you’ll need one of the higher priced plans.

For more details, see our SiteGround review to learn more about the features, performance, and more.

2. HostGator

HostGator is one of the top WordPress hosting providers in the world. They’ve been around since 2002 and have grown to become one of the biggest and most beginner friendly hosts in the market.

The reseller hosting offers great features like unlimited domains, a free SSL certificate, dedicated IP addresses, FTP accounts, private name servers, automated backups, and more.

Every reseller plan comes with the WHM control panel for easier client management and server control. You can monitor and control the server bandwidth and disk space for every customer server.

It also includes WHMCS billing software to easily automate your billing.

Finally, HostGator includes 24/7 support via live chat and phone.

Pricing: HostGator reseller plans start at $19.95 per month and have 60GB of disk space and support for unlimited websites.

To learn more about HostGator, see our in depth HostGator review where we evaluate their speed, performance, and support.

3. GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks is well known in the hosting industry for being an environmentally friendly host. They offer very fast loading speeds, 24/7 US-based support, and power over 600,000 websites.

Every reseller plan includes unlimited disk space and bandwidth, a free CDN, and automated daily backups. Plus, high level plans can support eCommerce stores across different platforms like WooCommerce.

If your clients are more advanced users, then you can offer support for multiple versions of PHP, FTP access, WP-CLI, Git, and more.

White label services are also available, so you can sell hosting under your branding instead of GreenGeeks.

Pricing: GreenGeeks reseller plans start at $19.95 per month with 60GB of disk space and support for 25 cPanel accounts.

To learn more about GreenGeeks, see our in depth GreenGeeks review where we cover the pros and cons in depth.

4. WP Engine

WP Engine is known for its managed WordPress hosting plans, rock solid support team, and fast speeds.

It’s very popular with WordPress developers since it offers support for up to 30 websites on managed hosting when you choose the Managed Hosting Scale plan.

You get access to 24/7 support, automated migrations, daily backups, SSH access, and a free SSL certificate with managed hosting.

Plus, with WP Engine, you get access to 10 different StudioPress WordPress themes that you can use on client websites.

Pricing: WP Engine starts at $241.67 per month when billed yearly and supports up to 30 websites.

For more details, see our in depth WP Engine review where we highlight the pros, cons, performance, and more.

5. A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is a web host known for its speed, performance, and reliability. There’s also 24/7 tech support to assist with any website issues.

All of the reseller hosting plans are managed with the Web Host Manager (WHM) tool, which makes it easy to keep track of your client websites.

Plus, you can white label the hosting to create a branded experience for your customers.

The reseller plans also include free account migration, SSL certificates, automated backups, and a CDN.

Pricing: A2 Hosting reseller plans start at $24.99 per month when paid yearly, and include 60 GB of disk space, a money-back guarantee, and more.

For more details, see our detailed A2 Hosting review for an in depth look at the hosting features, performance, and plans.

6. InMotion

InMotion is a popular host that offers reliable performance for business websites. The technical support team is very helpful, plus there’s 99.99% guaranteed uptime.

Every plan has high bandwidth and disk space to support more websites and traffic at an affordable price.

All plans come with a free cPanel or WHM control panel, root server access, and built-in DDoS and malware protection. This offers your customers flexibility and improved website security.

White label services and billing software are included for free. So, you can easily manage payments while offering customers a hosting experience with your own branding.

If you want to sell domain names too, then you can use the domain reseller account also included in the reseller program.

Pricing: InMotion Hosting reseller plans start at $29.99 per month when paid yearly and offer 80GB storage and support for 25 websites, along with a 90-day money-back guarantee.

To learn more about InMotion, see our in depth InMotion Hosting review where we highlight the performance, speed, and pros and cons.

What is the Best Reseller Hosting? (Expert Pick)

All of the reseller hosting services above are great choices. The best reseller host for your business will depend on your goals and the kind of websites you’ll be hosting.

If website speed and high quality customer support are important, then SiteGround is the best option.

If you want a beginner-friendly host that your customers can grow and scale their websites with, then HostGator is perfect.

We also looked into other reseller web hosting providers like Liquid Web, GoDaddy, Bluehost, etc but we decided not to list them here to help you avoid choice paralysis.

We hope this article helped you find the best reseller hosting to help you start your own reseller business. You may also want to see our guide on choosing the best website builder and our expert picks on the best business phone services for small businesses.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 6 Best Reseller Hosting Plans of 2021 (Best Value + Quality) appeared first on WPBeginner.

August 2, 2021February 14, 2024

How to Update Your PHP Version in WordPress (the RIGHT Way)

Do you want to update the PHP version of your WordPress site?

Using the latest version of PHP in WordPress can significantly improve your site’s performance and user experience. Many web hosting providers make the update process rather easy, but you may need to check several things before doing it.

In this article, we will show you how to easily update the PHP version of your WordPress website.

How to Update Your PHP Version in WordPress (the RIGHT Way)

Why Update PHP Version in WordPress?

Updating your WordPress website’s PHP version can boost your site’s performance.

You see, WordPress is developed using an open-source programming language called PHP. At the time of writing this article, it requires at least PHP 7.4 or greater.

New PHP versions usually come with patches for security vulnerabilities and bugs, protecting your site against malware and hackers. It also includes new features to make running processes much faster and reduce memory usage.

Because of this, we strongly recommend updating your WordPress to the latest stable version of PHP. At the time of writing this article, that is PHP 8.3.2.

If you use an older PHP version, your website may be less secure, slower, and prone to errors due to compatibility issues with WordPress core, plugin, or theme. You can learn more about this topic in our article about how PHP updates by your web host impact WordPress.

Thankfully, most WordPress hosting companies strive to offer the newest PHP versions to meet WordPress’ requirements. They may also automatically update PHP behind-the-scenes and you may not notice any change.

That said, we suggest keeping up-to-date with the latest PHP news. Check what kind of features or changes may affect your WordPress website. A plugin, theme, or software may not work after the update and you have to switch back to an older version of PHP in the meantime.

With that in mind, let’s look at how you can check your current PHP version in WordPress. We will also show you a step-by-step tutorial on how to update your PHP version in different hosting providers.

How to Check Your Current PHP Version in WordPress
What to Do Before Updating PHP in WordPress
How to Update Your PHP Version in Bluehost
How to Update Your PHP Version in Hostinger
How to Update Your PHP Version in SiteGround
How to Update Your PHP Version in HostGator
How to Update Your PHP Version in DreamHost
How to Update Your PHP Version in WP Engine
How to Update Your PHP Version in Other WordPress Hosting Providers
Changing PHP Versions in WordPress: Frequently Asked Questions

How to Check Your Current PHP Version in WordPress

WordPress makes it easy to check the version of PHP used by your host. What you need to do is log in to your admin dashboard and head to the Tools » Site Health page.

Then, switch to the ‘Info’ tab.

Next, you need to scroll down a little and click to expand the ‘Server’ tab. This section shows your server’s system information, including its PHP version.

As you can see in the screenshot, our demo website uses PHP version 8.1.

What to Do Before Updating PHP in WordPress

As with any updates, you want to make sure your live site won’t experience any errors before making the changes official. For this reason, you need to do the following before updating your PHP version:

Update WordPress core, themes, and plugins – Doing this can ensure they can operate effectively with the new PHP. Must-have WordPress plugins from reputable developers will usually be readily compatible with newer versions of PHP.
Back up your website – Use a backup plugin like Duplicator to create a website backup in case of issues. You can easily restore your site to an error-free version if disaster strikes.
Create a staging site – We recommend trying to update your PHP in a staging environment so that any errors caused by the new PHP version won’t affect your live site.
Use the PHP Compatibility Checker plugin – Created by WP Engine, this plugin can identify potential issues that may come up from the new PHP version.

How to Update Your PHP Version in Bluehost

First, you need to log in to your Bluehost hosting account’s control panel and click on the ‘Websites’ tab in the left column.

After that, select the website whose PHP version you’d like to update, and click the ‘Settings’ button.

Now, go ahead and switch to the ‘Settings’ tab.

This is where you can see and configure the advanced settings of your WordPress blog or website.

Opening the Settings tab inside the Websites menu in Bluehost

What you need to do now is scroll down to the PHP Version section.

After that, click ‘Change’ next to your current PHP version.

Clicking the Change button in Bluehost to update a website's PHP version

Now, go ahead and select the PHP version you want to update to. Then, simply click the ‘Change’ button.

Bluehost will now start using the selected PHP version for your website.

Selecting a PHP version to update to in Bluehost

How to Update Your PHP Version in Hostinger

First, log in to your Hostinger account dashboard and switch to the ‘Websites’ tab.

From here, you need to click the ‘Manage’ button next to the website where you want to change the PHP version.

This will take you to that particular website’s dashboard.

Switching to the Websites tab in Hostinger and clicking the Manage button

Next, locate the ‘PHP Configuration’ tab under the Advanced menu from the left sidebar.

Hostinger will now show you available and supported PHP versions to choose from.

Select the PHP version you want to use and click the ‘Update’ button to save your settings.

A popup will appear asking you to confirm your website, blog, or online store’s PHP update.

Simply click ‘Confirm’ to continue.

Confirming a PHP version update in WordPress

How to Update Your PHP Version in SiteGround

If you are using SiteGround, then here is how you will update the PHP version of your WordPress website.

First, you need to log in to your SiteGround account dashboard.

After that, go to the ‘My websites and services’ section and click the ‘Manage’ button inside Websites.

Clicking the Manage button inside the SiteGround control panel

You will now arrive at the My Websites page.

Just click on the ‘Site Tools’ button under the website you want to update the PHP version in.

Clicking on Site Tools inside the SiteGround control panel

Next, you need to select the ‘PHP Manager’ menu inside the ‘Devs’ section from the left column.

From here, you can scroll down to the PHP Version tab and click the pencil button next to your PHP version.

Opening SiteGround's PHP Manager and clicking the pencil button there

This will bring up a popup. You first need to select ‘Change PHP version manually’ under the ‘Set PHP Version’ option.

After that, you will be able to select your PHP version from a dropdown menu.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Confirm’ button to apply your changes.

How to Update Your PHP Version in HostGator

What you need to do first is log in to your HostGator hosting account dashboard and click on the ‘Websites’ section.

After that, click the ‘Settings’ button on the website whose PHP version you want to update.

Opening the Websites tab in HostGator and clicking the Settings button

Next, simply switch to the ‘Settings’ tab.

In this section, you can manage your website’s advanced settings.

Opening the Settings section in HostGator

At this stage, just scroll down to the PHP Version section.

Then, click ‘Change’ next to your current PHP version.

Clicking the Change button in the PHP Version section inside HostGator

You will see a popup asking you to select the PHP version you want to update to.

Once you’ve made your choice, just click the ‘Change’ button.

How to Update Your PHP Version in DreamHost

If you are a DreamHost user, you need to log in to your hosting account’s control panel. After that, navigate to the ‘Manage Websites’ tab from the left-side panel.

On the list of websites, just click the three-dot menu and choose ‘PHP Version.’

Opening the Manage Websites section and clicking PHP Version in DreamHost

You will be directed to the PHP settings page inside the control panel.

Go ahead and choose a PHP version from the dropdown menu. Then, click ‘Change PHP Version’ to continue with the update.

How to Update Your PHP Version in WP Engine

WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting company, which means they automatically upgrade the PHP version for you. However, you can also manually upgrade and downgrade the PHP version for your websites.

Simply log in to your WP Engine dashboard. On the ‘My Sites’ page, click on the PHP version next to your selected website.

Clicking the PHP number link in WP Engine

This will bring you to your website’s Overview settings. Here, WP Engine has a feature where you can preview your website on the latest PHP version without actually changing the PHP version.

If you want to try it out, go ahead and click ‘Preview PHP …’

The PHP Test Driver feature in WP Engine

To actually update PHP in WP Engine, scroll down to the ‘Updates’ section.

Then, click on the PHP version number link.

Now, just choose the ‘Upgrade to PHP … ‘ option.

After that, click on the ‘Confirm’ button.

Confirming to update the PHP version in WP Engine

How to Update Your PHP Version in Other WordPress Hosting Providers

Most WordPress hosting providers organize their settings in a more or less similar way. You will most likely find the option to change a PHP version in the advanced settings of your cPanel or any other hosting control panel.

If you cannot find it, then you can check your provider’s knowledge base or contact their support team to change the PHP version of your website. For more information, you can check out our article on how to ask for WordPress support.

Changing PHP Versions in WordPress: Frequently Asked Questions

Now that we’ve discussed how to update your PHP version in WordPress, let’s cover some frequently asked questions about the topic.

What should you do after updating the PHP version?

After updating the PHP version for your WordPress website, you may want to ensure that everything is working as expected. We recommend visiting your website to see if there are any immediately noticeable issues.

After that, you can log in to the WordPress admin area of your website. Ensure your website uses the latest version of WordPress and all your plugins and themes are updated.

See our beginner’s guide on how to safely update WordPress for more information.

What do I do if a PHP update breaks my WordPress website?

It is unlikely that a PHP update will break a WordPress site. However, with the abundance of free and premium plugins, there is still a chance that a single line of poor code can result in any of the common WordPress errors.

First, you must ensure it is not a plugin or theme causing this error. To do that, you need to deactivate all your WordPress plugins and switch to a default WordPress theme.

If this does not solve your issue, then contact your web host’s support team. There is a good chance that the issue you are facing will already be on their radar, and they will be able to assist you.

If your web host is unable to help you out, then you can downgrade your PHP version using the methods described above.

We hope this article helped you learn how to update the PHP version of your WordPress site. You may also want to see our list of the fastest WordPress hosting providers on the market or our ultimate WordPress SEO guide to boost your search engine rankings.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Update Your PHP Version in WordPress (the RIGHT Way) first appeared on WPBeginner.

May 4, 2021

How to Speed Up Your eCommerce Website (14 Proven Tips)

Do you want to speed up your eCommerce website?

Speed is crucial for the success of an eCommerce site. It not only improves customer experience, but it directly impacts conversions and sales.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to easily speed up your eCommerce store to improve performance and conversions.

Why Speed Matters for Your eCommerce Store

Speed is extremely important when it comes to user experience. No one likes a slow website, a slow computer, or a slow app.

But for online stores, a slow website can actually costs you business.

For instance, a study found that a single-second delay in page load time results in 7% loss in conversions, 11% fewer page views, and 16% decrease in customer satisfaction.

In simpler words, slow websites can lead to lower sales.

Now apart from user experience and sales, eCommerce site speed also affects your SEO rankings. Search engines like Google consider speed as an important user experience indicator and ranking factor.

In fact, Google’s page experience search update is solely focused on user experience metrics like bounce rate and website speed. A faster eCommerce website will help you bring more free traffic from search engines.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily bump up your eCommerce store speed and performance.

Here is a quick overview of the topics we’ll cover in this guide.

Choose a Better Ecommerce Hosting Provider
Install a WordPress Caching Plugin
Use Latest PHP Version
Latest Version of WordPress & WooCommerce
Optimize Product Images for Performance
Use a DNS Level Website Firewall
Choose a Better WordPress Theme
Use Better WordPress Plugins
Reduce External HTTP Requests
Reduce Database Requests
Optimize WordPress Database
Use Staging Sites to Track Performance Issues
Offload Ecommerce Emails
Use Better Conversion Rate Optimization Tools

1. Choose a Better Ecommerce Hosting Provider

All eCommerce performance optimization you make to your website will have little impact if you don’t have a good eCommerce hosting provider.

Not all WordPress hosting companies are the same. For better performance, you need to choose an eCommerce hosting provider that does the following:

Provides a stable and up-to-date platform to host your eCommerce store.
It is optimized for WordPress, WooCommerce, or any other eCommerce plugin that you may want to use
Their servers are optimized for speed and performance. This means built-in caching, security, and other features to improve performance

We recommend using SiteGround. They are one of the officially recommended WordPress hosting providers.

SiteGround servers run on Google Cloud Platform which is known for high performance. They have built-in caching and even have their own optimization plugin that automatically implements many of the performance tips that we’ll recommend later in this article.

If you are looking for alternatives, then check out our list of best WooCommerce hosting providers.

After setting up your eCommerce store on a good hosting service, you can implement the following optimization tips to boost performance.

2. Install a WordPress Caching Plugin

WooCommerce is a dynamic eCommerce platform. This means all your product data is stored in a database and product pages are generated when a user visits your website.

To do this, WordPress needs to run the same process each time. If more people visit your eCommerce store at the same time, then it will slow down and may even crash.

A caching plugin, helps you fix that issue.

Instead of generating pages each time, a caching plugin shows user a cached version of the HTML page. This frees up your server resources and allows it to run more efficiently thus improving website loading time.

There are some great WordPress caching plugins available, and popular WordPress hosting companies like SiteGround and Bluehost offer their own caching systems.

We recommend using WP Rocket. It is the best WordPress caching plugin on the market with the most beginner-friendly settings.

Unlike other WordPress caching solutions, WP Rocket doesn’t wait for users to visit a page to generate a cached version. Instead, it automatically prepares a cache of your website and keeps it up to date.

With the right WP Rocket settings, you can easily get near perfect scores in speed test tools like Pingdom, GTMetrix, Google Pagespeed Insights, and more.

For details and instructions, see our article on how to install and set up WP Rocket in WordPress.

Top WordPress hosting companies, like SiteGround and Bluehost offer their own caching solutions too.

SiteGround SG Optimizer

SiteGround allows you to easily turn on caching on your eCommerce store by using their SG Optimizer plugin.

This all-in-one performance tool includes caching, performance tweaks, WebP image conversion in WordPress, database optimization, CSS minification, GZIP compression, and more.

Simply install and activate the SG Optimizer plugin in WordPress. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, click on the SG Optimizer menu in your WordPress admin sidebar to access plugin settings. From here, you need to turn on the Dynamic Caching option.

Turn on Caching on Bluehost

Similarly, Bluehost also allows you to use its built-in caching system for optimizing WooCommerce. Simply login to your Bluehost dashboard and go to My Sites page. If you have multiple sites, then select your site and then switch to the Performance tab.

From here you can select a caching level for your website. For instance, you can choose eCommerce but if your website still remains slow then you can come back here and increase the caching level.

3. Use Latest PHP Version

WordPress and WooCommerce are both mainly written in the PHP programming language.

With each new version, PHP improves in performance and becomes faster. It also fixes bugs and patches security issues that may compromise your website’s stability and speed.

This is why you should always use the latest PHP version.

You can find out your eCommerce store’s PHP version by visiting Tools » Site Health in your WordPress dashboard and switching to the ‘Info’ tab.

From here, you need to click on the ‘Server’ section to expand it, and you’ll be able to see the PHP version used by your server.

If your website is running on a PHP version lower than 8.0, then you should reach out to your hosting provider and ask them to update it for you.

For more details, see our article on how PHP updates impact your website.

Note: Some managed WordPress hosting companies like SiteGround have built their own Ultrafast PHP to improve overall server response time. Others are using PHP FastCGI to help customers improve eCommerce speed.

4. Latest Version of WordPress & WooCommerce

WordPress and WooCommerce developers spend a significant amount of time on improving performance during each development cycle. This makes both apps run more efficiently and use fewer server-side resources.

Each new version also fixes bugs and strengthens security which is crucial for an eCommerce business.

As the store owner, it is your responsibility to make sure that you are using the latest version of WordPress, WooCommerce, other plugins, and your WordPress theme.

Simply go to Dashboard » Updates page to install all available updates.

5. Optimize Product Images for Performance

Product images are one of the most visually important things for an online store. Better product images keep customers engaged and can help boost sales conversion.

This is why it’s important to add high-quality product images. However, you need to make sure that large image file sizes are properly optimized.

There are two ways to optimize product images for the web without losing quality.

First, you can optimize each product image on your computer before uploading it to your website. This requires image editing software like Adobe Photoshop, Affinity, Gimp, etc.

Most of them have an option to export an image for the web. You can also adjust the quality of the image before saving it for upload.

Alternately, you can use an image compression plugin for WordPress. These plugins automatically optimize your product image size for better site performance.

Aside from image compression, the image file type you choose can also help. For example, JPEG images are better for images that have a lot of color, whereas png images are better for transparent images.

6. Use a DNS Level Website Firewall

Brute force and DDoS attacks are common internet nuisances. Basically, hackers try to overload your server to break in, steal data or install malware.

Most hosting companies have basic safeguards that protect your websites from such attacks. However, one downside of these attacks is that they make your website loads extremely slow.

This is where you need a Website Application Firewall (WAF).

Now, common WordPress firewall plugins run on your own webserver. This makes them a little less efficient as they cannot block suspicious attacks until they reach your server.

On the other hand, a DNS-level firewall is able to filter your traffic on the cloud and block suspicious attacks even before they reach your website.

We recommend using Sucuri. It is the best WordPress firewall plugin with a comprehensive security suite.

Sucuri also comes with a powerful CDN (content delivery network). A CDN serves your website’s static content (images, stylesheets, JavaScript) from a global network of servers. This further reduces your server load and improves overall site load time.

If you are looking for a free option, then Cloudflare free CDN gives you basic level DNS firewall protection.

7. Choose a Better WordPress Theme

WordPress themes control the appearance of your eCommerce store. However, not all of them are optimized for performance and often add too much clutter which makes your website slower.

When choosing a WordPress theme for an eCommerce store, you need to find the balance between functionality and speed. Theme features like sliders, carousels, web fonts and icon fonts can slow down your website.

We recommend going for a simple theme and then use plugins to add the features you need. This gives you better control over both the performance and appearance of your online store.

WordPress themes by StudioPress, Elegant Themes, and Astra are all optimized for performance. For more individual theme recommendations, see our expert pick of the best WooCommerce themes for WordPress.

8. Use Better WordPress Plugins

One of the most often asked questions by WordPress beginners is that how many plugins they can use on their store without affecting performance?

The answer is as many as you like.

The total number of plugins does not affect the performance of your online store. It’s the quality of code that does.

A single poorly coded WordPress plugin may load too many scripts or stylesheets that could affect page load speed.

On the other hand, a well coded plugin would use standard best practices to minimize the performance impact. We recommend testing your plugins for performance impact before and after installing them.

We also maintain a list of must have WooCommerce plugins where we hand-picked essential WooCommerce plugins used by most online stores.

For example, the SeedProd drag & drop landing page builder helps you build blazing fast eCommerce landing pages without writing any code.

For more on this topic, see our guide on how to choose the best WordPress plugins. It has a step by step process on how to evaluate WordPress plugins and picking the right one for your online store.

9. Reduce External HTTP Requests

A typical eCommerce page contains several components. For instance images, CSS and JavaScript files, video embeds, and more.

Each such component is separately loaded by users’ browsers by making an HTTP request to your server. More HTTP requests mean longer page load times.

Your server may also be fetching things from third-party tools and services like Google Analytics, social media retargeting, and other services. These are called external HTTP requests. These can take even longer to finish on a typical web page load.

It is ok to have these scripts on your WordPress website, but if they are affecting your website’s performance, then you need to consider reducing them.

You can view external HTTP requests by visiting your website and opening the Inspect tool in your browser. From here, switch to the Sources » Page tab to view all external HTTP requests.

10. Reduce Database Requests

WordPress and WooCommerce use database to store a lot of content and settings. Your WordPress theme and plugins also make database queries to fetch and display that information on screen.

Database queries are extremely fast, and your website can run hundreds of those in mere milliseconds. However, if your website is handling a traffic spike, then these queries can slow down your page load time.

You can check the database calls by using a plugin like Query Monitor in WordPress. Upon activation, the plugin will add the query monitor menu into your WordPress admin bar.

However, minimizing these requests may not be possible for beginner-level users. For instance, you may need to modify your WordPress theme to reduce database calls.

If you are comfortable editing your WordPress theme files or debug code, then you can look for database calls that can be avoided.

Other users, can try finding a better WordPress theme and alternate plugins to reduce database calls if needed.

11. Optimize WordPress Database

Over a period of time, your WordPress database may get bloated with information that you may not need anymore.

This clutter can potentially slow down database queries, backup processes, and overall WordPress performance. From time to time, it’s important to optimize your WordPress database to declutter unnecessary information.

Simply install and activate the WP Sweep plugin. Upon activation, simply go to Tools » Sweep to clean up your WordPress database.

For more on this topic, see our article on how to optimize WordPress database for speed and performance.

12. Use Staging Sites to Track Performance Issues

Making changes to a live eCommerce store can cause issues. For instance, a customer may loose their order, or your site may go down during a sale event.

A staging site helps you easily try out performance optimization tips, new plugins, or a theme without affecting your live store.

Basically, a staging site is a clone of your live website that is used for testing changes before making them live.

Many popular WordPress hosting companies offer 1-click staging site set up. Once set up, you can try your changes and track your page load speed and performance.

Once you are ready to implement those changes, you can simply deploy staging site to the live version.

For step by step instructions, see our tutorial on how to create a staging site for WordPress.

13. Offload Ecommerce Emails

Emails play a very important role on an eCommerce store. They are used to deliver order confirmations, invoices, password reset emails, sales and marketing messages, and more.

However, many beginners don’t realize this and use their hosting provider’s limited email functionality for eCommerce emails.

Most hosting companies don’t support the default WordPress mail function. Some even disable it to prevent spam and abuse.

This is why you need to use a dedicated SMTP email service provider along with the WP Mail SMTP plugin. These companies specialize in sending mass emails and ensure higher deliverability, which means your emails don’t end up in the spam folder.

We recommend using SMTP.com as one of the best SMTP service provider for transactional emails.

It is easy to set up and works with WooCommerce and all top WordPress contact form plugins. Plus, they offer a 30-day free trial with up to 50,000 emails.

If you want to look at others, then do check out Sendinblue or Mailgun.

14. Use Better Conversion Rate Optimization Tools

When it comes to eCommerce website, conversion rate optimization (CRO) is important for increasing sales.

A typical online store has many dynamic elements to increase conversions such as free shipping bar on homepage, black friday sale countdown timer in website header, exit-intent popup on checkout pages, or even spin a wheel gamification on mobile site to reduce abandonment.

Often store owners and retailers use a combination of tools and plugins to add these dynamic elements. The challenge is that not all of them are properly optimized for speed.

This is why it’s important to choose conversion optimization tools that offer a suite of features in one platform, so you’re not loading multiple external scripts.

Below is a list of popular conversion optimization tools that we use on our eCommerce websites:

OptinMonster – it’s the most powerful conversion optimization toolkit that lets you create personalized popups, gamification campaigns, floating bars, and more.
LiveChat.com – it’s the best live chat software. They also offer ChatBot automation software as well that works for both WooCommerce and Shopify.
TrustPulse – it’s the best social proof software in the market that’s optimized for speed. You can use it to show real-time user activity without slowing down your site.

When it comes to analytics and A/B testing tools, we recommend only using what’s absolutely needed.

For example, if you’re launching a new landing page or website design, it’s important to run heatmap analytics. However after a short period of analysis, we recommend disabling heatmaps so it doesn’t slow down your website speed.

Similarly for A/B testing tools, you don’t need to run those scripts on every page of your website. You can selectively load A/B testing scripts on specific pages, and when you’re done with the test, don’t forget to remove the script.

We hope this article helped you speed up your eCommerce website. You may also want to see our WordPress security handbook or check out our WooCommerce SEO guide to get free traffic from search engines to your online store.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Speed Up Your eCommerce Website (14 Proven Tips) appeared first on WPBeginner.

March 4, 2020

6 Reasons Why WPBeginner Switched to SiteGround Hosting

Earlier this year, we switched WPBeginner website to SiteGround web hosting. Several readers noticed the change in our footer area which now says “WordPress hosting by SiteGround” and asked us to write about why did we make the switch.

When it comes to running an online business, choosing the right web hosting platform for your needs is crucial for your success.

In this article, I will share 6 reasons why we switched to SiteGround, and how they helped us boost WordPress speed, improve reliability, and implement a better workflow.

Background

Since I launched WPBeginner in 2009 (almost eleven years ago), our blog has grown to become the largest free WordPress resource site for beginners.

When I first started WPBeginner, I used shared hosting by HostGator. As the site grew, we upgraded to a VPS, then a dedicated server, and even a custom built cloud infrastructure six months ago.

During these years of running WPBeginner and growing my portfolio of companies, I have tested and used just about every major website hosting platform.

Even today, I have both active and test websites on many different hosting platforms, so we can stay updated with new features each company releases. This helps us make the right recommendations to our users based on their needs / budget.

However, over the last 3 years, we have been switching many of our big websites to SiteGround’s Enterprise hosting infrastructure.

WPBeginner was one of the few big sites of ours that hadn’t made the switch to SiteGround, and it just kept becoming harder and harder to resist the temptation.

SiteGround team simply kept innovating, delivering VIP customer service, and building unique tools to make the hosting experience better for both our users and our team.

And in January 2020, after 10.5 years of existence, WPBeginner website has finally switched to a new host, SiteGround.

6 Reasons Why We Switched to SiteGround

When it comes to WordPress hosting, the most important factors for me are: speed, reliability, support, and tools that improves dev workflow.

Below are the top 6 reasons why we switched to SiteGround hosting.

Note: we’re on SiteGround’s Enterprise Hosting which is built and optimized specifically for our needs. Although a lot of the similar things are also offered on their various hosting plans.

1. SiteGround is now on Google Cloud Platform (Fully Managed)

As a hosting enthusiast, when SiteGround CEO, Tenko Nikolov, first told me about this news I was excited beyond words. It was really hard for me to keep this a secret for this long.

Previously all SiteGround customer websites were hosted on one of their data centers either in USA or Europe. The private data center providers did a great job with keeping up with new hardware technologies, but the switch to Google’s Cloud Platform is a game-changer.

It simply unlocks a lot of performance and reliability improvement since Google has a state-of-the-art network.

The best part is that SiteGround made this platform improvement available for all their customers (not just Enterprise users). Yes, this means that even if you signup for their starter WordPress hosting plan ($3.95 per month), you’re going to be hosted on Google’s Cloud Platform.

This is a huge deal because you get all the benefits of scaling and resource management without worrying about behind the scenes stuff (since the entire setup is managed by SiteGround).

It’s a fact that Google and Amazon offer top-notch cloud platforms. The challenge is that they’re not easy to use for small business owners which is a huge disadvantage.

SiteGround is now leveling the playing field for small businesses by helping them compete with the big guys. This aligns with our core values at WPBeginner and Awesome Motive.

2. Maximum Uptime with Multi-regional Failover Setup

Reliability and site uptime is a huge priority for us because it impacts user experience.

Imagine going to a store in the middle of the day only to see a temporary closed sign. It’s an extremely frustrating experience, and you simply move on to a different store.

This is exactly how users feel when they visit a website that’s experiencing downtime.

SiteGround’s Enterprise team used Google Cloud Platform to design a reliable multi-regional failover setup for us.

This means that in rare situations when a specific Google datacenter region experiences downtime, our website traffic will be routed to a different region, so our readers always have the best experience.

3. The Best-in-Class Enterprise Support Team

Quality support is a very important factor when choosing a web hosting company. This is why many businesses pay extra for managed WordPress hosting, so they can get their problems resolved faster.

My various companies collectively spend several hundred thousand dollars every year on hosting related expense (yes that’s multiple six figures per year). Our costs are high because we serve billions of impressions monthly across our websites.

Depending on the size of the site, I have websites on shared hosting companies, VPS platforms, dedicated servers, and even many managed hosting platforms.

No one comes close to offering the level of support that SiteGround does. Just read these 3900+ SiteGround user reviews from WPBeginner readers, and that’s for their regular hosting plans (not the enterprise plan).

On the Enterprise plan, we have a personal account manager along with a 24/7 dedicated Enterprise engineer team.

When I say 24/7, I really mean it. Their enterprise support is offered through a Private Slack Channel where we can use the @here tag which pages the engineer on duty to respond. Their response times are nearly instant, and the engineers are true experts.

We also have direct personal phone access to the enterprise team as well in case of emergencies during holidays.

Other enterprise hosting companies that we work with also offer Slack support, but their paging system and availability isn’t up to par with SiteGround.

4. Development Workflow that Scales

Our team has various testing and deployment workflows that require custom setup, permission control, etc.

Over the last 3 years, SiteGround enterprise team has worked alongside our developers to not only build new workflows but improve existing ones to ensure the smoothest process.

Not to mention, they have built custom tools to improve speed and reliability of our various websites based on the specific platform needs.

5. Faster Go to Market with Native Google Services

One of the biggest advantages of using a cloud platform like Amazon or Google is their native services.

Instead of wasting time developing and managing custom solutions, SiteGround uses Google’s native services to solve the problems faster and more reliably.

For example, Google’s Cloud SQL has simply replaced the custom MySQL cluster management software which has made things way more efficient.

Instead of using an internal alert and monitoring system, SiteGround is using a smart Google Stackdriver integration to monitor each virtual machine instance from various regions, so we can ensure maximum uptime with automated failover.

We also swapped out WPBeginner blog search with Google’s Custom Search API, so you can now see WPBeginner site search results without any of the Google Ads that were shown previously.

There are also plans to use other Google Cloud services as we expand to unlock performance and reliability improvements.

6. Reduced Costs and Complexity with Maximum Performance

Just six months ago, I wrote a blog post highlighting a custom infrastructure that we built with our previous hosting provider. While the setup was powerful, it introduced a lot of costs and complexities when it came to management.

Since SiteGround enterprise team has worked with us over the last three years on our eCommerce websites, and they regularly work with other enterprise clients as well, they have streamlined a lot of the processes.

Their team knows how to unlock maximum performance improvements without introducing complicated services.

Our front-end website (that readers see), stayed blazing fast as always. But we unlocked massive performance improvements on the back-end and uncached pages.

On average, we’re seeing between 72% to 100% improvements on uncached pages.

Here’s a screenshot of the admin load time:

Final Thoughts – SiteGround Review

I first started testing and recommending SiteGround in 2013. Since then, I have seen them make significant improvements to their platform while maintaining top notch customer service.

In 2015, I switched one of my other popular blogs to SiteGround. At the time that blog received few hundred million pageviews annually (I sold that website in 2018).

After I saw how efficiently SiteGround managed that website, we slowly started moving our other sites on SiteGround.

In 2017, we signed up for their Enterprise Hosting plan to start moving our eCommerce websites. Over the last three years, our CTO and lead developers have worked closely with SiteGround.

Their team including Hristo, Daniel, Ivan S, and Ivan Y have earned our trust time and time again. You know it’s true when a paying customer (me) sends you a Christmas gift basket.

That’s why when we re-evaluated our technology stack after last Black Friday sales, it was an easy decision for me to finally move WPBeginner and few other sites over to SiteGround, so they can be managed by the same expert team.

While WPBeginner is on SiteGround’s enterprise hosting plan, I also have few websites on their shared hosting and two sites on their dedicated servers.

I highly recommend SiteGround for websites of all sizes. Whether you need WordPress hosting, specialized WooCommerce hosting, or even custom enterprise hosting solution like the one we have, you’ll get the best service.

All their plans are now running on Google Cloud Platform, they offer dynamic caching + speed optimization, a guided setup wizard, along with staging and other smart workflow tools.

The best part is their pricing is extremely competitive in all areas. Startup plans are $3.95 per month, and their GoGeek plan is $11.95 per month which is 70% lower than other managed hosting platforms.

If I were to rate SiteGround, I would give them a perfect 5 out of 5.

I hope you found this article helpful. If you’re thinking about switching web hosting and want a hosting provider that will make your website fast while offering top notch support, then definitely check out SiteGround.

Full Disclosure: No we did not get paid to write this SiteGround review. We’re happy paying customers of SiteGround. They have a referral program available for all their customers, so if you decide to use SiteGround by clicking on our referral link in this article, then we will get a small commission. However we only recommend services that we personally use and believe will add value to our readers.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 6 Reasons Why WPBeginner Switched to SiteGround Hosting appeared first on WPBeginner.

September 2, 2019July 19, 2023

How to Setup Cloudflare Free CDN in WordPress (Step by Step)

Do you want to use the free Cloudflare CDN on your WordPress site?

Cloudflare is one of the best WordPress CDN services available in the market. They offer a free CDN that speeds up your website along with a suite of powerful security features for small business websites.

The challenge is that many entry-level users are not able to use Cloudflare because they think it is hard to set up.

In this guide, we will walk you through a complete Cloudflare setup in WordPress to help you improve your website speed.

How to Setup Cloudflare Free CDN in WordPress (Step by Step)

What Is a CDN?

A CDN or content delivery network is a system of distributed servers that helps deliver your website files faster to users based on their location.

Typically, a web hosting service serves your website visitors from a single location. All the users access the same server, no matter where they are located.

This can cause a delay in content delivery for users living further away from your website’s central hosting server.

That’s why CDNs set up multiple edge servers in different locations around the globe.

These CDN servers cache static content from your website’s origin server and present it to users when they visit your WordPress website.

When there is a user request, the CDN server closest to the user’s location will handle it.

For example, if someone in the USA wants to access a UK-hosted website, then a CDN server in the USA will serve that request, not the main server in the UK.

With a CDN, all the user requests are handled by the nearest CDN servers. This reduces the physical distance between the visitors and your website’s server.

As a result, a CDN improves your website performance and speed for all users regardless of their geographic location.

A faster website also improves the user experience and can give your website a slight boost in SEO rankings. Using a CDN also reduces the load on your primary server and protects it from crashing during traffic spikes.

If you want to learn more, then see our guide on why you need a CDN for your WordPress blog.

What Is Cloudflare CDN?

Cloudflare is one of the most popular free CDN providers available on the internet. It is a large network of globally-distributed servers that automatically cache static content and deliver dynamic content quickly.

On top of a CDN service, Cloudflare is also a cloud-based website firewall and a distributed proxy server. It monitors all incoming traffic to your website and blocks suspicious traffic even before it reaches your server.

They offer a free basic plan that’s suitable for small business websites and blogs. They also offer paid plans starting at $20 per month.

Cloudflare is an excellent choice for small businesses looking for a free CDN. However, if you want to fully utilize all of Cloudflare’s features, then you will need the Business plan, which costs $200 per month.

Note: We do not use Cloudflare on WPBeginner. Instead, we use Sucuri as a website firewall and CDN. This firewall has the double benefit of improving speed and security. You can learn more in our comparison of Sucuri vs. Cloudflare.

With that being said, let’s take a look at how to set up Cloudflare Free CDN in WordPress. You can use the quick links below to jump to the different parts of the tutorial:

Setting Up Cloudflare CDN in WordPress
Configuring Cloudflare With the Quick Start Guide
Configuring Additional Important Cloudflare Settings
Optimizing Cloudflare for WordPress Using a Plugin

Setting Up Cloudflare CDN in WordPress

To begin, you need to visit the Cloudflare website and click on the ‘Sign Up’ button.

On the next page, you need to enter your email address and password to create a Cloudflare account.

Simply enter the information required, and then click on the ‘Sign up’ button.

When you finish signing up, you will see a thank you page confirming that your Cloudflare account has been set up.

The next step is to add your website to Cloudflare. You should click the ‘Add a website or application’ button to get started.

You can now enter your website into the ‘Enter your site’ field.

Make sure you only type your site’s domain name, such as example.com. You don’t need to type the full URL or any extra characters.

On the next screen, you will be asked to choose the type of Cloudflare plan you want.

For this tutorial, we will choose the free Cloudflare plan. Then, click the ‘Continue’ button.

After that, Cloudflare will show you a list of all DNS records their systems found. These will include your subdomains as well.

The DNS records you want to be passed through Cloudflare should have an orange cloud icon. The DNS records that will bypass Cloudflare will have a gray cloud icon.

You need to review the list to make sure that your primary domain is active on Cloudflare with an orange cloud icon. Simply click the ‘Proxy status’ toggle to change the status.

Once you have verified your DNS records, just click on the ‘Continue’ button at the bottom.

During the next step of your setup, Cloudflare will ask you to update your nameservers. You will be asked to change your nameservers and point them to Cloudflare nameservers.

Note: Changing nameservers can take some time to propagate throughout the internet. During this time, your website may become inaccessible to some users.

You can change nameservers from your domain registrar account, like Domain.com.

Or, if you got a free domain from your web hosting provider like Bluehost, then you will have to change the name server by logging in to your hosting account.

For the sake of this tutorial, we will be showing you how to change the nameservers from the Bluehost control panel.

While the process is similar across hosting companies, you can always ask your hosting provider for detailed instructions for their control panel.

Once you are logged in to your Bluehost cPanel dashboard, go to the ‘Domains’ section, and select your domain name. After that, click on the ‘Name Servers’ tab and the ‘Edit’ button.

Next, you need to select ‘Custom’ and enter the nameservers provided by Cloudflare.

Then, click the ‘Save’ button.

After that, you need to go back to the Cloudflare setup page, and click the ‘Done, check nameservers’ button to finish the setup.

It will now check your new nameservers automatically.

That’s it! It will take a few minutes to update your domain nameservers and activate Cloudflare.

Once activated, you will see the success message in your Cloudflare dashboard.

In the meantime, the Cloudflare Quick Start Guide will open automatically, and you can use it to customize your Cloudflare settings. We will show you how in the next section.

Note: The above screenshots show the Bluehost control panel. Your nameserver settings may look different if you are using a different hosting provider.

Configuring Cloudflare With the Quick Start Guide

The Cloudflare Quick Start Guide should have opened automatically after you clicked on the ‘Done, check nameservers’ button above. This setup wizard will help you improve the security and performance of your website.

The first setting is ‘Automatic HTTPS Rewrites’.

This will help you avoid the mixed content error in WordPress. It does this by automatically changing ‘http’ to ‘https’ in the URLs of all resources and links on your site that can be served with a secure ‘https’ URL.

This setting is on by default. We recommend you leave it on and click the ‘Save’ button.

The next setting is ‘Always Use HTTPS’.

Some users have reported issues when using this setting with Cloudflare. This setting is disabled by default, and we recommend you leave it that way. We will show you how to redirect from HTTP to HTTPS using the All in One SEO plugin later in this article.

Now you can click the ‘Save’ button to move on to the next option.

The next setting is Brotli compression.

Cloudflare can use Brotli compression to unlock 15-20% speed improvements. This setting is on by default, and we recommend you leave it on.

Make sure you click the ‘Save’ button to store this setting.

Now you will see a summary of what you have configured with the Quick Start Guide.

You should see:

Automatic HTTPS Rewrites: ON
Always Use HTTPS: OFF
Brotli: ON

You have now completed the Quick Start Guide and can click the ‘Finish’ button. However, there are still some additional important settings that need to be configured.

Configuring Additional Important Cloudflare Settings

Your basic Cloudflare setup is complete, but there are a few essential settings you need to configure to keep your WordPress site secure.

1. Secure Your WordPress Login Page

You can set up page rules to customize how Cloudflare works on specific pages on your site. This is especially useful for securing critical pages such as the login page and wp-admin area.

The Cloudflare free account allows you to set up 3 page rules. If you want to add more page rules, then you need to pay $5 per month for 5 extra rules.

First, you need to click the ‘Rules’ option in the menu on the left of the page. After that, you can click the ‘Create Page Rule’ button.

Now you can set up 3 different page rules. You can start by creating a rule that secures your WordPress login page.

Simply add the following settings below to secure your website:

Page URL: example.com/wp-login.php*
Settings: Security Level – High

When you are done, just click ‘Save and Deploy’ to store and activate the rule.

2. Exclude the WordPress Dashboard from Cloudflare

You will be returned to the Page Rules page, where you can see your first rule listed.

Now you can create a second rule to exclude the WordPress dashboard from Cloudflare caching and enable high security.

You’ll need to click on the ‘Create New Rule’ button to create your second rule.

After that, you need to type the following settings into the rule. You can click the ‘+ Add a Setting’ button to add new rows for additional settings:

Page URL: example.com/wp-admin*
Settings: Security Level – High
Cache Level – Bypass
Disable Performance
Disable Apps

When you are done, make sure you click ‘Save and Deploy’ to add the new rule.

3. Configure SSL Certificate Settings

Another important setting is the SSL certificate available in the ‘SSL/TLS’ menu on the left.

Make sure to click the ‘Full’ radio button if you are already using SSL.

If you don’t have an SSL certificate, then see our guide on how to get a free SSL certificate for your website.

Once you are done, Cloudflare will provide the essential green padlock in your visitors’ address bar to signify that your website is secure.

4. Redirect from HTTP to HTTPS Using All in One SEO

We mentioned earlier that we don’t recommend using Cloudflare’s ‘Always Use HTTPS’ feature. A great alternative is to use the All in One SEO plugin. It’s the best SEO plugin for WordPress, used by over 3 million sites.

The first thing you need to do is activate and install the All in One SEO plugin. For more details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

After that, navigate to All in One SEO » General Settings and then enter your license key into the ‘License Key’ box and click ‘Connect’.

You can find your license key in your account profile on the All in One SEO website.

Next, navigate to All in One SEO » Redirects and then click the ‘Full Site Redirects’ menu navigation option.

You will need to scroll down the page until you find the ‘Canonical Settings’ toggle. You should click this toggle so that it turns blue.

Next, turn on the ‘Redirect from HTTP to HTTPS’ toggle. This will create a redirect from HTTP to HTTPS, making sure that your visitors always have a secure connection to your website.

When you are done, make sure to click the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom or top of the screen to store this setting.

Optimizing Cloudflare for WordPress Using a Plugin

Cloudflare offers a dedicated WordPress plugin for one-click WordPress-optimized settings.

The plugin lets you quickly set up Cloudflare on your WordPress site, add web application firewall (WAF) rulesets, automatically purge the cache, and more.

To get started, install and activate the Cloudflare plugin on your website. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once done, you need to visit Settings » Cloudflare in your admin panel to configure the Cloudflare settings.

On the settings page, you will see a ‘Create Your Free Account’ button and a sign-in option for existing accounts. Simply click the ‘Sign in here’ link.

On the next screen, you will need to enter your Cloudflare email and API key.

Click the ‘Get your API key from here’ link.

Entering API Credentials Into the Cloudflare Plugin

This will bring up a popup for your account area on the Cloudflare website.

Make sure you are on your ‘My Profile’ page, and then click on the ‘API Tokens’ tab in the left sidebar.

After that, go to the ‘Global API Key’ section and click on the ‘View’ button.

This will open a popup and display your API key.

Simply click on the key to copy it.

Next, you need to come back to your WordPress dashboard and enter your email address and API key.

Then, click the ‘Save API Credentials’ button.

Save Cloudflare API Credentials in WordPress

After that, the Cloudflare settings will appear on your dashboard.

From here, you can apply a single-click WordPress optimization, purge the cache, enable automatic cache, and more.

To optimize your WordPress site, just click the ‘Apply’ button next to ‘Apply Default Settings’.

Next, click on the ‘Settings’ menu option.

Here you will find more site optimization settings.

You can scroll down on this screen to find the ‘Security’ section.

By default, the security level is medium. To improve your website’s security, you can select ‘High’ from the dropdown list.

We hope this article helped you to learn how to set up Cloudflare free CDN in WordPress. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress security guide and our expert picks for the best WordPress security plugins to further protect your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Setup Cloudflare Free CDN in WordPress (Step by Step) first appeared on WPBeginner.