How to Setup W3 Total Cache to Optimize WordPress Websites

We are going to use w3 total cache to Optimize WordPress websites. By default WordPress is a dynamic CMS (Content Management System). This means that for every visitor request that WordPress has to process, it must first connect to the database to see if the requested page even exists.

Why using the W3 Total Cache plugin ?

It’s free and very effective. The W3 Total Cache plugin has been around for years and is successfully used by millions of websites. However, it can be a little tricky to setup when you start using it, that’s why we propose this simple guide for the Customize theme.

Using W3 Total Cache plugin enables the process of storing data from existing requests to be re-used for subsequent requests. Caching prevents repeating database request and serving of same information, by storing data that has already been asked for and serves it up instantly.

W3 Total cache will also help you reduce the sizes of your page by compressing it (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) before it’s actually renders by your browser.

How to Optimize?

One of the simplest WordPress caching plugins is W3 Total Cache plugin and easy to setup in the word press website.

However if you need more advanced caching options such as the ability to serve a static 404 error page the steps below will walk you through installing and configuring the W3 Total Cache plugin for WordPress

Step 1: Hover over Plugins in the left-hand menu, then click Add New.

Step 2: In the Search box, type in w3 total cache and click on Search Plugins.

Step 3: Under W3 Total Cache click on Install Now.

Step 4: Click Activate Plugin.

Step 5: From the left-hand menu, you should now have a new Performance section, hover over this and click on General Settings.

Step 6: Enable the options which you want to have the cache.

These would be:

Page Cache

Minify

Database Cache

Object Cache

Step 7: Hover over Performance again in the left-hand menu, and click on Page Cache.

Step 8: Ensure that these options have a check mark beside them, then click on Save all settings:

Cache home page

Cache feeds: site, categories, tags, comments

Cache 404 (not found) pages

Cache requests only for example.com host name

Don’t cache pages for logged in users

Finally to confirm that you’ve setup everything correctly, in your web-browser open up your site and hit (Ctrl-U), or go to View -> Page source to view the source of the page. Scroll to the very bottom of the page and you should see the W3 Total Cache banner letting you know the page has been optimized.