Huzzah! The “Holy Grail” of WordPress Configurations for Page Speed!
I didn't think it was possible. But I finally got my WordPress website to load in <1s from anywhere in the world. It took a lot of time and work to get the moving parts right. And though I'm here to tell the tale of my discovery, this journey was not without cost.
I endured many “flesh wounds” (more like wounds to my pride) while troubleshooting, testing, and retesting over the course of many weeks. Some nights I barely slept. I HAD to get this figured out. But not just for my own benefit.
All the time and energy I sank into this project was to be able to share this WordPress configuration with you now. My hope is you'll be able to get great page load speeds without all the trouble I endured to figure it out.
I'm not a developer. I don't write custom PHP or Javascript. I'm just a WordPress guy who gradually acquired some great tools and figured out how to make them cooperate to deliver some impressive results.
Here's EXACTLY how I did it (short and long videos below)
I used a combination of:
All tools are linked further down this post for easy reference.
The Short Version
The “Holy Grail” WordPress Configuration for Sub 1sec. Page Loads: Hosting, Plugins, and Cloudflare [11:36 duration]
“That's the short version??”, scoffed the reader. “Sure is”, laughed the author. *clearly uncomfortable with the length of the longer version*
The Long Version
How I Got My WordPress Website to Load in 1 Second or Less From Anywhere In The World (Long Version) [36:22 duration]
The “Holy Grail” WP Configuration – *Premium Tools*
*I don't make loads of cash from affiliate sales. But if you click through one of these links and end up purchasing something, I receive a small commission which helps keep this blog going and supports my coffee habit.
The “Holy Grail” WP Configuration – *FREE Tools*
Re: Kadence Blocks Pro
While I don't have a traditional affiliate link for Kadence products, in my membership dashboard I have the ability to directly email a 25% off discount to first-time customers of Kadence Themes.
So if you don't mind me getting a discount on my renewal next year, drop your name and email here and I'll gladly send you that discount.
If you're considering getting the Pro version of Kadence Blocks, I have to recommend spending an extra $40 to get their annual membership.
For that extra $40 you get Kadence Blocks Pro, some other great plugins, AND you get access to several killer themes, most of which are clean eCommerce themes with modern styling.
The Kadence Team is all about clean styling and blazing fast performance. And if you know the importance of site speed, you know it's monumentally important for eCommerce. If you build websites for clients, the Kadence membership is a no-brainer.
I'm itching to use the Virtue theme on my next eCommerce project (mockups of that theme from their site below).
Final Thoughts
This is a premium solution for optimizing WordPress load times. So I know it won't be for everyone. But if you acquire some of these premium plugins over time, you won't regret the investment.
Again, I can't emphasize enough how much ANYONE could benefit from implementing the free tools mentioned in this post. You're leaving seconds on your load times without them.
For further WordPress optimization study, I highly recommend you check out WP Speed Matters. The blog is full of super helpful tutorials, many of which I've implemented on this site.
There's even a WP Speed Matters Facebook group where the topic of discussion is always site speed. All day, every day. Swing by and see what you can learn from or teach the group. Everyone there has a need. A need for speed.
What do you think about this “Holy Grail” configuration?
Do you have a similar, nay I say, better cocktail of hosting and plugins? Do you have any recommendations that might make it better?
I'm looking to make this configuration even better. So I'd love to hear if you would do anything differently.
Drop your comments below and let's talk shop.
Keep in mind, this site is not a static WP site. So I'm not necessarily looking to compare speeds between this setup and configurations that are static. But if anyone happens to try this configuration on a static WP install, I'd be interested to hear your results.
I think a fair comparison between my setup and anything else should include images and text on the page. If you try this or a similar configuration on a different host or with some free alternatives to the tools I'm using, I'd love to hear about it.
The “Holy Grail” Course is Coming
It's available on pre-sale now with a lifetime access discount. And there will be several FREE lessons. So you don't have to buy anything to get access to some parts of the course.
Be the first to know when the video course is available. It'll walk you through every step of the “Holy Grail” configuration. Hop on the interest list below or take advantage of the pre-sale or pre-registration for the free lessons.
This course is perfect for anyone who'd like a step-by-step walkthrough of how to implement the more manually-intensive components of this configuration (for their own or clients' sites) including: