Overview
By importing a pre-configured WP Rocket settings file, you can significantly improve your sites’ performance and load time with a streamlined process that saves you time and money. This guide is intended for BlitzMetrics internal web specialists and any other developers familiar with WordPress who plan to use WP Rocket to optimize their websites. Especially for personal branding websites and for local service business sites.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Here’s how the pre-configured settings file streamlines your optimization process:
- Minimize Guesswork: The settings file has been meticulously crafted by the BlitzMetrics development team, taking into account best practices for WordPress optimization and the specific needs of our internal websites. This eliminates the need for extensive trial and error when configuring WP Rocket settings for each website.
- Consistent Performance: Using a standardized settings file across all BlitzMetrics internal websites ensures a consistent performance optimization level. This simplifies website management and helps maintain a positive user experience across our internal web presence.
- Focus on Content and Functionality: The pre-configured settings file handles the core optimization tasks, freeing you to focus on the more strategic aspects of website development, such as content creation, functionality enhancements, and design.
- Faster Time-to-Completion: With the settings pre-configured, you can implement performance optimization on BlitzMetrics internal websites much quicker than by manually configuring settings for each site. This translates to faster website launch times and improved overall efficiency.
In essence, the pre-configured WP Rocket settings file acts as a pre-optimized foundation, allowing you to achieve significant performance gains on BlitzMetrics internal websites while saving valuable development time.
Important Note
This article is intended for Content Factory workers (internal) and non-internal people who want to learn how to use our pre-configured WP Rocket settings file to streamline their WordPress optimization process.. If you are reading this and you are not an internal worker, please disregard the instructions for requesting access, such instructions will be colored orange for easy identification.
Information That You Will Need
Tools That You Will Need
- WP Rocket
- Smush
- WordPress dashboard of the site you are going to optimize
Implementation Checklist
- Deactivate Conflicting Plugins: Some pre-existing performance plugins might conflict with WP Rocket. Deactivate any such plugins before proceeding.
- Download and Install WP Rocket: We’ll be using the WP Rocket plugin to manage website optimization. If you haven’t already, download the plugin on the WP Rocket website and upload it to your WordPress dashboard. Once uploaded, activate the plugin.
- Note: For access, don’t hesitate to contact operations via Google Chat.
- Import Settings: First, download the pre-configured settings file. Then, locate the “Tools” tab within the WP Rocket settings. Here, you’ll find an option to upload the pre-configured settings file. Select the file and click “Import” to apply the settings to your website.
- Install Image Optimization Plugin: While WP Rocket offers some image optimization features, dedicated plugins like Smush can provide more comprehensive image compression. Search for “Smush” in the WordPress plugin installer, then install and activate the plugin.
Verification and Testing
- Open an Incognito Window: To ensure you’re testing a fresh, cached version of your site, open a new incognito window in your browser.
- Open Developer Tools: Use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+I) to open the developer tools within your browser.
- Run a Lighthouse Audit: Navigate to the “Lighthouse” tab within the developer tools. Here, you can run a performance audit on your website.
- Review Results: Once the audit is complete, analyze the results. Your website should score above 90 in the Lighthouse audit.
- Refine Settings: If the score isn’t above 90, you can make adjustments within the WP Rocket settings and re-run the test for further optimization.
Time It Takes To Compete This Task
It can take anywhere from just a few minutes to about an hour to complete this task. The time it takes will depend on how much testing and re-configuration you need to do to optimize the site fully. If Smush image optimization is active and the pre-configured settings produce a score above 90, this should only take 5-10 minutes. Otherwise, aim to complete this task in less than 1 hour.
Conclusion
By following these steps and leveraging the pre-configured WP Rocket settings, you’ve taken a significant step towards improving the performance of your WordPress website. Remember, website optimization is an ongoing process. As your site evolves, you may need to refine the settings for optimal performance. Utilize tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to analyze and refine your site over time.
If you enjoyed this tutorial, be sure to explore our Task Library for a plethora of additional tasks waiting to be mastered!