I’ve learned some basics over the years about WordPress. Here are just a few pointers.
1. Various hosting platforms are available. They all have different levels of resources. The absolute best is going to be a Dedicated Server using Linux. There are many levels of Dedicated Servers.
2. The next level down is a VPS or Virtual Private Server. These are leased by various companies. Some are better than others and it is always changing.
3. The next level is a Business Hosting cPanel. These also come in various sizes and resources.
4. The next level down is the Managed WordPress hostings. There is some overlap with cPanel resources. Again, some better and some worse. The biggest issue with many Managed WordPress hosts is they can limit what you are allowed to install. This means Plugins and Themes.
5. The worst platform is something called Plesk. Don’t ever get involved with it. I also suggest avoiding Windows-based servers. Always use Linux.
Plugins – Themes and Measurements
1. You should review GTmetrix.com and fix things. Just do the best you can. Images are a big issue in many cases. Plugins for deferring scripts can cause issues. Make sure you test after each change.
2. You should update Plugins and Themes. The latest version of WordPress (5.5) can help here with a new automatic update feature for plugins and themes.
3. Avoid using Elementor and special themes that might cause a big drain on the Host server resources. Divi by Elegant Themes is good but can cause a drain on cheap hosting platforms or if you load too many other plugins.
4. If you are going to use a lot of Plugins then go for a more powerful hosting platform.
5. Traffic to the website is another factor. If it is going to take a lot of visitors it can really slow down. If not using a Managed WordPress host make sure you use a good caching plugin. There are several and some are easier to set up than others.
6. Deactivate and delete Plugins and Themes that are not in use. You can have one basic theme besides the active theme. That way if you run into a problem you can switch to the basic theme and see if that fixes things.
7. Make sure you have enough backups in case you run into issues. A website that does not change often does not need a lot of backups. 1 weekly or monthly is likely good enough. If the site uses the Blog regularly or is updated regularly you will need daily backups. Make sure you check in on the site and setup routine notifications. This can be done with Jetpack. Cloudlfare will often tell you if the site has issues as well.
8. Last but not least is Security. You should always have a good and automatically updated security plugin. Cloudflare does not do it all. Wordfence is popular and pretty good. There are others. Sometimes you can install two Security plugins. If one doesn’t catch something the other one will, hopefully.
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