Best WordPress Speed Optimization and Security Plugins & Tools (2023)
Suppose you care about the SEO of your WordPress site. In that case, surely important criteria such as speed and Security are among your priorities, and what better idea than using WordPress plugins to improve the Security and speed?
WordPress plugins are developed to increase the speed and Security of the website, each of them aims to improve certain aspects, and you should choose the best option based on your needs.
Knowing the best plugins used to improve website performance is an important step in maintaining user satisfaction and preventing a decrease in website traffic and popularity. So if you are ready, it is better to start introducing these wonderful plugins:
Why do we need WordPress plugins?
Certainly, most WordPress sites can reach their desired traffic and performance with optimal Security and speed and a functional and attractive appearance.
Choosing a reliable provider to buy a virtual server, a dedicated server, or a virtual hosting server is one of the most important steps you can take to start your journey. In this way, if you can enter into cooperation with a company that offers a plan that suits your needs and can manage and support traffic and maintain the Security of information and data, you will be one step ahead of the rest.
But this post is about the best plugins for the WordPress site, and surely the impact of plugins in improving the speed and Security of the website is undeniable. Plugins are the important blocks of a WordPress site, and using them properly improves its performance in various aspects.
When using techniques such as caching, lazy loading, reducing or disabling Ajax and optimizing images, improve the speed of website pages, and on the one hand, using security plugins, protect your website against hacking and risks such as Keeping it safe from brute force attacks, malware or viruses, be sure that in addition to maintaining user satisfaction, you will also get a positive score in the field of SEO due to the importance you give to the quality and credibility of your website and gradually get closer to the top of success.
The best WordPress plugins to improve website security
Security is one of the main criteria of a reliable and complete website. If you can protect the information and data of the website by using the best security-enhancing WordPress plugins, you can be sure that you will get your reward from both search engines and your audience.
1. Wordfence
Considering that more than 2 million people worldwide have chosen Wordfence as their security plugin, it’s no surprise that this plugin is at the top of the list of WordPress security plugins.
Using advanced security solutions, new firewall rules, and the detection and blocking of malware and unauthorized IP addresses, Wordfence makes every effort to minimize the possibility of hacking and damage to the website.
This plugin automatically scans your website to detect threats as quickly as possible and, if necessary, provide you with the necessary security alerts to fix security breaches.
The free version of this plugin offers more features than the free version of other plugins. In addition to using a firewall to keep bots away, the free version also includes a limit on login attempts and live traffic monitoring to track attacks such as brute-force and provide the necessary security reports. provide you
Main features
- Detect and block malicious traffic with the WAF firewall
- Block requests containing malicious code or content with an integrated malware scanner
- Limiting login attempts
- Benefit from a complete firewall set with advanced tools to block content and malicious IP addresses, protect against brute force attacks, prevent threats in real time
- With customizable email alerts
- Easy user interface
- Support for two-step authentication
- Monitor visits and hacking attempts using the dashboard
- Real-time malware signature updates
- Check and compare the main files, plugins, and add-ons and provide a report in case of errors.
- Checking posts and comments of dangerous URLs with suspicious content
Pricing
This plugin has a free and paid version, and the features of the free version are enough for a small website.
The features and price of Wordfence plugin plans are as follows:
2. Sucuri
Sucuri is on the list of the best, and not only WordPress but other platforms, such as Magento, Drupal, Joomla, etc., can benefit from the security power of this plugin.
Remote malware scanners, file integrity monitoring, review of security activities, etc., are the most important features that make most small to large websites consider this plugin a security solution.
Most Sucuri services are free, but access to advanced features such as WAF firewall, SSL support, etc., requires the purchase of a paid plan. For example, the WAF firewall of this plugin detects and blocks malicious traffic even before it reaches the server, which is a huge advantage for maintaining Security.
Also, the combination of the DNS level firewall and the CDN server makes the website security reach an extraordinary level. In addition to the Security, the website speed also improves.
Thanks to the Sucuri plugin, you can fully control your website by checking and monitoring the security aspects of your website and using features such as email alerts, tips to protect your system against hacking, and a malware scanner. Errors, old codes, and blocklist status achieve the best degree of Security.
Main features
- Detect any changes in the file
- DNS level firewall
- Complete website protection against brute force attacks
- Easy and hassle-free recovery of hacked sites and providing security measures for the post-hacking process
- Provide a security alert
- Website protection against DDOS attack
- Malware scanner
- Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- CDN performance optimization
- Malware signature detection and bot blocking
Pricing
The free version of this plugin provides important and valuable features to the user, but the features of the paid versions are more advanced and comprehensive.
The features and prices of Sucuri extension plans are as follows:
3. MalCare
MalCare is also known as one of WordPress’s most powerful and comprehensive security plugins, which detects and removes malware much faster than any other plugin. This plugin cleans a hacked site automatically and prevents potential security risks.
This plugin is very easy to work with, and you can remove any under-the-radar malware with one click. This ease of use makes it easy for a beginner to implement security measures with MalCare, and there is no need to hire a security expert.
This plugin gives more power to the Security of your website by using smart technology. In this way, it collects the data of the website or websites at certain time intervals. It then analyzes them and uses the information obtained to prevent possible attacks.
Main features
- Improve website security without slowing down using MalCare’s server to run operations.
- User-friendly interface
- Cleaning WordPress sites
- Provide scheduled and customized reports to detect malicious events
- Remote Malware Scanner
- Benefit from a basic firewall
- Remove malware with one click
- Brute force attack protection
- Providing developer tools such as white labeling and customer reports
Pricing
MalCare’s free plan includes malware scanning, plugin firewall, login protection, and bot detection. At the same time, the paid versions offer other features, such as updating the firewall in real-time, the possibility of viewing hacked files, etc.
The features and prices of MalCare extension plans are as follows:
5. iThemes Security
With more than 30 advanced and internal methods, this security plugin tries to prevent your website from attacks and security vulnerabilities to the highest degree possible.
When iThemes detects suspicious activity, it automatically locks the WordPress site to prevent other foreign content. This tool and its features are suitable for both beginners and professionals. Easy setup, one-click installation process, and ease of use have made users face no particular problems while working with it.
The dashboard of this plugin has prepared a checklist of security features that can be configured. Still, after the plugin installation process is finished, a security check is automatically performed to identify the features used in the website security area.
Also, iThemes, among other features, allows you to change the WordPress database prefix of the wp-content path to make them hard to access. Overall, this plugin uses a combination of advanced methods to ban annoying bots and spiders, prevent brute force attacks, and create a file backup of the database.
Main features
- Prevent invalid login using the Strong Brute Force Attack system
- Identifying and blocking attacks on the file system and database
- Immediate reporting of problems to fix them quickly
- Monitoring the file system to detect any unauthorized changes
- 404 error detection
- Enforce strong passwords for all user accounts
- Two-step authentication
- Malware scan
- Google reCAPTCHA
- Limit login attempts
- Protection of WordPress plugins and themes
Pricing
Although some security features of iThemes are included in the free version, in general, the basic and advanced features can be used by purchasing a paid plan.
The features and price of iThemes Security extension plans are as follows:
All In One WP Security & Firewall
All In One WP Security & Firewall is one of the most popular security plugins that offers all its features for free and is especially suitable for beginners.
If you use the features and security tools of this plugin correctly, you can be sure that you will take the Security of your website to a new and excellent level. The All In One plugin’s security checks and techniques are designed to prevent attacks, unauthorized access, and code modification by malicious scripts.
Due to the use of a basic firewall, this plugin can identify common patterns and block them if necessary. Still, it is better to blocklist suspicious IPs manually because, in some cases, they can be blocked during execution. The right action is wrong or delayed.
In addition, the firewall of this plugin prevents hot-linking of website images and website crawling by fake crawlers.
Main features
- Locking the system login by identifying the number of times the password is entered
- Suggest a strong password
- Powerful security firewall
- Simple and convenient user interface
- The scanner detects changes in the file
- Website protection against brute force attack
- Prevent spam comments
- Provide a visual chart to determine the level of website security
- Backup and recovery of faulty htaccess and wp-config files
- File integrity monitoring
- Protect, edit, backup, and restore files
- IP address filtering
Pricing
free
6. Jetpack
Jetpack is one of the few WordPress plugins that speed up and improve website security. This plugin tries to make users enjoy a smoother, faster, and safer experience by implementing practical techniques.
This plugin is a versatile tool and provides the necessary advantages for design, marketing, and Security. Still, since we are talking about Security, we will focus more on the security advantages of Jetpack.
By installing this plugin, a WordPress user benefits from important benefits such as backing up the entire website in real-time, preventing malware and spam, controlling and maintaining the Security of logging into the system, etc. The free version of this plugin provides the set of security features necessary for the basic protection of the website. Still, the use of more advanced and extensive features requires payment.
With this plugin, you will automatically receive reports on website activity and traffic, and this will help you find out exactly who or what is disrupting your website.
Main features
- Providing instant alerts for quick troubleshooting
- Automatic backup of the site in real-time
- Suitable for e-commerce sites
- Automatic blocking of spam in comments and…
- Website defense against login attacks and malicious malware
- Automatic malware scan
- Fix security threats automatically
- Website protection against brute force attacks
- Automatic update of WordPress plugins
- Providing effective features in website design and marketing
Pricing
The free plan of this plugin covers the spam protection feature, but you need a paid plan to benefit from other security features.
The features and price of the jetpack extension plans are as follows:
The best WordPress plugins to increase website speed
Choose the best option among these plugins according to your needs and goals. You can be sure that by reducing the page loading time, you will minimize the possibility of creating a negative experience for users due to the slow speed of the website:
1. NitroPack
NitroPack is one of the best speed-up WordPress plugins that provide the necessary solutions for different types of cache, image optimization, CDN, etc., to achieve the main goal of optimizing website performance.
Instead of installing a bunch of different plugins to enhance different aspects of the website, you can do the work of multiple plugins with one plugin just by using the features of this wonderful plugin.
Setting up this plugin takes less than 5 minutes, and you only need to decide on the desired optimization intensity and leave the rest to NitroPack.
You might think that since this plugin can handle everything by itself, it 100% requires a lot of resources. At the same time, this is not the case. Although NitroPack offers a comprehensive set of speed-up features, it is a lightweight plugin that won’t block your resources because NitroPack’s servers do all these optimizations.
Main features
- Automatic website optimization
- Support for WordPress and other content management systems
- Convert images to SVG format
- DNS prefetch
- Defer JavaScript loading
- Minifying and compressing HTML, JS, and CSS
Pricing
This plugin has a free plan for small businesses or educational purposes, but it adds a special logo or badge to the footer section of the pages. This free plan has a limit of 5,000 visits per month and 1 gigabyte of bandwidth.
The features and price of NitroPack paid plans are as follows:
2. WP Rocket
WP Rocket is one of the best tools to increase the speed of WordPress websites, which uses various methods to optimize page loading speed.
The main method of this plugin is to set up advanced and powerful cache memory. In this way, the information that is most needed is stored in a temporary memory with a higher processing speed, which reduces the load on the servers hosting the WordPress site, improving the speed and performance of WordPress.
Of course, the WP Rocket plugin is not limited to just setting up a cache, and combining this method with other effective and useful methods, such as delaying the execution of JavaScript and compressing CSS, HTML, and JavaScript codes, has made WP Rocket, like NitroPack, Become an all-round and comprehensive tool to improve website performance.
This plugin allows users to cache their website instantly with one click. The crawler of this tool automatically fetches WordPress pages and then activates WordPress cache settings such as gzip compression, page cache, cache pre-loading, or cache pre-loading.
Main features
- User-friendly interface
- Minimum settings required to improve the speed
- Minification of CSS, HTML, and Javascript
- Caching the page
- Cache pre-load
- Lazy loading image
- Advanced rules for caching
- Database optimization
- It can be integrated with CDN
- Integrate with Google Analytics to load code from the server
- Import and export settings
- Javascript execution delay
Pricing
The features and prices of WP Rocket plugin plans are as follows:
3. Smush
Images play a big role in the speed of website pages, and Smush focuses more on optimizing image files. Since editing each image manually can be time-consuming and tedious, the Smush plugin does this automatically.
This way, this tool compresses the photos on all the website pages or uses the Lazy Loading technique to load the images. Implementing these image optimization methods increases the loading speed of your website pages and keeps the user’s enthusiasm for being on the website page.
You might think that compressing the images will decrease their quality, but Smush knows its job, and there is no difference between the quality of the original image and the compressed image.
With the Lazy Loading technique, your website images are loaded when the visitor scrolls down, and the images are exposed to him. This will reduce the initial page size and load time.
Main features
- Image compression without quality loss
- Lazy Loading
- Support all popular formats, especially JPEG, GIF, and PNG
- Compatible with other plugins
- Remove metadata from the image
- Ability to manage more than 50 images simultaneously
- Integrate with Smush. it API
- Ability to activate CDN
Pricing
Smush has free and paid plans. The free plan of this plugin allows you to optimize all new images. Of course, you are free to compress images on websites, but you are limited in the size of images, and you can only compress images that are less than 5 MB in size.
Features and prices of Smush plugin plans are as follows:
5. WP-Optimize
WP-Optimize is also one of the page-loading speed improvement tools that focuses more on database optimization. Of course, setting up cache memory and minifying CSS and JS codes are other features of this plugin. The best part of WP-Optimize is that it provides all these features for free.
This tool uses the world’s fastest caching engine for the cache feature, dramatically improving the website loading speed. Surprisingly, this tool has not only relied on features but also included other features for database optimization, image compression, and source code minification to become one of the best free WordPress plugins.
Of course, you can use the paid version to achieve a higher level of these features and increase the speed of website pages. Advanced options such as lazy loading, planning the process of clearing additional data, multilingual cache system, etc., are available in paid versions.
Main features
- Cleaning and optimizing the database
I am planning for the automatic cleaning of spam comments, trash content, etc. - Compression and consolidation of MySQL tables
- Monitoring statistics related to the database
- Image compression
- Setting up cache memory
- Deferring JavaScript and CSS
Pricing
The free version of this plugin offers basic features such as cleaning the database, compressing images, and implementing cache memory. Still, the paid versions offer these and other features at more advanced levels.
The features and price of WP-Optimize plugin plans are as follows:
6. WP Super Minify
As the name suggests, the main idea of WP Super Minify is to minify. This idea works based on combining JS, HTML, and CSS files and compressing them to reduce the loading time of website pages.
Of course, you must be careful when using this plugin because some other plugins can conflict with WP Super Minify. If needed, you can prevent cluttering a certain part of the source code by disabling CSS/JavaScript compression.
The process of installing and setting up this plugin is very simple. It is enough to download the plugin, upload it to the desired directory and activate it through the “Plugins” menu in WordPress. In the settings section, you can choose the compression range and, if you wish, minify JavaScript, CSS, or both.
Main features
- Simple installation process
- Minify and compress JavaScript, CSS, and HTML
- Postponing JavaScript and CSS files
- The utmost accuracy and confidence in maintaining the order of the scripts
- Keep a copy of the original files
- Remove unnecessary information from headers
- Keeping cache files in the upload directory
Pricing
Free!
Conclusion
The role of WordPress in the world of website development is undeniable, and there are many WordPress plugins, each aimed at improving certain aspects. Speed and Security are important factors of a good website. If you can bring your website’s performance and Security of your website to an ideal level by using the WordPress plugins we have introduced in this article, you can be sure that you will be at the top of your business field. took
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