How to Use Server IP & Memory Usage to Manage Your WordPress Website
WordPress is a very popular content management system (CMS). As of April 2019, there were 9.7 million website using WordPress, with 75.9% of them being based in the United States. The CMS has been downloaded over 25 million times globally and is commonly used for the creation of blogs, news websites, and corporate webpages.
No matter what you use WordPress for, you will have to deal with the server load on some level. The system is very powerful and can handle a lot of traffic. However, if you don’t know how to manage your WordPress website’s server load, you can quickly run into problems.
In this article, you will learn about some of the basic and advanced tips and techniques for efficiently using WordPress’s server resources and keeping your site running smoothly and securely.
Manage Your WordPress Site Effectively.
WordPress stores all of its data in a MySQL database. To ensure the best performance possible, you should always keep your database tables as lean as possible and ensure that your website’s servers are always optimised and tuned to work at their best level.
In addition, you should always update your WordPress site’s software regularly to keep hackers and scammers at bay. Fortunately, this can be easily done via the WordPress interface through the use of plugins. If you use WordPress’s default settings, these updates will be applied automatically for you.
Choose The Right Web Hosting.
When choosing a web host for your WordPress site, you should always go for the most reputable company that offers a free domain. Having a free domain will save you thousands of dollars in the long run. In addition, you should look for a web host that provides high quality and professional-looking hosting for a reasonable price. Since your WordPress site’s performance will heavily depend on the quality of its hosting, it’s important to invest in high-quality hosting as soon as possible.
Set Up Your VPS (Virtual Private Server).
If you’ve ever tried setting up a WordPress site, you’ll know that it’s not as easy as it seems. The system requires a lot of technical knowledge that most people don’t have. For this reason, WordPress offers a dedicated server solution that can be accessed remotely via an SSH (Secure Shell) connection. This is one of the safest and most convenient ways to run a website.
A VPS (Virtual Private Server) provides you with everything you need to launch a WordPress site with the performance and features you need. The great thing is that you don’t need to know anything about servers or coding to use one.
Monitor Your WordPress Site’s Performance.
To ensure the best performance possible from your WordPress site, you should always look into ways to monitor its functions and activities. This can be easily done through the use of tools such as X-ray for WordPress, which provides detailed information about your site’s performance, security, and technical aspects. This way, you’ll know what adjustments need to be made and when new issues arise.
Use Memcached.
If you’ve been running a WordPress site for a while, you know that its performance can significantly improve when using the Memcached plugin. As the name suggests, Memcached is a plugin that allows you to cache some of your WordPress site’s most popular content and templates so that visitors can access this content faster. In addition, you can use Memcached to store small bits of data that speed up your site’s overall performance.
Avoid Hot-Plugging.
When setting up your site, you should avoid using hot-plugging (plugging devices into your computer’s motherboard while it’s running) due to the risk of data loss. Hot-plugging is commonly used to add additional devices, such as a monitor or a hard drive, to a computer while it’s running. However, due to the risk of data loss, this should be done with caution.
Monitor Your Server’s Resources.
Just like with your WordPress site’s performance, you should always monitor your server’s resources (i.e., the memory and the CPU (central processing unit)) so that you know when they are at their highest level and make necessary adjustments.
The most basic way to monitor these resources is to use the system administrator’s interface. You can access this interface by navigating to http://[your web host]/wp-login.php, which will then direct you to the WordPress dashboard. From here, you can easily access the system administrator’s interface. In this interface, you’ll find information on the resources your server is using right now. From this point, you can easily adjust CPU quotas, memory allocation, or both.
Use The Right Coding.
When choosing a web host, you should also look into whether or not they support PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor), the most popular scripting language for WordPress. Due to its widespread use, you will find many PHP-enabled web hosts, whose customers come from all over the world. If you decide to use PHP, make sure to choose a reputable company that offers professional services and support for a reasonable price.
Use SSH (Secure Shell) To Connect To Your Server.
If you’ve been running a WordPress site for a while and have experienced firsthand the frustration of trying to set up a new site with the same software, you’ll know that it can be highly frustrating to use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to connect to your server. Since the majority of WordPress installations are done via FTP, it’s understandable why most people feel this way.
Instead of using FTP to connect to your server, you should always use SSH (Secure Shell). This is a protocol that was designed to be secure and convenient as you can control the connection via a remote desktop application. In addition, WordPress offers many SSH-enabled plugins that can make configuration a breeze. The great thing about these plugins is that they allow you to connect to your server via the command line, which means you don’t need to have any specialised knowledge to use them. Just type in the command ssh [email protected] and you’ll be immediately connected to your server.
Avoid Using The Same Username And Password For Multiple Accounts.
With the growing popularity of multiple websites per person, the risk of people getting creative and using the same username and password for multiple accounts has increased. This is definitely not recommended as this could easily result in security breaches and even lead to account theft. To protect yourself from identity theft and keep your accounts secure, you should create a unique username and password for each account. If you use the same password for multiple accounts, this could easily lead to security breaches. The best practice is to create a unique password for each account and keep them protected.
Use A Captcha To Keep Spammers At Bay.
Another way to keep spam messages at bay is to use a captcha (a short for “captcha”) at the login page. While it might seem obvious, the key is to make sure that the captchas are difficult to crack. With more and more people getting into the habit of using automated tools to generate captchas, it’s important to ensure that these tools aren’t easily hacked. This is easily done by using a combination of CAPTCHAs along with another anti-spam measure called a DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) key.
When setting up your WordPress site via the cloud, you’re given the option to purchase a dedicated IP (Internet Protocol) address. A dedicated IP addresses are used to identify the site’s owner and ensure that all of the IP traffic is routed to the website. In addition to keeping your site’s traffic directed towards it, a dedicated IP can help with basic security by preventing others from accessing your personal data (e.g., online banking, credit card details, etc.).
Consider An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate.
An SSL certificate is a key component of a secure website. This certificate ensures that encrypted data (e.g., credit card details, personal information, etc.) is transmitted safely and that the recipient can be sure that they are communicating with a verified website. The best part about an SSL certificate is that all you need to do to get one is pay for it.
Take Your Time.
No matter what, setting up a new WordPress site is not an easy task and can take a while to get right. As soon as you figure out the basics (e.g., login, passwords, etc.), you can begin to build your site and get the performance you need. Remember: everything you need is already provided by WordPress.