Fix PageSpeed Score on WordPress

Last updated: April 2026

For WordPress sites, performance improvements come from caching plugins rather than server config files. WP Rocket and LiteSpeed Cache handle most PageSpeed audits.

WP Rocket settings

Dashboard -> WP Rocket -> Settings:

File Optimization:
  - Minify CSS files: ON
  - Minify JavaScript: ON
  - Defer JavaScript execution: ON
  - Delay JavaScript execution: ON

Media:
  - LazyLoad images: ON
  - LazyLoad iframes: ON
  - Image dimensions: ON (fixes CLS)

Caching:
  - Enable caching: ON
  - Cache lifespan: 10 hours

LiteSpeed Cache settings

Dashboard -> LiteSpeed Cache -> Settings:

Cache:
  - Enable LiteSpeed Cache: ON

Page Optimization:
  - CSS Minify: ON
  - JS Minify: ON
  - JS Deferred: ON
  - Lazy Load Images: ON

Image Optimization:
  - Enable WebP: ON (converts images to WebP)

Fix render-blocking without a plugin

# Add to functions.php to defer non-critical scripts
function defer_scripts($tag, $handle) {
    $defer = ['non-critical-script'];
    if (in_array($handle, $defer)) {
        return str_replace(' src', ' defer src', $tag);
    }
    return $tag;
}
add_filter('script_loader_tag', 'defer_scripts', 10, 2);