Cloudways Autonomous is designed to keep your websites fast, secure, and stable without complex configurations.
While many performance and security features are managed automatically, following a few best practices can help you achieve even better results.
This guide walks you through simple steps you can follow—no technical expertise required.
Table of Contents:
Website Performance Best Practices
Optimize Cache
Caching plays a vital role in maintaining fast and stable website performance. It stores and serves frequently accessed content without repeatedly fetching it from the origin server, which reduces load and response time.
By handling sudden traffic spikes efficiently, caching ensures smoother performance, improved stability, and lower autoscaling costs during peak periods.
Already handled by Cloudways:
Cloudflare Enterprise Global CDN for static asset caching
Brotli compression for smaller file sizes
Object Cache Pro (via Redis/Relay) for faster database response times
What you can do:
Ensure Object Cache Pro (OCP) is enabled inside your WordPress or CMS
Only purge the cache if you make major changes (e.g., theme change, bulk update, layout changes)
Avoid using additional page caching layers in plugins that duplicate Redis/Relay
Keep your database clean to help OCP serve data instantly
Avoid heavy or unnecessary database queries on high-traffic pages
Optimize Bandwidth
Bandwidth optimization ensures your site efficiently handles data transfer between users and servers.
It minimizes unnecessary load, controls costs, and maintains consistent performance; especially important under the new pricing model where visits are free, but excessive bandwidth usage can affect your margins.
Already handled by Cloudways:
Brotli compression on all traffic
Edge delivery for static assets via Cloudflare Enterprise
What you can do:
Upload images in next-gen formats like WebP or AVIF
Compress large images and avoid oversized media
Use lazy loading for images, videos, sliders, and embeds
Remove unused scripts, CSS, fonts, and heavy external resources
Avoid autoplay or large background videos unless necessary
Combine and minify CSS/JS files (only where safe and supported)
PHP and Server Settings
Optimizing PHP settings helps improve your application’s performance and resource utilization.
Proper memory limits, execution times, and worker configurations prevent slowdowns or unexpected errors, ensuring your application continues to run smoothly even during peak traffic on Cloudways Autonomous.
Upgrade to the Latest PHP Version
Using the latest stable PHP version gives you better speed, security patches, and compatibility. Before switching, review plugin/theme compatibility.
Recommended PHP Settings (for high-traffic or busy sites):
Setting | Recommended Value |
memory_limit | 512M or higher |
max_execution_time | 300 |
max_input_time | 300 |
post_max_size | 128M or higher |
upload_max_filesize | 128M or higher |
max_input_vars | 5000 or higher |
Security Best Practices
Following security best practices protects your application from attacks, data breaches, and downtime. Regular updates, strong authentication, SSL enforcement, and restricted access help maintain performance stability and customer trust.
Already handled by Cloudways:
Cloudflare Enterprise WAF (Web Application Firewall)
Always-on SSL/TLS protection
What you can do:
Use HTTPS across your website and internal links
Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for admin logins
Remove unused admin accounts or limit user roles
Keep your CMS, themes, and plugins updated
Avoid nulled or unverified plugins/themes at all costs
Disk Space & Storage Best Practices
Efficient disk usage ensures you don’t hit storage limits or incur unnecessary overage charges. Cleaning up old backups, logs, and unused media keeps your application lightweight, improves performance, and helps reduce storage costs under the new pricing model.
To keep your application lightweight and fast:
What you can do:
Delete unused themes, plugins, and media files
Remove outdated or redundant backups
Compress large images before uploading
Offload rarely accessed files to remote storage
Clean your database (spam comments, revisions, expired transients)
Monitor usage in the Cloudways Autonomous dashboard
Choosing the Right Cloudways Autonomous Plan
Selecting the right plan ensures you get the performance you need without overpaying. Below is a simple breakdown that can help you in choosing the most suitable Cloudways Autonomous plan:
Plan Type | Best For | Description |
Growth – Medium Traffic (Low Concurrency) | Small to medium websites | Ideal if you have steady traffic and only a few hundred active users at a time. Great for blogs, portfolios, small business websites, or early-stage projects. |
Scale – Medium Traffic & eCommerce | Growing stores and dynamic sites | Best for online shops and websites that require consistent performance during browsing and checkout with moderate traffic. |
Plus– High Traffic (Medium Concurrency) | Content-heavy and high-traffic platforms | Designed for news sites, magazines, content platforms, or large communities with high monthly visits but fewer simultaneous users. |
Enterprise – Extreme Scale & Mission Critical | Very large platforms | For applications that handle massive volumes or require maximum reliability, dedicated resources, and scaling flexibility. |
Final Notes
Following these best practices ensures you get the highest performance, security, and stability from your Cloudways Autonomous experience. Most heavy tasks are already automated by Cloudways—these small optimizations simply help you go even further.
That’s it! We hope this article was helpful.
Need Help?
If you need assistance, feel free to:
Visit the Cloudways Support Center
Chat with us: Need a Hand > Send us a Message
Or create a support ticket anytime.
We're here 24/7 to help you!