One of the most popular platforms for controlling the cache is Apache, which is a server language that configures the expires module.

If you want to add expires headers or configure them on Apache, you will need to access your .htaccess file first. While you can use either cPanel or FTP to do this, it is easier to do it with cPanel. Here are the steps to take with cPanel:

• Log into your account of cPanel and click on the File Manager icon.
• Open the section public_html by double-clicking.
• Locate the .htaccess file and right-click on it and select Edit.

Copy and paste the following passage of code into the file:

<IfModule mod_expires.c>

  ExpiresActive On

  # Images

  ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 1 year"

  ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 1 year"

  ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 year"

  ExpiresByType image/webp "access plus 1 year"

  ExpiresByType image/svg+xml "access plus 1 year"

  ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access plus 1 year"

  # Video

  ExpiresByType video/mp4 "access plus 1 year"

  ExpiresByType video/mpeg "access plus 1 year"

  # CSS, JavaScript

  ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 1 month"

  ExpiresByType text/javascript "access plus 1 month"

  ExpiresByType application/javascript "access plus 1 month"

  # Others

  ExpiresByType application/pdf "access plus 1 month"

  ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash "access plus 1 month"

</IfModule>

Save the file and upload it again.

The code above will set the expiry dates for images to one year. CSS and JavaScript files will be replaced every month and removed from the cache. It gives them an expiry date of two months from the moment you upload the file. You can configure expiry dates to precision using counters like years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. This allows you to configure the cache with precision.

This code will set the expires headers for specific file types. This is how you add expires headers to Apache. This code will also do the following:

• Enable the module with ExpressActive.
• Set the default duration of the cache with ExpiredDefault.
• Define the duration of a specific file with ExpiresByType.
• Reset the Last-modified date.
• Remove the Last-modified date.
• Optimize the response using Cache-control headers for HTTPs and force revalidation of the old content.

Add Expires Headers for Nginx

Nginx works in a different way to Apache in that it does not make use of a specific file like Apache does with the .htaccess file. Instead, you simply need to enter the following passage of code into your server block:

location ~* \.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|svg|ico)$ {

 expires 30d;

 add_header Cache-Control "public, no-transform";

}

Use Plugins

You can add expires headers easily by using any of the many plugins that are available to use. Using plugins maybe a good idea for those who have not had much experience in dealing with .htaccess files and adding expires headers safely in the past. There are some great plugins that you can use to do this for you. Here are some of the best we have found.

WP Fastest Cache