Magento is used by over 250,000 merchants making it one of the most popular platforms. With its ability to be customized and thousands of extensions, it helps create a truly unique store. Yet Magento is also known for its resource hogging ways. To combat the slow speed of your store, here are some Magento speed improvement tips.
- Update to the Latest Version
This will remove any known bugs and also update and/or add new features. For example Magento 2 has CSS pre-processor which speeds up page loads and makes it more search engine friendly.
- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A CDN is one of the best ways to combat slow loading sites. Servers around the world keep a copy of your site’s files for faster access in any location. Aspiration Hosting’s CDN has over 50 relays globally.
- Merge JavaScript and CSS files
For a page to load correctly, the browser has to access numerous files including JavaScript and design CSS files. By merging them, you minimize the work the browser has to do.
- Let’s talk Cache
- Server Caching
Varnish is the most well know and can speed your site greatly. We prefer LiteMage because it is faster and supports HTTPS. Either will make your site run a lot faster.
- Use Full Page Cache Extensions like Full Page Cache from Amasty. Magento Enterprise comes fully equipped with this feature.
- Browser Cache
Add code snippets to the .htaccess file to allow certain files to be saved on your shopper’s computer. Use Gzip to compress the web pages on the server side and add Expire Headers which tells the browser whether to download a new version of the page from the server or use the one in the cache.
- Magento Cache Configuration
Enable Magento’s in-built cache from the admin panel.
- PHP Accelerator
PHP scripts can be cached in their compiled form using PHP Accelerators like Xcache.
- MySQL
Enable MySQL’s query cache to improve speed performance.
- Add-on Extensions
Think of extensions as clothes you wear. If you wear too many clothes, the weight will make your movements slow. Similarly a lot of extensions make it harder for your store to run smoothly. Delete unwanted extensions and don’t forget to update the extensions to fix any bugs that might be slowing page loads. Further, you can test an extensions impact by disabling it. Run a speed test on the site before and after disabling the extension.
- Use the Flat Catalog in Magento
Magento uses EAV (Entity Attribute Value) to store customer and product information. Enable the Flat Catalog from the admin panel for faster performance in the MySQL queries.
- Server Considerations
When choosing a host and plan pick carefully. There is a wide range of performance options. Some choices to think about:
- Disk space – Don’t cut it too close.
- Can your processors handle peak traffic?
- Uptime of 99.9%.
- Server near customer base for best load times.
- Uses SSD drives as they are 20x faster.
- Delete Magento logs and Databases
By default Magento keeps logs for 6 months. Enable log cleaning and a timeframe for keeping the logs.
- Reduce Image size
Most online stores are heavy on graphics. Compressing your images makes them download faster. Use a graphics program like Photoshop or TinyPNG Extension.
- Run Virus and Malware Scans
No online presence these days is safe. Do routine scans to keep your store secure. If your site gets infected, the virus will consume resources your site needs.
For 69 more suggestions, check out 79 Tips and Tricks for Magento Performance Improvements by Aspiration Hosting.
Brian Roizen is the Cofounder and Chief Architect of Feedonomics, a full-service feed optimization platform that optimizes product data for hundreds of channels. He has been featured on numerous podcasts and eCommerce webinars, and regularly contributes to Search Engine Land and other industry-leading blogs. Brian graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
