E-commerce experts believe that page load time optimization is the key to success, or at least one of the functionalities, which can ultimately lead to increased effectiveness and more incomes. If you want to have a Magento store with unbeatable performance, check the following tips:
Switch off features you do not need – plugins are designed to improve Magento store performance, but sometimes they slow it down instead. If you noticed that your online store is running very slow after adding a new plugin, turn it off. If you suspect that a few of your plugins might slow the store down, test each one of them by measuring your page load time first when the plugin is turned on and next after turning the plugin off. Compare these two results and if you can see that some of your plugins have a negative effect on website speed, turn them off for good.
Switch on those, which might be helpful – there are many useful out-of-the-box options, which can be used for Magento tuning. I would specifically recommend the following ones:
- Compilation – if you turn it on, you can improve your Magento store performance by as much as 25 to even 50%. For slow online stores, this is simply a must check option! To find the Compilation mode, go to System > Tools > Compilation.
- Regular updates – many online retailers forget about it, but regular software updates are the best means of solving some of the problems with the website performance, which you were unable to solve in any other way;
- Merging CSS and JavaScript – if you want to improve page load and browser rendering time, combining JavaScript and CSS files is a recommended option to consider. To find this option, go to System > Configuration > Advanced > Developer and enable both “Merge JavaScript Files” and “Merge CSS files”.