10 Best Steps for Magento 2 Speed Optimization [2024]

Is your Magento 2 store annoyingly slow? Is your online Magento store taking too much time to load? If so, then it’s time to optimize your Magento 2 store. Most of the time, it is straightforward to speed up Magento 2 with some technical know-how. Here are the complete details and steps for Magento 2 Speed Optimization.

Website loading speed plays a crucial role in running an online business. Since 2018’s speed update, Google has considered website loading speed as one of its ranking factors.

“Speed is now a landing page factor for Google Search and Ads,” says Google.

According to Google, people who have a slow experience on your website are less likely to purchase from your store in the future.

Good website performance and loading speed can also add to the user experience. A swiftly loading Magento 2 store can help you win visitors’ loyalty and improve the conversion rate. It is also highly important to Speed Up Magento 2 Admin Panel to improve store performance and loading speed.

Therefore, it becomes essential to speed up Magento 2 store to improve customer experience and search engine rankings.

Table of Contents

• 10 Best Steps for Magento 2 Speed Optimization [2024]
  • Step 1: Upgrade Your Magento Store
  • Step 2: Choose the Right Hosting
  • Step 3: Inspect Third-Party Extensions
  • Step 4: Enable Elastic Search
  • Step 5: Clear Database Logs
  • Step 6: Run in Production Mode
  • Step 7:  Implement Varnish Cache
  • Step 8: Use Flat Catalog Indexing
  • Step 9: Minify JS/CSS Files
  • Step 10: Re-index Products on Your Store
• Additional Steps to Speed Up Magento 2
• Conclusion

Learn to fix ‘eliminate render-blocking resources’ error for Magento 2.

10 Best Steps for Magento 2 Speed Optimization [2024]

Magento 2 is a robust and smooth eCommerce platform. Still, various factors can add to the slow loading speed of the Magento 2 store, such as inappropriate extensions, misconfiguration, outdated versions, etc.

The excellent part is that Magento 2 store can quickly speed optimized for better performance with just a little technical know-how. Here, we have provided the best ten steps for Magento optimization that Magento store owners can practice to tweak their store’s performance to the optimum level.

Step 1: Upgrade Your Magento Store

Old and outdated versions of Magento may contain many unknown bugs that may slow down your store. It is imperative to keep your Magento store updated with the latest Magento version for optimum performance.

All your Magento 2 speed optimization efforts would be useless if you still run an older version of Magento. Therefore, updating your Magento store would be your first step toward your Magento speed optimization goal. Also have a look at audit checklist for website to make your website perform well in all possible ways.

Go to the Magento admin, and check the version from the dashboard, as shown in the screenshot below. You’ll receive a notification via the bell icon in the top-right corner if any updates are available. Learn here to upgrade Magento 2 version.

Step 2: Choose the Right Hosting

Hosting plays a vital role in the performance of your Magento store. Opt for a standard hosting plan for your Magento store rather than a cheap web hosting plan.

Magento requires specific technical prerequisites such as PHP, Web Servers, etc. Not all web hosting providers can fulfill all the requirements, resulting in a slow, unresponsive site.

The dark side of a cheap and shared hosting plan is that the records of their downtime are abysmal. A standard and dedicated hosting provider can ensure minimum to zero downtime and concurrent technical support.

Step 3: Inspect Third-Party Extensions

Third-Party Magento extensions are great when it comes to extending the functionalities of your store. However, many poorly coded third-party extensions can go against the performance of your Magento store.

Therefore, it is essential to ensure none of your third-party extensions is putting a load on your Magento 2 store speed. You might be wondering how to do that. Disable a third-party module that looks suspicious and analyze your website speed. If you witness a considerable amount of improvement in your Magento 2 performance, contact the extension’s developer and get the issue fixed.

Step 4: Enable Elastic Search

Elastic Search is the built-in functionality of Magento, which is open-source and provides an easy and convenient way to search through your Magento store. Using Elastic Search, users can easily find products and navigate the site.

Unlike other search functionality providers, Elastic Search can work in diverse ecosystems and handle analytical queries more efficiently, improving the Magento 2 store performance.

Moreover, Elastic Search also comes with an auto-fill option that can show relevant products even before the user completes typing his full query. This experience makes your customers feel the speed while navigating through your store.

Step 5: Clear Database Logs

Magento generates database logs for various entries by default that can add up to the store’s loading speed. Sometimes, the logs can occupy hundreds and thousands of MBs in your server and thus can reduce the server’s processing speed, and in some cases, it may also make the website unresponsive.

That is why cleaning the Magento database logs on time is essential to keep the server clean and improve Magento 2 speed.

Thanks to the cron job functionality of Magento 2! You can easily create a custom cron job in Magento 2 that can clear the database logs regularly or dynamically schedule a cron job in Magento 2 system configuration.

Step 6: Run in Production Mode

Three Magento modes were introduced along with Magento 2, making it easier for the developers and store owners to work efficiently. The production mode is designed for live sites for optimum performance and user experience.

The production mode uses full-page caching and a built-in pub folder resulting in a smooth and swift user experience with improved website loading speed. Switch your Magento 2 store to production mode for an optimum and flawless user experience.

In the root directory of Magento 2, run the following command:

Verify the current mode by using the following command:

Switch to production mode by using the following command:

Step 7:  Implement Varnish Cache

Another clever technical step for Magento 2 speed optimization is using a Varnish cache on your Magento store. It is an open-source web application that accelerates the server response by caching HTTP reverse proxy. It is super fast and can typically pace the delivery with a factor of 300-1000x.

Implementing Varnish cache on your Magento 2 site will boost the HTTP traffic and drastically improve the server response. It caches the responses directly into the RAM and prioritizes them to be processed blazing-fast whenever requested. Enable Varnish Cache in Magento 2 to transfer much more traffic without load speed losses. In production mode, the option will take over caching of most of the website content.

Step 8: Use Flat Catalog Indexing

A flat catalog is another excellent method to improve Magento 2 performance. It uses just one table to combine the data, which can be retrieved using a single query at any time. Therefore, it reduces the number of queries and improves the Magento 2 store performance.

You can easily switch to Flat catalog by going to System > Configuration > Catalog > Frontend and changing the Use Flat Catalog Category to “Yes”.

Step 9: Minify JS/CSS Files

Bulky Javascript and CSS files are two of the major culprits behind the slow loading speed of a website. Long codes can add load to the browser processing and rendering speed.

JS/CSS modification refers to removing the unnecessary and redundant codes from the Javascript & CSS, thereby decreasing site loading time. Another way to speed up Magento 2 store is to merge multiple scripts to reduce the number of HTTP requests.

Magento 2 has a built-in function to merge and minify CSS & JavaScript. Go to Stores > Configuration > Advanced > Developer > JavaScript Settings and configure the following settings:

Also, expand the CSS Settings and configure the following options:

Step 10: Re-index Products on Your Store

Magento comes with the built-in functionality of indexers to produce and present the data in the front end. There is no need to run complex commands and MySQL queries for that.

However, some products may not appear in the front end if they are not indexed properly. Therefore, re-indexing them becomes essential to bring all the scattered data into one table to improve the performance of the Magento store.

Magento admin can efficiently perform the re-indexing by heading toward the index management panel under the system tab of the admin panel.

Additional Tips to Speed Up Magento 2

In addition to the above ten best steps for Magento 2 speed optimization, here are some tips you can follow to add an extra boost to your Magento 2 store speed:

Set Up a Content Delivery Network

Add HTTPS URLs from Stores > Configuration > General > Web > Base URLs (Secure) as shown below:

Theme & Images Optimization

For an optimum Magento 2 speed, it is advisable to use a lightweight theme. Also, make sure to use compressed images of optimum size. PNG or SVG file format is ideal for the logo, while JPG is ideal for other images.

Alternatively, you can use lightweight themes such as Hyvä for a faster front end.

Check 3rd-Party Extensions for Bugs

Ensure that the 3rd party extensions installed in the store are bug-free and not affecting your store speed.

If your store is running slow, uninstall each third-party extension to measure the impact on the store’s speed. Find and fix extensions that are causing the issues.

Conclusion

Magento is a robust and flexible eCommerce platform that store owners can configure per their requirements. Speeding up Magento 2 store can help store owners achieve higher search engine ranks and improve the user experience.

Here are the ten best steps you can follow for Magento 2 Speed Optimization to make your online store load blazing-fast in 2024. Moreover, you can also avail of Meetanshi’s Magento Speed Optimization Service to take your store’s performance to the next level.

Follow these steps to speed up Magento 2 store, also you can follow the given Magento website maintenance tips and boost your website and share your experiences in the comment below. Also, do not forget to share these fantastic tips to speed up Magento 2 store with the Magento community via social media.