If you’re not using Magento as your primary tool for creating eCommerce sites in 2017, you’re seriously lagging behind. It is an amazing open-source platform that is widely used by online merchants all across the globe for creating eCommerce websites. It is trusted for its flexibility, customization freedom and scalability. However, every eCommerce platform requires optimizing every now and then to keep working with optimum speed and performance.

Why do we need to optimize an e-commerce website?

As per a KISSMetrics data, 40% of users abandon an e-commerce site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. As per the data, a single second delay can cost you 7% loss in conversions. On top of that, your site gets noted for bad User Experience (UX) in the eyes of Google and that can cost your rankings to drop.

So, let’s make sure to keep your Magento store working on an optimum level. Here are some tips:

1. Always Keep Your Magento Version Updated:

It is imperative in this day and age to keep up with the changing technology. This is one of the main reasons why eCommerce platforms like Magento keep updating their technology. They want to ensure that their users get the best security, speed and performance. So, always keep your Magento version updated to latest version to avoid crashes, bugs and slow speed. Choose our Magento Upgrade services in Austin, TX to keep your Magento store running at optimum level.

SEE ALSO: UPGRADE YOUR MAGENTO ECOMMERCE WEBSITE TO MAGENTO 2.0.6

2. Use Flat Catalogue To Improve Performance:

Magento follows the EAV model (entity attribute value) to keep consumer and product information. Using flat catalog for categories and products, merges the information into one table, thus improving the performance by responding to My SQL queries faster. We would generally recommend doing it for stores that have more than 1000 products online.

How to enable Flat catalog? Step 1:  Login as admin on your Magento Account Step 2: Go to “System,” then click on “Configuration” and finally choose “Catalog.” Step 3: You would be able to see “Frontend” here. Change “Use Flat Catalog Category” & “Use Flat Catalog Product” to “Yes. Step 4: Save the configuration Step 5: Clear cache.(You can do this by deleting files from the /var/cache directory. Or, you can go to “System,” click on “Cache Management” and select “Flush Cache storage”)

3. Improve Caching and Indexing:

Magento being a customizable platform, you can implement various forms of caching. We recommend as simulation of NGINX + Memcache+ APC + Varnish cache for better performance. Please note that Magento also comes with an in-built caching module and improving its in-built caching process reduces the server processing load and the web pages load quicker.

You can use a PHP accelerator for caching as well. It will certainly improve the performance of your PHP scripts. Here are some examples of PHP accelerator that you can use:

• APC
• Xcache
• eAccelerator

Magento also has an indexer. It updates indexes on every product in the store by default. However, in some cases, you have to do it manually. This is important to speed up database queries.

4. Optimize Your Database and Code:

As per developers, code clutter must be deleted in order to improve the database performance. You must optimize your database and code by using a PHP accelerator like Z end. Just uninstall and delete any unnecessary PHP or Apache modules that you don’t require. Optimize codes using your DB management system and improve the performance of the database.

Magento also has a compilation feature that gives up to a 50% performance boost. It takes all the active scripts in Magento’s core structure and calls them in front for faster website speed.

Lastly, don’t forget to optimize your product images.It can drastically reduce the load time of your pages. You can use image compressors or auto-optimize images to TinyPNG extension with the help of a software like Photoshop.

5. Merge Your Javascript and CSS files:

Magento provides an advanced feature that allows you to merge your CSS and Javascript files together. It reduces the load time to a great extent. However, further issues can crop up if you merge your CSS and Javascript files into one file. You may have to spend some time figuring out those issues, but in the end, it will be worth it. It will help your site performing at the highest level.

6. Implement a Content Delivery Network (CDN):

It is one of the easiest ways to decrease load time of your website. Using a CDN like MetaCDN reduces latency and increases download speed of your files. Magento gives you the option to define from where to load the files (CSS, JavaScript, images, etc.). You can give an URL pointing to a CDN based on the geographic location of your customers.

7. Choose a right web host for your site:

A web host is heavily responsible for the performance of your Magento website. Forget about shared hosting, they are not ideal for e-commerce websites. Go for VPS, dedicated or cloud hosting to ensure high speed and guaranteed uptime for your website.

We hope these above-mentioned tips will help you optimize your Magento store and improve the loading speed of your website. If you need assistance with any of the optimization tasks or looking to set up an eCommerce website, give us a call!