Joomla is a free open source Content Management System that uses PHP and MYSQL web technologies to create various websites. Despite the easy availability and presence of so many features, Joomla is outcasted by the most popular CMS of recent times, WordPress. One of the major reasons that affect the working of Joomla websites is the reduced speed, which directly affects the performance of the website.
From small businesses to many corporations and government websites, Joomla development has gained popularity since its launch in 2005. Joomla is a fine platform for your website if you have the knowledge to make your website function more effectively and efficiently. Here are some tips to enhance the performance and improve the loading speed of your Joomla website.
1. Keep your Joomla Version Updated
Always use the latest version of Joomla as all the bugs found in the last version are fixed. This would also protect your website from malware and hackers. Along with Joomla, you need to update its extensions as well. To update Joomla, you can either click on the “Update Now!” option that must be visible on your dashboard or go to “Components” → Click on “Joomla! Update”. For updating the extensions, go to “Extensions” → “Manage” → “Update”. It's also recommended to check the integrity of your database and fix it if needed.
Note: Take a backup before installing any major updates.
2. Enable Joomla Cache
The cache provides pre-generated content to the users, reducing the loading time of the website. Enabling the cache also removes unwanted CSS files helping in better performance and speed of the website. You need to follow these two steps to do this:
- Allow cache by going to “System” → “Global Configuration”. Enable the cache and then save the changes made by you.
- After following the above step, enable the page cache plugin by visiting “Extensions” → “Plugins”. Look for the “System - Page Cache” plugin in the Plugins section and enable it.
3. Use Image Optimization
Large images tend to slow down the loading speed of a page as the images take the majority of space on a web page. Unlike WordPress, Joomla does not have a built-in option to reduce the size of the images, so you have to either use editors before uploading them or try Joomla extensions to perform such a task. The various Joomla extensions that you can use are:
4. Joomla Gzip Compression
The compression of the page is one of the things that reduce the loading time of the website. There is a feature in Joomla that allows this compression to take place. To enable this function, go to “System” → “Global Configuration” → “Server”. After clicking at Server, enable “Gzip Page Compression” and save the changes. This would help you increase the performance of the website by increasing its speed.
5. Extensions to Enhance Speed
Boosting your Joomla website speed can be done using various extensions available for support. These extensions help in improving the loading speed and performance of the website. Some popular extensions are:
6. Choose Good Web Hosting
Some people opt for free hosts in the beginning and then face difficulties in operation at a later stage due to slow speed. Selection of the right web hosting is very important as it can affect the loading speed of your website due to lack of webspace, monthly traffic, database, data transfer, and backup.
7. Keep the Website Clean
This is one of the major things that you have to keep in mind to speed up your Joomla website. Having unnecessary things that fill the storage space reduces the loading speed and performance of the website. To improve the speed, you can remove the unwanted extensions and keep your site as light as possible for proper operations.
8. Mobile Website Optimization
Even if your Joomla website is working absolutely fine on the desktop, there can be a case where the mobile website is loading slowly. This can cause problems for your website as many users generally use mobile phones to browse due to easy handling. You must be using Google Pagespeed Insights to check the loading speed of your website. There is a separate column for determining the speed of the mobile site. The issues that are affecting the speed are brought to your knowledge by this tool of Google and you can work accordingly to enhance the performance of your website.
9. Keep a Check on CSS and Javascript Files
CSS and Javascript files are large in number and they gobble up the space affecting the operating speed of the website. However, there are some ways to prevent these files from deteriorating the performance of your site. You can either compress these files or keep multiple files in a single folder to reduce the overall size. But you have to keep a check that this should not affect the functioning of your website in any way.
10. .htaccess File Optimization
Here are some ways that help you reduce the loading time of your website using the .htaccess file:
- ETag - The browser can fetch images that are present in the cache instead of loading those images every time.
- Expires - You can set different time periods for the expiration of independent files.
- AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE - helps you modify the HTML codes and remove the empty spaces, lines, and breaks.
Conclusion
Besides following the above-mentioned steps for improving the loading speed and performance of your Joomla website, you can also hire a Joomla development professional. S/he will be able to provide you with the best possible results regarding the functioning of your Joomla website.
We hope these tips are useful for you and your website. Please share your views on the article and let us know if we missed any points to enhance the speed and performance of the Joomla website. Happy optimizing!
Author Bio
Deepak Vijay is presently working as an SEO professional and a technical content writer at Syon Infomedia, a mobile app development firm. He is always keen to share his knowledge on technical subjects for easy understanding of the users. He has previously worked with some leading brands as well. In his free time, he loves to be with his family.