This guide on Speed Up WooCommerce performance will help you to decrease load speed and improve ranking, conversions, and sales of your eCommerce store.
2. Upgrade the Website Hosting
The first step in improving the speed of your WooCommerce website is choosing the right host provider. Without a good
hosting service, all other tips would go in vain, no matter how hard you try.
We strongly recommend WPEngine as your hosting provider for better speed and performance. SiteGround, DreamHost, and
BlueHost are officially endorsed by WordPress as reliable and trustworthy hosting services for websites and online stores built
with WordPress. Each of these hosts offers unique features and benefits, such as server-level caching, built-in security, free
domains, dedicated IP addresses, and 24/7 support, making them well-suited for various types of websites and businesses.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that the best hosting solution for your specific needs may vary, so it’s recommended to
do your own research and compare the different options before making a final decision.
So upgrade your website to a better hosting provider after a careful shift through the market for viable options.
3. Update WooCommerce & WordPress
Another significant step in boosting your eCommerce store is updating the platform it’s based on. WooCommerce is an open-source
plugin of WordPress, and contributors are constantly evolving it to add more features and make it more secure.
So you would also need to keep WordPress updated to ensure you are taking advantage of the new functionalities, performance, and
security features added by the contributors.
If you have installed any other plugins and themes to your eCommerce store, make sure you update them as well. Also, before you start
the updation process, ensure you take a complete backup of the website, so there is no loss of critical data and information.
4. Increase the WordPress memory limit
Another significant step in boosting your eCommerce store is updating the platform it’s based on. WooCommerce is an open-
source plugin of WordPress, and contributors are constantly evolving it to add more features and make it more secure.
So you would also need to keep WordPress updated to ensure you are taking advantage of the new functionalities, performance,
and security features added by the contributors.
If you have installed any other plugins and themes to your eCommerce store, make sure you update them as well. Also, before
you start the updation process, ensure you take a complete backup of the website, so there is no loss of critical data and
information.
5. Caching for WooCommerce website
Caching is a process of storing frequently-visited pages and resources on the server or in the client’s browser. So users can
retrieve them quickly and easily without the need for the database every time. That helps reduce the load on the server, which
reduces the time it takes for pages to load, making the website faster and more responsive.
One of the advantages of using WooCommerce is that it is a part of the WordPress environment. So there are several plugins in
the official WordPress plugin library, including WP Rocket, WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, etc., that can help you set up
caching on your WooCommerce store.
6. Image optimization
Images are a massive part of any eCommerce website. A majority of customers make their purchasing decisions based on pictures.
But too many images are bound to slow down the website. So image optimization is a critical step in improving the performance of
your WooCommerce store. That means you can reduce the file size of the images without having a significant impact on the quality.
Another technique you can implement is lazy loading, which means loading an image for the user only when necessary rather than
loading them all at once. A few of the best image optimization plugins in the WordPress library are Smush, Optimus, ShortPixel
Image Optimizer, Compress JPEG & PNG Images, etc.
7. Remove or replace poor-quality Plugins and Themes
WordPress has over 60K plugins and 30K themes in its official library. Plugins and themes can help improve every aspect of your
WooCommerce store, from appearance to features and functionalities. But as you may imagine, there are several poorly-coded
ones, which can bring down the performance of the website quite severely.
Analyze every plugin and theme and its quality very carefully before installing it on your website. Moreover, make sure the installed
plugins are updated to their latest versions.
8. Implement & use CDNs (Content Delivery Networks)
CDN is a network of distributed servers working together to ensure the most accurate content is delivered to the users based on
a number of factors, including the users’ geographic location, web page origin, and the content delivery server.
Content delivery networks are especially important when your target users are far away from the location of your website’s
server. It uses edge servers to act as a bridge between the main server and the user to ensure the website works as intended.
9. Install fast, Reliable Themes
There are millions of eCommerce stores around the world. So it’s quite easy to get lost in the crowd. A great way to stand out
from your competitor crowd is by making your website look a little different, which can be achieved through a range of themes
on the WooCommerce and WordPress official libraries and third-party stores.
Analyze the themes and choose the fast and lightweight ones to ensure they don’t weigh your website down. Look for the
factors like layout choices, color schemes, WooCommerce support, etc., while choosing the most suitable one.
10. Update the PHP version
Another great way to boost the performance of your WooCommerce website is by updating the version of PHP. As you might
expect, the newer versions of PHP are faster and more efficient. Moreover, some of the new features on offer can help enhance
your website’s speed and performance.
But before you update PHP, make sure the new version is compatible with the installed plugins and themes. If not, the
compatibility issues may slow down your website or even crash it.