Magento 2 is a commerce platform known for its extensive functionality and consequently its complexity. This complexity is quite a challenge for many, resulting in numerous stores that are slow to respond, frustrating many store visitors.
I have been working with Magento for over ten years, but when I installed my first Magento 2 store, everything was unresponsive. I thought I had made a mistake and repeated the entire process, but I was still caught in a vicious cycle of endless page loading. After reviewing all the main problems, I concluded that the environment where everything was set up was far below the requirements for normal store operation. There was no other option but to find a new, much more powerful server that could handle everything.
Unfortunately, this change meant that stores previously on shared hosting no longer had a suitable environment to maintain and upgrade the store. Even the smallest online stores would have to opt for their own dedicated server, which is likely a significant financial burden for many, making it an unsuitable solution. Thus began the search for solutions.
The first solution for all Magento 1 stores was certainly an upgrade to Openmage (unofficial Magento 1 development). However, this solution was not suitable for those who wanted the new Magento 2 version. Therefore, after spending a lot of time and gaining a few new gray hairs, I came up with some key factors that affect the speed and proper functioning of Magento 2.
On Google Speed insight, we achieved a score of 100 out of 100 for the online store https://swisspower.co, which has quite a few additional functionalities (everything from push notifications, email notifications for events, store redirection to the appropriate language version, integrated blog system, and many others) and is hosted on Neoserv shared hosting (turbo hosting).
To make your work easier, I have prepared 5 main factors for you to pay attention to when setting up a Magento 2 store.
1. Fast and reliable hosting
One of the more important factors for the proper functioning of a store is a well-set server environment, as it can significantly affect the speed of operation. Even if we have a very powerful server, but its operation and environment are not optimized, it can perform much worse than a much less powerful server. Before choosing a hosting provider, I recommend a test installation of the Magento system itself, as this will give you a sense of whether everything works as it should and how fast it is. With additional modules and content, the impact on performance will be even greater. I have even had cases where the hosting provider could not set up a suitable environment.
The Swisspower store runs on the latest version of the Magento system 2.4.4 and PHP 8.1 with OPcache. To reduce hosting costs and set up the store on shared hosting, I replaced Elasticsearch on the store with MySQL.
2. Understanding system functionalities
One of the main reasons for operational problems is very often incorrect system configuration, as the system itself is very extensive and can quickly be set incorrectly. Often, many also do not know the good operation and functions of the system, and instead of reading all the instructions and understanding the logic of operation, the first thing they want is to change the store's operation with a module. The module solves the issue, but it also causes a change in operation that can affect speed and cause operational errors. In the long run, modules also need to be upgraded, which can mean quite a bit of additional work in maintaining the store.
Official user guides for the system are available at:
https://docs.magento.com/user-guide/
Always test configuration changes, as some changes that we think will help can negatively affect operation (e.g., JavaScript bundling).
3. Use of modules
In addition to trying to limit additional modules as much as possible, it is necessary to check which modules installed with the Magento system itself you will also use. Those you do not need can be disabled. However, be careful not to disable any modules excessively.
When you decide on additional modules, always thoroughly check their operation. It is essential to check for errors during execution and how the modules affect the speed of operation. If a module is not well-written, even a single function can significantly slow down the store's operation.
4. Regular system updates
One of the biggest mistakes Magento made, in my opinion, is that they launched the new Magento 2 system too quickly. It had so many errors in the first versions that, in my opinion, it was not the most suitable for use. Therefore, I recommended to clients not to upgrade the store from the Magento 1 system, as the old system worked much better and faster.
Now the operational status is slowly being established, and each version works much better and has a lot of errors fixed and some additional functionalities added.
The new version (2.4.4) also supports PHP 8.1, which significantly speeds up the store's operation.
5. Optimized store graphic template
In my opinion, a customized graphic template is one of the more important factors in the store's operation, as it can make a significant difference in performance if done well. Most make the mistake and opt for a pre-made template, as it offers many additional options and many choices for customizing the appearance itself. It is important to know that such themes already include many additional modules, which need to be upgraded over time, and each affects the operation in its own way. At the same time, they are made in such a way that they include many different libraries (“css” and “js”), which allow for many different styles and faster appearance adjustments. But this means more code that needs to be loaded when displaying the store and more code that you need to adjust when you want any changes.
For this reason, I no longer offer pre-made templates to clients, as there are more problems than benefits in the long run. They are also not limited by the appearance and operation of the template. Thus, to begin with, after talking with the client, I always graphically prepare how everything should look. Once the graphic appearance is aligned with the client, I proceed to create a unique graphic template. Only in this way can all operations and displays be adjusted to be made optimally (automatic image adjustment, delayed loading, built-in fonts, ...).
During the work, Google Pagespeed insight is always monitored, which also specifically reports what the problems are with page loading. And of course, check Magento logs, as they often report an error that is not noticed.
If you do not know how well your store is performing, test it at https://pagespeed.web.dev/. The speed of operation can affect your visitors and consequently sales and advertising costs, so this is certainly something that should not be neglected.
Content prepared by:
Anže Voh
Magento certified solution specialist
