While it may not be as dominant as WordPress today (with competitors like Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace on the rise), Joomla still holds its ground — and for good reason.
Let’s look at why people continue to choose Joomla, and then we’ll share simple, effective ways to speed up your Joomla site to give your visitors the best possible experience.
Why Choose Joomla?
Even with more CMS options out there, Joomla is still a favorite for many. Here’s why:
- Built-in Multilingual Support – You don’t need extra plugins to make your site multilingual. Joomla supports this out of the box.
- Community-Friendly Features – Joomla makes it easy to create a community site with features like user management, forums, and user-submitted content.
- Clean Extension Directory – Joomla has about 7,000 extensions. That may sound like less than WordPress, but it keeps the directory clean and focused — no clutter or useless add-ons.
- Built-in Caching – Speed comes built-in. Joomla offers caching features without needing third-party plugins.
- Easy to Use – You don’t need a full-time developer. Once set up, Joomla is straightforward to manage.
Some Famous Websites Using Joomla:
- Linux.com
- MTV Greece
- Harvard GSAS
- The Eiffel Tower
- UN Regional Information Centre
Why Speed Matters for Joomla Sites
Website speed isn't just about convenience — it directly impacts your traffic, conversions, revenue, and SEO rankings. Just look at these real-world examples:
- Shopzilla boosted revenue by 12% after cutting page load time from 6 seconds to 1.2.
- Yahoo gained 9% more traffic by shaving off just 400 milliseconds.
- Amazon found that every 100ms of delay costs them 1% in sales.
- Google loses 20% of traffic for every extra 100ms a page takes to load.
Clearly, a faster Joomla site = better results.
10 Easy Ways to Speed Up Your Joomla Website
Here are proven tips to help you optimize Joomla’s performance:
1. Always Use the Latest Joomla Version
Every Joomla update brings improvements, bug fixes, and performance enhancements. The same goes for your extensions.
- To update Joomla: Go to System > Joomla
- To update extensions: Go to System > Extensions
? Tip: Always back up your site before major updates.
2. Use a CDN (Content Delivery Network)
A CDN stores and serves your website’s static files (images, CSS, JS) from servers closer to your visitors — which makes everything load faster.
A free extension like CDN for Joomla! can help you connect Joomla with a CDN provider like KeyCDN in just a few steps.
3. Enable Joomla’s Built-in Cache
Joomla lets you cache pages so they load faster without hitting the database every time.
Step 1: Turn on cache in Global Config
- Go to System > Global Configuration > System
- Enable either:
- Conservative caching – unique cache for each user
- Progressive caching – same cache for all users
Step 2: Enable the "System - Page Cache" Plugin
- Go to Extensions > Plugins
- Search for cache and enable System - Page Cache
Optional: You can also try 3rd-party caching extensions like:
- JotCache
- Cache Cleaner
- Cache Control
4. Optimize Your Images
Images often make up more than half of your page’s weight. Compressing them can significantly improve load times.
You can:
- Use tools like Photoshop (Save for Web) or TinyPNG
- Or use extensions like Easy Image Resizer (EIR)
With EIR + Optimus integration, users have seen up to 71% reduction in image file size!
Other great options:
- Imgen
- ImageRecycle
- XT Adaptive Images
5. Enable Gzip Compression
Gzip compresses your pages before sending them to the browser, reducing file size and speeding up load time.
- Go to System > Global Configuration > Server
- Turn on Gzip Page Compression
6. Minify and Combine CSS & JavaScript
Minifying removes unnecessary characters from your code. Combining files reduces the number of HTTP requests.
Some great Joomla extensions for this are:
- JCH Optimize
- jBetolo
- ScriptMerge
- JCC – JS CSS Control
Note: If you use HTTP/2, combining files isn’t as necessary — check with your host.
7. Clean and Optimize Your Database
Over time, your Joomla database can get bloated. You can clean it up using phpMyAdmin.
- Select your Joomla database
- Use the Repair table or the Optimize table
Also, consider removing unused extensions — they might leave behind unused tables.
8. Enable Browser Caching
Browser caching tells visitors’ browsers to store some files so they don’t have to re-download them every time.
- Go to Extensions > Plugins
- Search for System - Page Cache
- Enable Use Browser Caching
You can also set caching rules directly in .htaccess or your Nginx config with expires headers.
9. Use Speed Optimization Extensions
For even more performance tweaks, try these helpful extensions:
- jQuery Easy – Load jQuery from a CDN or locally
- LLFJ – Lazy-load images
- JavaScript Async and Defer – Load scripts without blocking the page
- ScriptsDown – Move scripts to the bottom for faster render
10. Choose a Fast Hosting Provider
Your host plays a huge role in site speed. Avoid slow, overcrowded shared hosting.
Instead, consider VPS options like:
- DigitalOcean
- Linode
If you're not comfortable managing servers, tools like ServerPilot make it easy to manage them with a user-friendly control panel.
Final Thoughts
There’s no magic button to speed up Joomla, but these tips, when combined, can make a massive difference. From caching and CDN to image optimization and great hosting, every little tweak adds up to a faster, more responsive site.
Have any Joomla speed tips of your own? We’d love to hear them!
