Joomla is kinda slow. I have been using Joomla for around 7 years. And I can tell you that Joomla is fairly slow out of the box.
There are things that you can do to it to speed it up, but most templates and Joomla sites are not natively fast or simple. Here is what slows down Joomla sites:
- Javascript. Joomla and/or it's extensions load large Javascript files like Mootools or Jquery even when they are not needed.
- CSS files. Many templates and extensions use multiple CSS files which slow down page loading. You only need one CSS file or actually if you don't have much CSS you don't even need one.
- Templates. Some templates load extra javascript files and CSS.
- Extensions. Extensions often add javascript and css files to pages.
- Javascript & CSS files are loaded in the head.
- Images and icons. Some templates are made with images and core Joomla uses icons.
- Fonts. If you are not using native fonts then you have to download them from Google or somewhere else. This adds a request and slows the page down a bit.
- HTTP requests. JS files, CSS files, images and extensions all slow down a page.
Things you can do to Joomla to speed it up
- Use a CDN.
- Combine CSS and JS files
- Defer JS files
- Compress or eliminate images
- Remove icons
- Get rid of Google fonts
- Turn on the caching plug-in
- Get an optimized template... like the one you're looking at... hint, hint, haha
How to make your Joomla site super fast.
Why speed up your website?
A faster website means that your users will be happier. If your users are happier with your site then you will get more traffic.
I don't know about you, but I hit the back button on sites that load slow. Do you?
Want a super fast and simple Joomla website?
You're looking at one. Here is a Joomla template that loads extremely fast.