subject: Speeding Up Drupal Websites [print this page] Drupal is a great open source CMS which allows faster development of feature rich websites and easier management of content. However, like everything else, it has certain drawbacks too. A common complaint with Drupal websites is that they load pretty slow. Slow websites can put off the visitors which can affect your business adversely. However, every problem has a solution and this one does too.
A good Drupal developer always knows the way around such common issues. Here are some top tips to speed up Drupal websites in case your website is suffering from this common Drupal syndrome.
Using Drupal page cache- Each time you visit a Drupal website, it creates a new page, which obviously take a little time. However, to avoid this from happening, you can always use the page cache function of Drupal. Using the page cache function in Drupal, you can store some pre-built pages which then get loaded each time an anonymous user visits your website. This is especially helpful in cases where you get a large proportion of unregistered users.
Reducing HTTP requests- Each time you type in a a web address in the address bar, that particular website makes an HTTP request to the server, thus utilizing the resources of the server. Drupal websites which get a lot of traffic everyday can become slow because of several HTTP requests during the day. Reducing HTTP requests is a great way of speeding up your website running on Drupal. Ths can be achieved by enabling CSS and Javascript aggregation on Drupal. The required settings are available under the performance tab in the settings field of the admin menu.
Use the compression function- Apart from a whole lot of other factors, the size of your web pages too determines the speed of your website. Thus, by reducing the size of your web pages, you can easily speed up your website. All it takes is using the compression function in your web server. A very simple and effective way to improve the performance of Drupal websites.
Have Javascript at the bottom- Usually, web browsers wait before loading a website until everything on the site has been rendered. Javascript files are usually very heavy files which take time to load and render. Thus, it is always a smart move to have your Javascript at the bottom of page. It allows other elements of the page to load and render while the Javascript is busy loading, hence saving vital seconds. Definitely a smart way to enhance the performance of your Drupal websites.
