WooCommerce · Yogi’s VPS

WooCommerce Performance Checklist

WooCommerce sites require more power, more caching strategy, and tighter database hygiene than a normal WordPress blog. This checklist covers everything you should optimize to keep your store fast, stable, and ready for traffic spikes.

1. Optimize Hosting & Server Stack

WooCommerce needs strong CPU, fast SSD NVMe storage, and optimized PHP workers. Yogi’s VPS is already tuned for dynamic store workloads, but here’s what you should ensure:

• PHP 8.2 or higher with OPcache enabled
• MariaDB or MySQL optimized for InnoDB
• Dedicated PHP-FPM workers per site
• Server-level caching enabled for static files

2. Smart Caching for Dynamic Stores

Unlike blogs, WooCommerce pages cannot always be cached. Follow this setup:

• Cache: product/category pages
• No cache: cart, checkout, account, admin pages
• Use W3 Total Cache with WooCommerce-aware rules
• Use Cloudflare APO for edge delivery

Recommended Cache Settings

• Minify: enabled (JS/CSS)
• Database caching: enabled
• Object cache: enabled (Redis if available)

3. Compress & Optimize Product Media

Large product images are one of the biggest LCP killers.

• Upload images at the correct dimensions
• Use WebP versions whenever possible
• Compress images with ShortPixel or Imagify
• Lazy load everything below the fold

4. Keep Your Database Lean

WooCommerce writes a lot of data. Routine cleanup is mandatory.

• Delete expired transients
• Clean old order logs and entries
• Optimize tables weekly
• Remove orphaned postmeta

Use plugins like:

• WP-Optimize
• Advanced Database Cleaner

5. Reduce Plugin Bloat

WooCommerce stores should stay lightweight. Remove or replace:

• Heavy page builder addons
• Unused payment gateways
• Old marketing plugins
• Duplicate functionality

Tip: Every plugin loads PHP. If you're not using it weekly, disable or delete it.

6. Use a Lightweight Theme

Themes matter more for WooCommerce speed than you think.

• Astra
• GeneratePress
• Blocksy
• Kadence

Avoid bulky themes that ship with 20+ plugins.

7. Optimize Checkout Flow

A slow checkout kills conversions. Improve it with:

• Disable unnecessary checkout fields
• Use Stripe Elements instead of redirects
• Cache everything except checkout/cart
• Use a dedicated email SMTP for order notifications

8. Monitor Site Speed Weekly

Use these tools to monitor performance metrics:

• PageSpeed Insights
• GTmetrix
• Query Monitor
• Cloudflare Analytics

A slowdown is always caused by something: new plugins, larger images, new scripts, etc.

9. Use a CDN for Global Delivery

• Cloudflare Free or Pro
• APO for WordPress dynamic delivery
• Image resizing on the edge

10. Keep Everything Updated

• Update WooCommerce weekly
• Update payment gateway plugins
• Update PHP dependencies
• Test updates on a staging site first