How to Improve Umbraco Speed: Performance Tips in 2025 (UPDATED)

Struggling with slow Umbraco website? Discover strategies to boost speed, reduce costs, improve SEO rankings, enhance UX, and lower bounce rates.

Why Does Umbraco's Performance Matter?#

A fast website is no longer a luxury - it’s a necessity.

Here’s why optimizing your Umbraco project should top your priority list:

  • 83% of users expect lightning-fast load times.
  • 47% want a page to load in 2 seconds or less.
  • Websites that take over 3 seconds lose 40% of visitors.
  • Optimizing computing, storage, and networking on Cloud can reduce expenses by up to 30%.
  • Amazon increased revenue by 1% for every 100ms speed improvement.

💡Pro Tip: Faster websites convert more visitors into loyal customers.

Umbraco performance on Search Results

Umbraco performance on Search Results

Key Risks of a Slow Website#

A sluggish website can hurt your business in many ways:

  1. Damaged Brand Image: Slow pages feel outdated and frustrate users.
  2. SEO Penalties: Google and Bing favor faster sites.
  3. Lost Revenue: Online shoppers expect seamless, instant experiences.

Every extra second of load time risks alienating potential customers and losing valuable sales.

Step 1: Measure Your Umbraco Site Performance#

Before optimizing, collect data to understand what is impacting your website's performance.

Use tools like:

  • Google PageSpeed Insights: Identifies high-level issues affecting page speed and user experience, such as large assets or render-blocking resources.
  • GTmetrix: Offers a detailed breakdown of load times, including asset loading sequence and bottlenecks, through waterfall charts.
  • Pingdom Website Speed Test: Simulates real-world loading speeds and grades performance based on key metrics like time to first byte (TTFB).
  • Google Lighthouse: Performs audits for performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices, providing scoring for each category.

These tools offer diagnostic insights into surface-level performance issues, such as asset loading, caching, and responsiveness.

Use them as a starting point to identify areas for further investigation and targeted optimization.

Step 2: Content Query Optimization#

Poor querying of content when retrieving data will hurt performance. 

Follow these tips:

  • Use Published Content instead of ContentService: Avoid direct database queries whenever possible.
  • Leverage Strongly Typed Models: Replace "magic strings" with property names from generated models. Check out How to Get Umbraco model property alias.
  • Clean Up Regularly: Delete unused content and empty the Recycle Bin (media and content).
  • Implement Examine: Use it to search content/media efficiently.

💡Pro Tip: If you’re on Azure, consider Azure Cognitive Search for even faster results.

Step 3: Frontend Optimization Tips#

Poor front end affects PageSpeed, CLS, UX, and SEO

Here’s how to fix them:

  1. Compress Images: Use next-gen formats like WebP.
  2. Minify Assets: Reduce CSS, JavaScript, and HTML file sizes.
  3. Enable GZIP Compression: Cuts down transfer size for faster load times.
  4. Bundle Assets: Combine CSS and JS files using tools like ClientDependency.
  5. Lazy Load Media: Load images and videos only when they’re visible.

💡Pro Tip: Check out our WebP setup guide for Umbraco V8.

Step 4: Backend Enhancements#

Your backend performance is critical for smooth user experiences and infrastructure costs

Here’s how to keep it in top shape:

  • Log Strategically: Set logging levels high in production - enable tracing only for debugging.
  • Build in Release Mode: Always disable debug=”true” in production environments.
  • Dispose Resources Properly: Free up database connections and file streams to avoid memory leaks. Those issues can be hard to detect.
  • Avoid Hosting Videos: Use external providers like Vimeo, YouTube, or Azure Blob Storage.
  • Organize Media Library: Each content node should have a dedicated media folder.

💡Pro Tip: Use Examine with Lucene for lightning-fast searches across content, media, and users.

Step 5: Leverage Caching#

Caching is one of the most effective ways to boost speed.

Here’s what you can do:

  • Enable GZIP Compression: Reduces file size during transfers.
  • Implement Partial View Caching: Use Cached Partial for reusable views.
  • Optimize Output Caching: Explore options like Donut Caching for advanced scenarios.
  • Set ETags: Enable Entity Tags (ETags) to validate cache versions efficiently, ensuring users always receive up-to-date content without unnecessary re-downloads.
  • Add Expiration Headers: Set Expires or Cache-Control headers to define caching durations for static assets. This reduces repeated server requests and improves load times for returning users.
  • Optimize Headers: Strategically configure response headers to streamline communication between client and server. This ensures efficient caching, reduces unnecessary requests, and significantly boosts performance for frequent visitors.
  • Leverage Proxy Servers: A proxy server can act as a middle layer, reducing the load on your backend by caching responses.
  • Consider Distributed Caching: Use Redis for scalable caching solutions.
  • Use a Read-Only Database: Implement a read-only database as a caching layer for high-read scenarios to improve query performance.

Step 6: Optimize Your Umbraco Database#

If not properly optimized, your database can often become the bottleneck of your entire system.

Here’s how to keep your database running smoothly:

Analyze Performance Issues:

  • Use tools like SQL Profiler to identify bottlenecks and heavy queries, then optimize them accordingly.
  • Check for ghost transactions that might be draining resources unnecessarily.

Perform Regular Maintenance:

  • Clean tables and remove outdated content versions whenever possible.
  • Regularly maintain your database to prevent clutter and inefficiencies.

Index Smartly:

Address Fragmentation:

  • Consider table data fragmentation to ensure better indexing and faster queries.
  • Rebuilding fragmented indexes can enhance overall database performance.

Optimize Storage:

  • Upgrade to SSD disks for faster disk I/O operations, significantly boosting database performance.
  • Plan sufficient disk space, especially for self-hosted databases. Avoid storing database files on the system partition.

Strengthen Your Database Server:

  • Ensure your database server has enough CPU, RAM, and storage capacity to handle high traffic and query loads.
  • Monitor and resolve I/O bottlenecks to maintain smooth operations.

Step 7: Refine External Integrations#

Third-party integrations can become a hidden bottleneck.

Optimize them by:

  1. Reducing API Calls: Cache frequently accessed data.
  2. Monitoring Requests: Use tools like Fiddler to spot inefficiencies.
  3. Eliminating Unnecessary Dependencies: Streamline external services wherever possible.

Step 8: Coding Best Practices#

Writing clean, efficient code is the foundation of a high-performing Umbraco project.

Follow these guidelines:

Adopt High Coding Standards:

  • Use consistent formatting and adhere to best coding practices to maintain clarity and efficiency.
  • Name solutions and projects based on the brand or project to improve maintainability and team understanding.

Refactor Regularly:

  • Refactor code periodically to clean up inefficiencies and remove outdated logic.
  • Ensure the source code is modular, easy to expand, and simple to maintain.

Implement Design Patterns:

  • Use design patterns like Repository, Singleton, or Factory to organize code, reduce redundancy, and make logic easier to extend.

Leverage Dependency Injection:

  • Streamline application architecture using Dependency Injection, promoting modular and testable code.
  • Opt for a fast dependency resolver to avoid performance bottlenecks. Check out comparisons like IoC Battle to validate the best option.

Conduct Code Reviews:

  • Regularly review code with peers to catch inefficiencies and bugs before they make it to production.
  • Use workflows like git-flow to enforce structured branching strategies.

Use CI/CD Automation:

  • Automate your build, test, and deployment processes with CI/CD tools to deliver changes faster and with fewer errors.

💡Pro TipCheck Top 20 Defensive programming principles (with examples)

Step 9: Choosing the Right Hosting Provider#

Your hosting provider is critical to your Umbraco’s performance.

Recommended Umbraco Hosting Platforms:

Azure Cloud:

  • Ideal for both high-performance needs and scalability.
  • Combines the Azure Web App with the Azure SQL Database for robust performance, especially for media and blob storage.
  • Backed by Microsoft's reliable support and global infrastructure.

Amazon Web Services (AWS):

  • Highly customizable for high performance and scalability.
  • Extensive computing power, storage, and integration options with other AWS services.

Umbraco Cloud:

  • Tailored specifically for Umbraco CMS with pre-configured environments and CMS-specific optimizations.
  • Hosted on Microsoft Azure, offering the scalability and security of Azure's infrastructure.

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Hosting Provider

Pay close attention to the following aspects:

Uptime:

Opt for a platform that guarantees high availability with minimal downtime.

Your website’s accessibility directly impacts user satisfaction and business outcomes.

Pricing:

Balance cost with the features offered.

Avoid overpaying for underused capabilities or sacrificing necessary tools for a lower price.

Configuration Complexity:

Choose a provider with the technical expertise of your team.

A complex setup can slow deployment and increase maintenance overhead.

Management Panel Usability:

A well-designed, intuitive management panel can simplify day-to-day operations, saving time and reducing errors.

Customer Support:

Evaluate response times and support quality.

A responsive, knowledgeable support team can quickly resolve issues, minimizing downtime.

Features and Scalability:

To accommodate your project's growth, look for features like automated backups, monitoring tools, and scalability options.

Resource Availability:

Ensure the provider offers sufficient processing power and RAM to handle your site’s traffic without performance dips.

Storage Type:

Prioritize SSD storage for faster read/write operations, which can significantly boost your website’s speed.

Team Preferences:

Opt for a platform familiar to your team to streamline development and maintenance workflows. Familiarity reduces the learning curve and enhances efficiency.

💡Pro Tip: Keep your project’s specific needs at the forefront when evaluating these factors. For example, if your team is experienced with Azure, leveraging Azure Web App with Azure SQL Database can be an excellent choice.

Step 10: Keep Umbraco Packages and CMS Updated#

Outdated packages and legacy Umbraco versions are among the most common causes of performance issues and security vulnerabilities.

Regular upgrades are essential.

Best Practices for Updates:

Use Trusted Plugins and Extensions:

  1. Opt for well-supported and frequently updated plugins/extensions.
  2. Be cautious when upgrading, as some updates might cause compatibility issues with your current Umbraco version.

Regularly Upgrade Umbraco CMS:

Stay up-to-date with the latest CMS versions to access new features, performance enhancements, and critical security patches.

Check Release Notes:

Before upgrading, review the Umbraco Releases page to understand the changes, bug fixes, and potential breaking changes.

Test in a Staging Environment:

Always test upgrades in a staging or development environment to identify and resolve issues before deploying to production.

Monitor for Deprecated Features:

Regularly check for features or APIs that might be deprecated in newer versions to avoid future compatibility issues.

Automate Dependency Management:

Use tools like NuGet to manage package versions, simplify updates, and maintain compatibility.

Prioritize Security Patches:

Install security updates immediately to protect against vulnerabilities that could expose your website to risks.

Audit Installed Packages:

Periodically review your installed plugins and remove unused or unsupported ones to reduce potential vulnerabilities.

Engage with the Umbraco Community:

Stay informed about best practices, updates, and potential issues by engaging with the active Umbraco developer community.

Backup Before Upgrades:

Always create a complete backup of your database and files before applying any updates to ensure a quick recovery if something goes wrong.

💡Pro Tip: By keeping your Umbraco installation and packages up to date, you can ensure your site remains secure, stable, and optimized for performance while minimizing downtime or issues during upgrades.

Ready to take action?#

Many projects fail due to a lack of expertise - even from Umbraco Partners.

If you’re overwhelmed or unsure where to start, our team is here to help.

With years of experience, we specialize in identifying and resolving issues that could hold your website back. 

When you choose our Umbraco Developers, you’ll receive an ultra-detailed report packed with actionable steps to implement improvements.

In fact, we typically uncover over 100 areas for improvement in every project we analyze, ensuring your website performs at its absolute best.

👉Don’t wait, and contact us today.

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