If you’re running Magento Commerce on shared hosting, loading speed can be a challenge. Slow loading websites cause customers to click away and shop elsewhere.Before you begin working to optimize your website, test your speed with a tool like webpageanalyzer.com or iwebtool.com/speed_test Run several tests at different times of the day to get a better idea of the speed as it will vary with the current server load and other factors.Once you know your current loading speed, you can start working to reduce it. Remember to always backup your site before making any changes. If possible test these first on a separate sandbox installation of Magento instead of a live website.

Here are five steps you can take to speed up your load time with Magento. You may need to contact your website host or website designers to help you with some of the steps. Also, be sure to stop and check your website after any change to ensure it’s still up and running, this way you’ll know which change caused any issues that occur.

1) PHP5 - Make sure the server you’re hosted on supports php5. While the php5-cgi files Magento provides will work, they also drastically reduce the speed and increase the load on the server.

2) Enable Caching - Inside your Magento admin panel you’ll find options for caching under System > Cache Management. Use these settings. You’ll need to refresh the cache after future changes, but it will help speed loading for your visitors.

3) Enable GZIP Compression - This can be enabled in the .htaccess file Magento includes in it’s default files. Just uncomment the lines for GZIP by removing the # in front of the lines.

4) Install Fooman Speedster - Fooman Speedster is a Magento extension designed to speed up your site by combining, compressing, and caching javascript and css files. Get details at magentocommerce.com/extension/457/fooman-speedster and, as with any extension, be sure your version of Magento is compatible before you install it.

5) Optimize - Follow general good optimization practices such as resizing your images before uploading them, and using smaller sized file formats when possible.

These steps should get your Magento installation moving faster than a turtle through syrup so your shoppers can happily fill their carts.

Michelle Shaeffer is the CEO of Creo Communico LLC, a website hosting and design firm exclusively for small and home based businesses. Our mission is to provide affordable website hosting along with resources and support to help our clients succeed, including 300+ video tutorials, a choice of free site builders, and dozens of easy install scripts. Visit http://www.creocommunico.com today for a selection of free website management guides on domain names, website hosting, e-commerce and more.