5 Reasons Hyva Websites Are Slower Than Luma (And How to Prevent It)
Do you know what ruins Hyvä Theme performance faster than anything else?
Poor implementation.
Hyvä has been making waves with its performance-focused approach and modern developer experience. It’s at the top of the game — especially with the momentum behind Hyvä Commerce.
Out of the box, it delivers a frontend that makes Magento stores perform better across devices. It’s no surprise it’s become a go-to choice for teams who care about both speed and maintainability.
However, this performance advantage can be easily lost.
Even well-built Hyvä stores can experience slowdowns due to common issues. We often help clients troubleshoot problems with site speed and user experience – and in most cases, the reasons are quite similar.
Let’s walk through five performance-killing mistakes we’ve seen too many times – and how to avoid them from day one.
1. Oversized Images and Uncompressed Files
One of the most frequent issues we see is the use of large, unoptimized images. While high-resolution visuals can look appealing, uploading full-size images directly to the website affects performance, especially on mobile.
Poor optimization: Slower load times, delayed content rendering, and lower user engagement.
We recommend:
- Make sure images are resized according to their actual display size
- Use image compression tools to reduce file weight
- Enable lazy loading so that off-screen content loads only when needed
Improved experience: Faster, responsive pages with visual assets loaded only when needed.
Uncompressed or oversized images can significantly slow down page load speed. That’s why it’s important to review all visual content and apply basic optimization techniques before uploading.
2. Too Many Third-Party Integrations
Many store owners use third-party tools for analytics, marketing, or support. These are often installed through the Magento admin, but not all external scripts are optimized for frontend performance.
Negative impact: Laggy interactions, bloated scripts, and slow performance metrics.
We recommend:
- Only using essential third-party services
- Checking how scripts behave on the frontend (e.g., do they block rendering?)
- Using defer or async to load them in the background
Keep in mind that each added service increases the total script weight and may slow down the site if not configured correctly.
3. Rendering Important Content via JavaScript
Some websites rely heavily on JavaScript to display key content in the top sections of the page. This can cause delays in showing useful information, especially on slower connections or older devices.
Negative impact: Visual instability, content jumps, and delayed rendering.
We recommend:
- Avoid using JavaScript for hero banners or main navigation areas
- Render important content on the server side whenever possible
- Preload necessary fonts, styles, or scripts to speed up rendering
Positive impact: Stable, immediate content display that builds trust with users.
When building with Hyvä, always try to ensure that content in the top part of the page loads first — it helps make a good first impression and improves perceived speed.
4. Loading All JavaScript Content Immediately
Interactive elements such as tabs, accordions, or carousels are often used throughout product and category pages. However, loading the JavaScript for all of them at once can overload the browser.
Negative impact: Sluggish initial load, heavy CPU usage, and poor time-to-interact.
We recommend:
- Use lazy initialization to load scripts only when needed
- Defer loading until the user scrolls or interacts with the element
- Bundle and minify scripts to reduce overhead
Positive impact: Efficient resource usage, faster time-to-interaction, happier users.
This approach allows for a smoother experience, especially during the initial load.
5. Loading Too Much Product Data at Once
Another common issue is trying to load too many products or large datasets at once. This is particularly noticeable on category or search result pages.
We recommend:
- Using pagination or infinite scroll
- Enabling caching for product collections and layered navigation
- Reducing the number of products shown by default
Loading everything upfront can overwhelm both the server and the browser, which is why it’s more effective to display content progressively as the user scrolls.
Conclusion
Hyvä is an excellent foundation – but staying fast requires discipline throughout development and ongoing maintenance.
We’ve seen these challenges across multiple projects and platforms. If you’re working with Hyvä now, it’s worth revisiting your frontend setup with a critical eye.
Have you come across a Hyvä implementation that went off track? Feel free to share your story or tag a colleague working with Hyvä.
We’re always open to exchanging experience and helping teams keep performance where it belongs – at the top.
