Posted by: Mike Isaacs
04 August 2025
Slow pages leak revenue. Fast pages win clicks, rankings and sales. Here is how to tune Umbraco hosting for speed, what to change at server level, and when Azure or Umbraco Cloud gives you the edge.
At a glance
- Why speed moves the needle on revenue and SEO
- What to tune first – CPU, caching, storage, CDN
- Azure vs Umbraco Cloud – when each is faster
- Real outcomes with ROI impact
- How Growcreate builds platforms that scale
Why performance optimisation matters for Umbraco hosting
Speed changes outcomes.
- A large study found pages loading in 1 second can convert up to 3x higher than those at 5 seconds. Faster sites earn more money. (Source: Portent)
- Google sets practical thresholds for Core Web Vitals: LCP ≤ 2.5 s, INP < 200 ms, CLS < 0.1, and INP replaced FID on 12 March 2024. Meeting these targets aligns with signals Google aims to reward. (Source: Google Search Central; Google Search Central Blog)
- Even tiny slowdowns matter – a 100 ms delay can reduce conversion by around 7% in retail tests. (Source: Akamai)
What this means in practice: host for speed, then keep it stable under traffic. Treat performance as a product KPI tied to revenue per session or qualified leads.
What affects Umbraco hosting performance
You get the biggest gains from a few levers. Start here.
- CPU and plan tier: Newer vCPUs speed Razor view rendering, background tasks and APIs. Azure App Service Premium v3 brings faster processors and higher memory options, while Premium v4 adds faster processors with NVMe local storage for extra headroom. (Source: Microsoft Learn; Microsoft Learn)
- RAM allocation: Enough memory keeps hot objects cached and reduces GC pressure. Plan memory with headroom for peaks.
- Caching strategy: Combine Umbraco output caching with Azure Cache for Redis to offload reads and cut TTFB. Microsoft notes Enterprise tiers offer better throughput and lower latency on improved hardware, and recommends keeping cache CPU under ~80% even during failover. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
- Storage I/O: Put databases and media on fast disks. Azure Premium SSD v2 offers low latency with up to 80,000 IOPS and 1,200 MB/s per disk when provisioned correctly. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
- CDN and edge delivery: Serve media and, where safe, HTML at the edge to slash latency. Azure Front Door uses anycast routing and split TCP over Microsoft’s global network to accelerate long-haul connections. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
Typical starting points
- Marketing site – 2 vCPU / 4–8 GB RAM, output caching, CDN
- Media‑heavy site – 4–8 vCPU / 16–32 GB RAM, Azure Redis, Premium SSD v2 for database disks, CDN
Practical guardrail: keep origin CPU peaks under 80% even during Redis failover to avoid queues. Right-size Redis and app instances with that ceiling in mind. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
Azure Umbraco hosting vs Umbraco Cloud performance
Both are strong. Your choice depends on control vs simplicity.
Feature comparison
| Decision criteria | Azure Umbraco hosting | Umbraco Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| CPU/RAM tuning | Full control over App Service plan including Premium v3 or v4 | Fixed plan tiers optimised for common workloads |
| Autoscaling | Scale on metrics in Azure Monitor with scale-out and scale-in rules | Platform scaling managed by the plan |
| Caching | Azure Cache for Redis + Umbraco output caching | Built‑in caching with optional Cache Everything in the portal |
| Storage performance | Choose Premium SSD v2 where IOPS is a bottleneck | Managed Azure storage tuned by Umbraco Cloud |
| CDN | Azure Front Door or Azure CDN for global delivery | Cloudflare CDN sits in front of Umbraco Cloud hostnames |
| TLS/security | Configure per app with your policies | Certificates issued and renewed by Cloudflare by default |
| Monitoring | Azure Monitor, Application Insights, live metrics and profiling | Platform logs plus App Insights if you host custom components |
Cloud specifics: Umbraco Cloud lets you enable CDN caching from the portal, including a Cache Everything option that can also cache HTML. Use with care on personalised pages. (Source: Umbraco docs; Cloudflare docs)
Security defaults: Umbraco Cloud issues and renews TLS certificates via Cloudflare on all plans which keeps HTTPS automatic. (Source: Umbraco docs)
How to choose in one line: pick Azure when you need fine‑grained CPU/RAM, Redis tiering, Front Door rules and cost control at scale. Pick Umbraco Cloud when you want a managed stack with Cloudflare CDN and fewer moving parts.
How we optimise Umbraco for measurable advantage
Answer first – profile production traffic, remove server work with caching, move bytes to the edge, then right-size compute with autoscaling. Validate with Core Web Vitals and Application Insights.
Profile before you change things
- Turn on Application Insights to see slow pages, dependencies and user flows. Use live metrics to watch fixes land in real time, then correlate with INP and LCP. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
- Build a shared dashboard with Core Web Vitals, TTFB p95 and conversion. Use App Insights for request traces and dependency timing. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
Business value: you prioritise the templates and API calls that move revenue.
Cut server work per request
- Enable Umbraco output caching on stable templates.
- Introduce Azure Cache for Redis for partials, menus and query results so pages hit memory, not CPU.
- Cache‑bust media via file hashing to keep CDN hit rate high.
Business value: fewer origin cycles means lower cost per 1,000 requests and more stable peaks.
Push content to the edge
- Serve media from blob storage behind a CDN for global reach.
- Use Azure Front Door for compression, modern protocols and rules. Anycast and split TCP shorten round trips and help image‑heavy pages in far regions. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
Business value: faster first paint for everyone, including APAC and North America.
Right‑size compute for Umbraco on Azure
- Scale up first when CPU is the bottleneck. Premium v3 brings faster processors and more memory options. Premium v4 adds NVMe local storage and newer CPUs for heavy duty sites. (Source: Microsoft Learn; Microsoft Learn)
- Add autoscale rules to scale out on CPU, requests or custom signals. The default example rule adds an instance when CPU exceeds 70% and removes one below 20% within your min–max bounds. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
- Keep an eye on memory headroom and thread pool saturation before adding more cores.
Business value: you pay for the capacity you need and stay responsive during peaks.
Watch and iterate
- Track Core Web Vitals pass rate at the 75th percentile, TTFB p95 and Redis hit rate.
- Review after each release and campaign, then adjust rules or cache strategy.
Business value: performance stays good as features ship.
Two quick analogies
- Caching is like pre‑plating popular dishes. Redis and output cache are the hot pass. The kitchen still makes specials to order, but your queue drops and tables turn faster.
- Autoscale is like opening extra tills at lunch. More tills when the queue grows, fewer when it quietens. Set a sensible cap so you do not overstaff.
Real‑world scenarios
Financial services – faster pages that convert
- Moving to Premium v3, adding Azure Redis and putting media behind CDN cut average load time by 43% during a campaign. Conversion lifted in line with independent studies linking 1–2 second pages to higher conversion. (Source: Portent)
Global content hub – faster for APAC
- Adding Azure Front Door over blob‑served media reduced APAC latency for image‑heavy pages thanks to edge caching, anycast and split TCP. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
Mid‑market B2B on Umbraco Cloud – simple and steady
- Enabling CDN caching with defaults delivered stable sub‑2 second loads on core pages without custom infrastructure to maintain. Umbraco Cloud issues and renews certificates via Cloudflare automatically. (Source: Umbraco docs; Umbraco docs)
Insight: move media first. Offloading images and documents to blob storage + CDN is the lowest‑risk way to cut load times.
ROI and operational impact
| Business factor | Azure Umbraco hosting | Umbraco Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion impact | Aggressive caching plus Front Door helps Core Web Vitals and conversion | Consistent performance with fewer knobs to turn |
| Cost control | Right‑size CPU/RAM, scale on metrics, choose SSD tiers to balance spend and speed | Fixed plan pricing keeps budgets simple |
| SEO | Direct control to meet LCP, INP and CLS targets at template level | Defaults get you close on most pages |
| Ops workload | Needs monitoring and scaling strategy – or a managed service | Managed platform reduces team workload |
Key metrics to track
- Core Web Vitals pass rate at the 75th percentile with LCP ≤ 2.5 s, INP < 200 ms, CLS < 0.1. (Source: Google Search Central)
- TTFB p95 and page weight by template
- Redis hit rate and origin offload
- Cost per 1,000 requests and per conversion
A practical optimisation blueprint you can run now
Discover and baseline
- Enable App Insights, add live metrics, and set a shared dashboard for LCP, INP, CLS, TTFB and conversions. (Source: Microsoft Learn; Google Search Central)
Quick wins in 2 weeks
- Turn on output caching for stable templates
- Offload media to blob + CDN
- Introduce Azure Redis for menus and queries. Consider Enterprise tier for higher throughput and lower latency. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
Scale and harden in 30–60 days
- Move to Premium v3 or v4, then configure autoscale with CPU thresholds and custom signals from App Insights. (Source: Microsoft Learn; Microsoft Learn; Microsoft Learn)
- Adopt Premium SSD v2 for database disks where IOPS or throughput is a bottleneck. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
- Add Front Door rules for compression and edge redirects. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
Operate and improve
- Monthly performance reviews and capacity tests
- Error budgets with SLA‑backed response targets and out‑of‑hours cover
Governance, risk and compliance
- Change control: ship cache and CDN rules behind feature flags and purge safely
- Security: HTTPS by default on Umbraco Cloud with certificates issued and renewed by Cloudflare. (Source: Umbraco docs)
- Reliability: keep CPU under 80% even during Redis failover windows to avoid latency spikes. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
How to right‑size an App Service plan for Umbraco
Right‑sizing is part maths, part measurement. A safe path:
- Baseline real traffic with App Insights and live metrics. Identify the templates with the highest server time and cache misses. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
- Start with a conservative plan tier. For a standard marketing build, begin at P1v3 or P1v4, then load test. Watch CPU, threads, GC and memory pressure. (Source: Microsoft Learn; Microsoft Learn)
- Add autoscale rules tied to CPU and requests per second. Keep instance limits sane to avoid flapping. The Azure Monitor example rule adds an instance over 70% CPU and scales in below 20%. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
- Prove Redis effectiveness by measuring hit rate and TTFB p95 before and after. If failover pushes cache CPU above 80%, move up a tier or add shards. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
- Only then scale up. Premium v3 or v4 will often halve server time per request on CPU‑bound pages thanks to newer processors and memory options. (Source: Microsoft Learn; Microsoft Learn)
Our strategic outlook
Generative search raises the bar for real‑world speed. Aim for ≤ 2 seconds on key templates this quarter, then hold the line with autoscaling and monthly cache reviews. Teams that bake performance into hosting now will enjoy cheaper clicks and better rankings while others chase them.
How Growcreate delivers fast Umbraco hosting
Support. Enhance. Evolve
- Elastic Azure architecture – custom CPU/RAM sizing, autoscaling, Azure Redis, blob storage and Premium SSD tiers for high I/O
- Performance‑first planning – profiling, caching strategy and content structure that make work easier for the server
- CDN and media optimisation – Azure Front Door or Cloudflare integration for global delivery and lighter pages
- Monitoring and proactive tuning – App Insights, live metrics and dashboards, plus Growcreate 24/7 SLA‑backed support
Book a quick call. See how a performance‑tuned Umbraco platform can cut load times and lift conversions.
FAQs
Cache more, compute less. Enable output caching, add Azure Redis, move media to blob + CDN, then right‑size compute. Validate with App Insights and Core Web Vitals. (Source: Microsoft Learn; Google Search Central)
Yes. Meeting LCP ≤ 2.5 s, INP < 200 ms and CLS < 0.1 improves the signals Google looks to reward. Faster hosting makes these thresholds attainable. (Source: Google Search Central)
Azure gives you more tuning headroom for high‑traffic or complex builds. Umbraco Cloud is fast for standard sites with fewer moving parts, and you can enable CDN caching from the portal. (Source: Umbraco docs)
Yes for dynamic data. A CDN caches static assets. Redis cuts origin work for menus, partials and API results so pages render faster under load. Enterprise and Premium tiers improve throughput and latency. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
Use autoscale rules in Azure Monitor, set sensible caps and review after each peak. The example setup scales out above 70% CPU and back in below 20%. (Source: Microsoft Learn)
Yes. HTTPS is on by default and certificates are issued and renewed by Cloudflare across plans which reduces operational overhead. (Source: Umbraco docs)
