How I Optimized Database Queries by 90% in a Laravel Application

Source: Dev.to

Background

When I inherited a Laravel application that was struggling with performance, the user dashboards were loading related data such as orders, customers, and products very slowly. I used Laravel Debugbar to analyze the queries and discovered the classic N+1 problem.

Step 1: Eager Loading

// Before: N+1 queries
$orders = Order::all();
foreach ($orders as $order) {
    echo $order->customer->name; // New query each time!
}

// After: Optimized
$orders = Order::with(['customer', 'items.product'])->get();

Step 2: Query Scoping

public function scopeWithFullDetails($query)
{
    return $query->with([
        'customer.priceList',
        'items.product.category',
        'payments',
    ]);
}

Step 3: Strategic Caching

$products = Cache::remember('products.catalog', 3600, function () {
    return Product::with('category')->get();
});

Results

• Page load time: 3–5 seconds → under 500 ms
• Database queries: 100+ → under 10 per page
• Server load reduced significantly
• Better user experience

Key Takeaways

• Always profile before optimizing – don’t guess where the bottleneck is.
• Eager loading is your friend, but avoid over‑eager‑loading everything.
• Cache wisely – not everything needs real‑time data.
• Think in relationships – design queries around how data connects.
• Performance optimization isn’t magic; it’s systematic analysis and thoughtful solutions.