Website performance significantly impacts the shopping experience. The faster your store, the more willingly people will perform actions that lead to purchase. This is why speeding up your website is among the most crucial aims when it comes to optimizing your store. In this article, we give actionable tips on how to perform Shopify speed optimization.
Which factors slow down a Shopify store?
Before starting Shopify performance optimization, you need to research the bottlenecks to high loading speed. The following are the most common issues.
- Unoptimized images and videos: If you have pictures of high resolutions or large sizes, you will have a higher loading speed. The same is true for videos. Unoptimized videos on your pages slow down your site and worsen user engagement.
- Intense use of third-party services and apps: Apps’ JavaScript code and third-party scripts are among the most common reasons for low loading speed. Even though apps allow users to easily extend functionality, they can conflict with each other or have too many unnecessary code lines. Third-party scripts, such as chatbots, can block other page elements, preventing a smooth user experience.
- Increased number of HTTP requests: When the client (browser) sends too many requests to the server, it increases the loading time. The most common reasons are broken links, social buttons, and functional design elements.
How to make my Shopify store faster
- Choose the right theme: Shopify site speed optimization starts with choosing an optimized and responsive theme. Check out the demo of your potential theme and run it through one of the speed test tools, such as Google PageSpeed Insights. Also, thoroughly inspect the theme’s elements and reviews available from store owners who used this theme. Leverage Shopify speed optimization services to make the most of your theme.
- Choose only necessary apps: Every app you add to your store includes code that’s implemented in your store’s system. Therefore, you need to disable apps that are no longer in use and remove all their code elements.
- Compress images and videos: Remove oversized media files and use lazy loading to display images as they appear on the user screen. Change file formats to lighter ones, such as PNG and web. Also, don’t put more than 50 products on a collection page.
- Optimize your code base: Reduce the size of files that include CSS and JavaScript by removing unnecessary lines, characters, comments, and whitespaces. Reduce the number of HTTP requests and use asynchronous loading to prevent blocking page elements. Keep your URL short and reduce redirects and broken links.
- Improve mobile performance: Leverage AMP (accelerated mobile pages) to increase mobile loading speed. Exclude elements that are not necessary for your website’s mobile version. Optimize mobile navigation by using easy-to-tap buttons and collapsible menus.
- Perform regular performance testing: Use multiple tools to measure your site speed, such as internal Shopify’s Speed Score, GTMetrix, and Google PageSpeed Test to evaluate your Core Web Vitals and identify issues preventing smooth loading. Once you release new functionality or design for your store, conduct tests to understand its impact on your overall performance.
See more advanced techniques on how to speed up Shopify website.
To wrap up
Pay attention to six of the most important points to keep your Shopify store performance optimized.
- Select the optimized and responsive Shopify theme for your store.
- Reduce the number of apps and third-party services to the necessary minimum.
- Compress images and videos and leverage lazy loading.
- Optimize your codebase by eliminating deprecated code, reducing HTTP requests, and more.
- Ensure your mobile performance optimization by leveraging AMP, reducing the number of mobile elements, and optimizing navigation.
- Monitor your store’s performance with different tools to identify bottlenecks for high loading speed.
