Shopify Speed Optimization: A Complete Guide to Faster Load Times

A slow website is not just a minor inconvenience, it is a conversion killer. For Shopify store Owners, every extra second of load time can lead to higher bounce rate and lower sales. In this complete guide, we will show you exactly how to optimize your shopify store for Speed.

We will cover what speed optimization means, why it matters, what slows your store down and most importantly how to fix it.This resource is your go-to resource for Shopify speed optimization.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧?

Speed optimization basically means how fast your shopify website loads for users. To ensure your store performance it cover both frontend and backend.

To create a smoother user experience, reduce bounce rates and lead   to more conversions your website should have faster load times. Speed optimization is not just about saving seconds of the users, it’s about creating a competitive edge in the faster growing ecommerce world.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬?

• 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 : Slow website does not make a good impression on the user and it also frustrates the user and the result of this the user does not engage with the website which leads to low conversion and often abandoned carts.

  
  

• 𝐒𝐄𝐎 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 : Google considers speed a ranking factor for a website, if the speed of the website is slow then it is hard to rank the website on google.

• 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 : Faster load times lead to better conversion rate on the website.

• 𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 :  Mobile screen Friendly is a very essential part of the website. With a mobile-first world, your website should load faster on mobile.

Speed is not just a technical measure. It is directly linked to your store's revenue.

𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐟 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞:

There are several factors which affect the speed optimization of the website and we usually ignore these factors which slow downs our website, Below are the common factors :

• 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 : Unoptimized Images are the #1 reason to slow down the website.

• 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬 : Themes which are poorly coded and complex add unnecessary load times.

• 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐝𝐞 : Redundant code from deleted App and code of unused features also slow down the speed of the website.

• 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐬 : Installing too many apps in the store also affects the speed of the website, because each App adds its own Javascript, CSS and tracking scripts. So try to use less external apps on the website.

• 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐬 : Marketing tags, third-party plugins and chat widgets can slow things down.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝

Here are practical, step-by-step methods to supercharge your Shopify store speed. These tips are beginner-friendly, effective.

𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞

Heavy and animation rich theme may look good but its actually slow down the speed of the website. Stick to clean, minimal theme built for Speed.

𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬

Images take over 50% weight of your website, the best way to deal with image size is to WebP images when possible, not upload large images and stuck to shopify’s recommended image sizes.

𝐋𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬

Lazy loading is the best way to deal with the images on your website, In lazy loading images loaded only when they appear on the screen and the result of this is it speed up the initial page loading and reduce bandwidth for users.

𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐆𝐈𝐅𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬

GIFs are heavy and rare essential, best alternative for GIFs are use static images and try CSS animations for effects.

𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐩𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐬

Apps and unnecessary scripts are the most common issues for slowing down the website. Audit the app carefully because each app includes its own Javascript, CSS file and tracking code, To avoid this issue remove unused Apps, avoid overlapping functionalities and   choose Shopify  native Apps when possible.

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝

Following are the common mistakes that most of us do while building the website, Avoid these speed killers:

• Uploading uncompressed Images.

• Using too many third party apps.

• Not checking performance after installing themes and apps.

• Overusing custom fonts and animations.

Keep your shopify website design simple, focused and functional.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

Shopify speed optimization is not that hard or rocket science, it just requires the right technique and focus. By implementing the above tips you can significantly improve user experience, SEO and conversion rate. 

Let Nine58 help you build, optimize, and launch a high-performing Shopify store - faster than you think.