Shopify page speed optimisation: how to boost your Shopify’s speed.

Do you know how fast your Shopify shop loads? You really should, as it has a major impact on your success in e-commerce. In this article, I’ll explain why page speed is so important in Shopify, what causes your site to be slow, and what specific steps you can take to improve your website’s speed.

Why is charging speed so important?

The loading speed of your Shopify shop is so important because customers expect a website that loads quickly. If the page takes too long to load, users become impatient. They either suspect there’s a fault or question your professionalism. The result is high bounce rates and low conversion rates.

Google’s analysis revealed that long loading times can increase the bounce rate by up to 123 per cent. Read more

It’s also interesting to note that, in 2006, Amazon discovered through a study that a 100ms increase in loading times cost the company 1 per cent of its turnover. Read more

Although 2006 is long gone, the demands placed on online shops in 2006 are increasing. Page speed is one of the main factors customers use to evaluate a website.

There is also another factor that makes page speed even more important. Page load times are a ranking factor for Google. Better page speed therefore has the potential to lead to better SEO rankings.

So, as you can see, you really ought to look into your Shopify shop’s page speed. That’s why I’d like to recommend a few tools you can use to check your site’s page speed.

How can you measure the page speed on Shopify?

There are several free tools available online for checking your website’s loading speed. Here are the tools we also use at Golden Web Age to assess loading times.

Google PageSpeed Insights

Google PageSpeed Insights provides you with information about your website’s Core Web Vitals. These are metrics defined by Google that assess your website’s user experience.

The assessment is divided into three levels: Poor, Needs Improvement and Good. The various parameters are weighted differently. You’ll also receive an overall rating, but I’d recommend aiming for the ‘green zone’ for each parameter.

The performance of your Core Web Vitals is a key factor in your SEO rankings.

Here is an overview of the Core Web Vitals:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures how long it takes for the largest visible element on a page to load. A fast LCP (under 2.5 seconds) ensures that users do not have to wait long for the main content.

Interaction to Next Paint (INP) measures how quickly a web page responds to user interactions such as clicks or taps. A good INP value is below 200 milliseconds, as a delayed response significantly impairs the user experience.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures the extent to which content shifts unexpectedly whilst the page is loading. A low CLS value (below 0.1) indicates a stable layout without disruptive layout shifts.

First Contentful Paint (FCP) indicates when the first visible element of a page appears. A fast FCP (under 1.8 seconds) improves the first impression, as users can see straight away that the page is loading.

Time to First Byte (TTFB) measures the time it takes for the server to send the first response to the browser. A low TTFB value (under 800 milliseconds) indicates a fast server response and contributes to an overall better loading time.

Webpagetest.org

With Webpagetest.org, you can accurately check your page load times. It also provides a waterfall chart, which allows you to see exactly when each script is loaded and how much it contributes to the load time.

This way, you can identify where potential bottlenecks lie and then resolve them. But what factors are there that could actually have a negative impact on page speed on Shopify? Let’s take a look at that now.

Pingdom

The Pingdom Website Speed Test also provides a good overview of your website’s loading time. It can be used alongside the other tools, as it is particularly intuitive for beginners to use.

What factors affect Shopify’s speed?

Before you can optimise your Shopify store’s loading times, you should know which factors influence them. As Shopify, unlike WordPress, isn’t open source, there’s less you can do to influence this. The good news is that Shopify recognises the importance of loading times and already provides a solid foundation for this. Let’s look at the things you can influence.

Pictures

Images are the most important factor affecting the page speed of your Shopify pages, as file sizes can be very large. It is also important to strike a good balance between good image quality and fast loading times, as these two factors are often at odds with one another.

Our experience shows that online shops with fast page loading times convert better than those that rely on extremely high-resolution images.

Apps

Every app slows down your Shopify shop. It is therefore important to think carefully before installing any app to consider whether the feature is really essential for your online shop.

Scripts

Scripts control the logic and functionality of your website, but sometimes unused scripts creep into your code. These no longer serve any purpose but are still loaded.

Themes

Most Shopify themes are standardised, which means they come with a range of features designed to appeal to as many retailers as possible. In practice, however, you won’t use all of these features. Nevertheless, your template will still load them. That’s why you should make sure to use a template that’s optimised for loading times as much as possible.

Specific steps to optimise page speed

Now you know the main factors affecting your loading time; next, I’ll show you some optimisation measures that will make your Shopify shop faster.

Optimise your images

As already mentioned, images are often the biggest factor when it comes to page speed.

Above all, you should use the correct pixel width here. Images are measured in pixels for both width and height; when you upload them to your website, the image’s pixel width should match the pixel width at which the image is displayed on your website. This prevents images from being uploaded at a much larger size only to be displayed in a smaller format.

However, as screen sizes vary, you should opt for a responsive theme. This ensures that a different image is loaded depending on the device size.

You should also compress all your images; this will allow you to reduce their file size even further without losing too much quality. I’d recommend kraken.io or TinyPNG for this – these tools make it very easy to reduce the file size of your images.

For all Photoshop users, there’s the ‘Save for Web’ feature, which you can also use to compress your images.

Sort through your apps

Next, you should consider whether there are any apps that you don’t really need. As a rule of thumb, you should aim to keep the number of installed apps below 10 if possible.

Sometimes, app functions can be implemented relatively easily using code in the template, which might allow you to do without some apps.

It might be worth hiring a Shopify expert to help you optimise the code for PageSpeed.

Check Shopify theme

Check whether your Shopify theme is optimised for loading speed. If it isn’t, consider switching to an optimised theme. A custom theme designed with a focus on page speed works best. Alternatively, your theme can also be customised at a later stage.

Optimising CSS and JavaScript

Check which CSS and JavaScript files you need and which ones you can remove. Often, remnants of apps you used in the past remain in your code, and these can slow down your online shop.

The waterfall diagram may help you identify any scripts that are not being used. However, you should already have some programming experience to ensure you do not compromise the shop’s functionality.

Experienced Shopify developers can help you with this and help you get even more speed out of your site.

Avoid redirects

Redirects also increase your page load times, so try to avoid unnecessary redirects. It is not possible to prevent them entirely, but it is always better to adjust the relevant links on the website rather than setting up a redirect.

Conclusion – Page speed optimisation is essential for Shopify shops

Studies paint a clear picture: your Shopify shop’s loading speed has a direct impact on your conversion rate. This presents opportunities to boost your turnover. With the right tools, you can identify areas where there is still room for improvement.

If you need help with implementation, our experts can assist you in analysing and improving your site’s speed on Shopify. As a Shopify agency, we specialise in web design optimised for conversion rates and page speed, and we’re happy to offer you our expertise in this area. If you still have any questions about Shopify page speed, please feel free to arrange a no-obligation consultation.

FAQ on Shopify Page Speed