How to identity apps that slow site? How many apps/integrations are too many?

[jlenda]

Hi! We are looking to migrate to Shopify in October and have come across a lot of varying ideas as to what apps/integrations slow sites down or affect site performance. Below is a list of apps we were looking at using, can anyone tell us which are the clunkiest/which we should definitely stay away from? Is the below too many to add to a site for integrations and apps? HELP! 🙂 

• ADA Compliance – Accessibly
• Amazon FBA – Amazon Integration Plus
• Social Media Integration/Product feeds – Google Shopping Feed
• Customer Service - Zendesk
• Reviews – YotPo
• Discounts and promotions – Customize Gift Shopping Experience (not all apps, these are just the ones we are vetting)
  • Bundle Builder
• Bundles
• Unlimited Bundles and Discounts
• Bold Bundles
• Custom Forms (not all apps, these are just the ones we are vetting)
  • Powerful Contact Form Builder
• Form Builder + Custom Forms
• Form Builder with File Upload
• Discounts and promotions – promotions beyond native/shopify script (not all apps, these are just the ones we are vetting)
  • Bulk Discount Code Generator
• Selly
• Swagify
• Search/Filters – expanding on native functionality (not all apps, these are just the ones we are vetting)
  • Instant Search
• Klevu
• Wishlist – Wishlist Plus

Integrations:

• CDN - Brandfolder
• VideoCDN – Wistia or Vidyard
• Reviews – YotPo (is an app + integration)
• Taxes - Avatax
• Emails – Bluecore
• Emails – Cheetah
• Returns/Order Tracking/Delivery Emails
• Narvar
• We recently learned about Returnly as an app, would this be a better option?
• Heat Maps/Session Recordings - HotJar
• Personalization/AB Testing/Product Recs on Non-Product Pages - Dynamic Yield
• Analytics – Adobe 

App OR Integration OR use Native HTML functionality available:

• Page Template Builder – content page creation
• Are there any that do not slow down the site or is this something that is definitely better as a customization or native functionality?
• Apps:
• Accentuate
• PageFly #1 Page Builder
• Shogun
• Integration:
• Typeform

[jam_chan]

You can check your site with Google PageSpeed Insight: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

Usually, slow sites are caused by blocking js files added by 3rd party apps. After You remove them, the speed will be improved. Repeated or unused apps should be removed.

[Anonymous]

Having only a few apps installed can cause a severe impact to page speed - we found that even installing a few apps caused some pages to slow down by as much as 6 seconds. Apps cause major issues - always use custom development when possible for your site features, over-reliance on apps is a guaranteed way to kill your site speed!

Check out this case study if you're interested: https://speedboostr.com/how-apps-affect-load-speed/

A few suggestions:

• Use A/B Testing to evaluate all apps for ROI
• Eliminate any apps that aren't substantial for conversions
• Hard-code some apps (higher upfront development cost but eliminates monthly subscription fees + you actually own the content that you pay for)
• All WCAG guidelines can be met without the use of an app
• Contact forms, page builders, search and sorting features, etc. can each be hard-coded to eliminate 3rd party app content
• Shopify already offers a CDN so you may also consider making better use of this

Since app content typically runs on every page whether it's used or not, eliminating apps that you don't need is guaranteed to have an impact to help improve page speed on pages across the site.