Website Performance Issues - Seeking Advice from the Community

[wasiq18]

Hello Shopify Community,

I hope you're all doing well! I run a this website that offers specialized menus and pricing information, and lately, I've been facing some challenges that I believe many of you could relate to.

I've noticed that my website's load times are longer than I'd like, especially during peak traffic hours. This has led to some potential customers leaving before they even get to explore the menu offerings. I’m trying to optimize it, but I’m unsure where to start.

I've tried compressing images and minimizing unnecessary scripts, but the issue persists. Does anyone here have tips or tools that have worked for you in improving website performance? Any insights into best practices would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help.

[EstherBui]

Hi Wasiq18,

We have identified harmful code in your store (https://prnt.sc/oGSwX9svWvdJ). This type of code artificially increase speed scores without providing any real performance improvements. Instead of enhancing your website’s actual performance, it manipulates speed metrics, which can negatively affect SEO and user experience over time. Shopify has also addressed this issue in their article. (Don’t get scammed by fake performance experts and apps)

We strongly recommend removing this code from your theme.

Best,
Esther

[gagarwal]

Hi,

Looks like this website is based on wordpress and not on shopify. Maybe ask this question in wordpress communities?

Do check out https://pagespeed.web.dev/analysis/https-marumenuprices-com-marugame-udon-philippines-menu/1l6n0q9g6... and it suggests "Choose a lightweight theme (ideally a block theme) and implement full-page caching or a static site solution. Disable unnecessary plugins to minimize server overhead. Consider upgrading your hosting to managed or dedicated service."

Regards,

Gaurav,

Co-founder, Kai Progress Bar App

[Website_Speedy]

Hi,

I totally understand your frustration with slow load times, especially when it affects potential customers before they even get to see your menu and pricing info. Optimizing site speed can be tricky, but here are some steps you can take to improve performance:

Test Your Website's Performance

• Before diving into fixes, it’s important to identify where exactly your site is lagging. Start by running your website through Google PageSpeed Insights to get detailed feedback on performance issues.
• Core Web Vitals: Look out for LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), FCP (First Contentful Paint), and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift). These are the most important metrics Google uses to assess site performance.
• Example: If your LCP score is high (above 2.5 seconds), it indicates that your main content (like your menu or image) is loading too slowly.

Optimize Images Further

You mentioned compressing images, which is great! But also consider switching to next-gen formats like WebP for even better compression without quality loss. Shopify apps like TinyPNG and Image Optimizer can help automate this.

Implement Lazy Loading

If your site has a lot of images or content that isn't visible right away (like menus or images below the fold), lazy loading can drastically speed up load times. This ensures that only visible images are loaded first.

<img src="{{ image.src | img_url: 'large' }}" alt="Menu Image" loading="lazy">

Reduce Unused JavaScript

While compressing and minimizing JavaScript is a good start, removing unused JS can improve load times significantly. Many Shopify apps add extra JavaScript to your store, and if you no longer use those apps, their scripts may still be lingering on your site.

Use Shopify Speed Optimization Tools

To speed up your site even more, I recommend using Shopify’s Website Speedy app. It helps to automatically optimize your store’s performance by handling things like compressing images, deferring scripts, and lazy loading for you.

It only takes about 5 minutes to set up and has a 14-day free trial to test out the improvements.

You can install it here: Website Speedy on Shopify