Slow Website - Best Practices

[ToastyToad]

Hi,

Our website is freezing so I troubleshot it using page speed insight, but I'm no engineer. 

It looks like our store locator app is slowing it down significantly (2.7s) despite it not being an app on our home page. Does this make sense?

It says this gets in the way of main thread work. I presume 2.7s is a huge amount of time to free up, what's the best way to resolve this?

On another note: does Shopify have speed ranking of apps on the app store so I can evaluate it's net impact on my site speed to determine if the app is right for us?

Thanks

[speedboostr]

If it's freezing it could be a code issue. A quick check you can do is open up the dev tools console to see if you're seeing any errors - those may give clues to a problem app or code issue. If you're not familiar, here's how you do that: https://speedboostr.com/finding-and-fixing-console-errors.

For your store locator app, it's possible that it's loading on every page, even if it's only being used on one page. We see this pretty often, and recommend the solution to conditionally load apps - only load them on the page they're being used.

For example, if your store locator is only needed on a page called /store-locator, but the app script is placed in theme.liquid and loading on every page, then you can add some code to conditionally load it, here's an example:

{% if page.handle == "store-locator" %}
put the script / snippet that loads the app here
{% endif %}

I don't know of a list of speed ranking of apps, but I wouldn't worry about it specifically, rather, I would optimize what's possible, then optimize the apps you're using as much as possible (with tactics like I mentioned above), and just be cognizant that store facing apps will slow your load speed - but being an ecommerce site if those apps help you get sales and conversions, it's worth keeping them.

Google PSI that you mentioned is for general sites, most ecommerce sites we've tested don't score well (especially if using 3rd party resources like apps), but score does not equal speed, the tool makes an estimation based on algorithms when crawling your site.

Recommended Solution (from Shopify optimization experts, speedboostr.com)

1) To see the key optimization points for a Shopify site run your site through the Shopify Analyzer. That's a free tool we built for the community. There are details and recommendations / links to guides when you click through on the warnings.

2) After those optimization are taken care of, you can then do more advanced tactics like Preloading and App Optimization.

3) Do a code analysis (start with console errors, then read your theme.liquid file, that will likely reveal the majority of potential problems), and fix any problems.

If you need help with anything, or would like a free analysis, feel free to reach out to us at speedboostr.com/contact. Our team of Shopify developers focus on optimization and have optimized over 1500+ Shopify stores, but also build features, apps, themes, and make general website modifications.

[Aument]

Hard to give you an exact answer without having a look but it could be a script or an add-on in your internet browser. 

I'd recommend going back to basics and following all the steps Speed Insight gives you, one by one and testing each time, if you want to know what it was. You'll need a front-end specialist to modify the theme you're using right now, at that stage.

Before you do that, it's worth checking all the data base consultations made, and make sure they're optimized. 

Hope this gives you some ideas at least! Hope to hear how it turns out...

[oscprofessional]

@ToastyToad ,

We will give you the custom solution and long-term results instead of using the app.  you’ll get a faster load speed and lower long-term costs.

Apps can have a significant performance impact on the stores they are installed. First of all,  I am not trying to say that you shouldn’t install apps on your store. use fewer applications on your Shopify store. Use such APIs for the Apps. use cookies without an app. Apps can slow down your store.

Any extra apps you're not using? Remove them from your store.

I would suggest before installing an app or even committing to an already installed app, weigh the pros and cons of using it.

3rd party apps & codes which take time to load and their size. They decrease the speed.

Need to work on the following points 

• Theme Upgrade if there is a scope and upgraded theme available
• Reduce JS Payload.
• Use Critical CSS.
• Reduce Large Image Sizes
• Compress Images
• Limit Third-Party JavaScript & Shopify Apps
• Preload Web Fonts. 
• I would suggest limiting to one and using a standard web font.

Send me the URL, I will suggest you the issue so that speed can improve. Or Check your store with GT Matrix or Page speed insight tool.

By fixing these issues, your website speed score can definitely improve.

And we will provide an assured guarantee plan for the website speed optimization.

For more details please check the link below. 

https://www.oscprofessionals.com/shopify-performance-optimization/

If anything is missed out or unclear then don't hesitate to ask.

Connect us via email, skype, or What's App. We will give you the free audit report of your store.

Have a nice day !

[flareAI]

Hello @ToastyToad,

You will get more conversions and traffic only if your site loads faster. 

The following steps will help your store significantly speed up loading:

1. Loading extra data your customers aren't using can impact your store speed without adding value.
2. If you are using slideshows, keep slideshows of featured images to 2-3 slides or use one featured image.
3. Image compression is important and a necessity for faster loading web pages. Make sure your images are of good quality and do not add too many images on a single page.
4. Reduce the HTTP requests. For example: Combine & inline your CSS scripts
5. Minimize broken links and redirects - Avoid unnecessary Redirects and fix broken links
6. Using slideshow, which are high-quality images combined with transitions, take time to load when the user clicks the link to the homepage. So instead you can use a single high-quality hero image.
7. Always choose a theme that is responsive, fast, and takes minimal time to load the page
If you choose a theme with numerous sliders, fancy animations, advanced navigation systems, etc., will affect your page speed. If your theme is loading slow, consider disabling the theme features you don't need.
8. Don't add too many images on a page
Adding too many images on a page can be frustrating. It can significantly slow the load time of your website. Also, it can overwhelm visitors, which will ultimately result in a poor user experience, a high bounce rate, and a high probability of lower rankings in relative search results.
9. Use Lazyload wherever required to reduce initial load time
10. Remove all unwanted Shopify Apps which you are not using
You should disable app features you don't use, or you can remove the app if you don't need it. If you are removing an app make sure to remove code that was added as part of the app install process.
11. Replace GIFs with static images
12. You can run the Shopify Theme Inspector for Chrome to identify the lines of code that are slowing down pages in your online store.
13. Use a System font which is a font that is already installed on most computers. For example: Segoe UI, Times New Roman. If you use a font that does not yet exist on your customer's computer, then the font has to be downloaded before your text can be displayed. This impacts the time that your store takes to load.
14. You can use Google PageSpeed Insights to view more detailed metrics for pages in your store.

A slow-loading website can reduce your conversions and profits. A fast-loading website is essential to welcome massive traffic to the website. In the case of eCommerce stores, speed and page loading time play a pivotal role in the success and growth of businesses. Google Search, the world's largest and most trusted FREE ecommerce channel will show more of your store to customers if your site is fast.

When your customers search on Google, your product can be found only if your page is indexed. Note that once a URL gets indexed, customers will start finding your store through organic searches, you will start getting order conversions for virtually zero cost. Making it sustainable business growth. flareAI helps to get your new products found on major organic channels. flareAI works every day for you. Get sales from 20+ world's largest free sales channels, Single click start!

Hope this was helpful and wish you the best with your store.

Gina
Add flareAI Shopify App today!

[Stacy_Zhuk]

You are right each installed application adds weight to website pages, increases the number of requests sent to the server, and makes the pages load slower and slower. Besides, some apps may include bugs in the code, which inevitably affect Shopify performance.

You should take stock of all the installed apps. Sort out unused apps and remove them from the store. Before you do that though, thoroughly read the Shopify support documentation and uninstall instructions.

If you find some apps with useful functionality, but that overload website performance, you may not actually need to remove them. Instead, simply optimize.

To avoid common problems in the future, you should only select modules from trusted providers. Before purchasing, you should test every app to reveal its disadvantages. These could include things like an excessive number of database requests, etc.

If you have some questions, feel free to contact Whidegroup anytime to get all the answers you need.

[frankLampard]

You should take stock of all the installed apps. Sort out unused apps and remove them from the store. Before you do that though, thoroughly read the Shopify support documentation and uninstall instructions.