Online Store Speed = Slow like a Sloth! (especially cart page)

[Megan26]

For weeks now I have been struggling to figure out why my "Online Store Speed" has been so low. As a snapshot - March 16th = 32, April 14th =23.  I changed my font to a simple sans serif font, I currently have 8 apps installed, with one of them being an image optimizer (crushpics - resiszing, APT text and optimizing of files names). The only app that I installed during this time period was Crushpics, which was supposed to increase the speed score not slow things down! Do I also need to install an app to resize all my photos (I have about 280) to be the same shape?

I did receive advice to look at my Google Analytics account numbers (ie. don't rely on Shopify tool). I'm not the most technically savvy person so the only speed performance metric that I could really interpret here were the Avg. Page Load Times. The screen grab here shows the pages with the most views (for a 1-week period, I’m a new shop BTW) and their load times. Most disturbing to me is that the slowest load time is for the cart page! Is this normal?  

Any further thoughts on things I could try? www.wigglesandwhiskers.caSlow cart page load time

[JohnCodes · Accepted solution]

Hi @Megan26 

It looks like you've done a lot of work and research to determine why your score has dropped. That's awesome!

To start, I've navigated through your site and, with real-world testing, it actually loads quite fast. Your cart page is also loading up really quickly. Way less than 10+ seconds.

I ran your homepage through the Shopify Analyzer (free tool we built for the community) and, while you could benefit from some more image compression, there aren't any major optimizations that stick out.

Have you uninstalled any apps lately? The reason I ask is that apps can often leave their code in your theme, even after they've been uninstalled. It's worth it to go through your main theme files to see if there's any old app code you can identify.

Your score is also a combination of many other metrics, not just page speed since it's based on Google's Lighthouse engine. So your site can actually have a low score but still perform very well.

We have a more detailed article that goes into Shopify's Speed Score: Shopify Speed Tool Analysis + How to Make Your Site Faster.

Overall, you have a pretty average speed score (we typically see scores range between 15-30). So I wouldn't uninstall any essential apps or theme features if they're adding value to your business just to try and increase this score.

I hope this was helpful!

[Megan26]

Thanks for your reply John! This is helpful information and also reassuring that the work I have done so far has not been in vain. Another thing I plan to do is install an app to resize my photos to all be the same square shape, as from what I have read this is something that helps with site speed. Would you agree?

You asked if I had uninstalled any apps lately, and the answer is yes I have uninstalled at least 2 apps since the beginning of March. How exactly do I go about going through my major theme files to see if there's any old app code that needs removing? Can you direct me to a 'How to article' that might be able to assist me?

Thanks

Megan

[JohnCodes]

Hi @Megan26 

To remove unused app code here's the basic path you'll want to take:

• Duplicate your live theme before doing anything else.
• In your duplicated theme, go into your theme's main code files. These typically include:
  • theme.liquid
  • product.liquid
  • cart.liquid
• Depending on the apps you uninstalled, search through those files for code related to them
  • A good way to do this is, once you're in the file, hit Command + F on Mac (CTRL + F on Windows) and a search box will appear. Start typing in the app's name to see if any code gets highlighted.
• If any app code comes up in your search, then you can go ahead and delete it.
• Repeat this process for each app and then double-check that your theme is still working properly.

[Casachicstore]

HI John ! I just try this app for my website, is this ok ? or not ? what I should do ? 

[Casachicstore]

I have a furniture Store,. the Pics are a little heavy sometimes, What I can do ?

[PageFly-Richard]

Hi @Megan26 ,

I'm Richard - CRO Expert at PageFly Free Page Builder.

I just saw your problem and I have a suggestion for you to test your website. You can try Google PageSpeed Insights. For example, you can see the report with your homepage here: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=www.wigglesandwhiskers.ca&tab=mobile: 30 scores for mobile is really low performance.

1. The biggest reason that makes your page run slowly on mobile is images size. You should consider resizing them. This tool can show you exactly which image and its size to change and optimize. 

If you want to optimize your images to help your page loading speed faster, you can use some of the image optimization tools like: ImageOptim, Shopify Online Image Resizer, tinypng.com, or imagecompressor.com. And If you have images that go with .PNG file, you can convert them to .JPG or .JPEG files

2. Optimize your images and delayed loading of off-screen images: Consider partially loading hidden and off-screen images after all your important resources have been loaded to reduce interaction time.

3. JavaScript, CSS code… Please check your theme.liquid file and remove unused JavaScript, unused stacking styles (CSS). Removes rendering blocking resources: Resources are blocking the first impression of the page. Consider delivering important JS / Inline Styles (CSS) and deferring any non-critical JS / styles. You can click to this field on the report for more detail.

4. Besides, you should check both Mobile and Desktop devices in the report. On the desktop, we can see the problem still come from your resizing images and unused code.

5. You can do the same thing with other pages to test and improve it, like this one for your collection: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wigglesandwhiskers.ca%...

Finally, you can consider some tips to improve the speed page about How to Speed Up Website and Optimize Page Load Time To Win Sales. 

By the way, I'm working on - PageFly. We are a Shopify page builder to customize your page, our app provides the Lazyload function and it's easy to use with a drag-and-drop system and less code needed. Here is a reference.

If you find my comment useful, you can like it. And let me know if you want further assistance.

Have a great day!

[Addyz]

HI @Megan26 ,

After review of you store, I will advise you to install some social proof apps on the store. Most of the buyers will not buy if they did not found the site authentic. For first time buyer's you have to win their trust and social proof are great way to achieve that.

Also, you have not added any push notification app pan your store.Push notifications have high conversion rate. Most of the visitors just leaves after adding product to cart without purchasing it. Push notifications are great way to remind them of their abandoned cart and nudge them to complete the purchase.

You are really missing out with this core functionality which could easily recover some lost sales for you.

There are plenty of app on appstore which are offering push notification either for free or for very reasonable price.

I will recommend https://apps.shopify.com/cartbite

This one is offering abandoned cart ,back in stock and price drop notification on push and emails. 

If this is helpful please up vote the answer so that other merchants can get benefit from it too

[Megan26]

Thanks for your reply Addyz, however I think you might have been looking at a different website and not mine.

I currently have 24 customer submitted reviews posted on my website as I have the judge.me app installed (I am a relatively new online shop which is why I don't have more reviews).

Concerning your comment about push notifications, I currently have abandon cart emails set up to go out, which include a incentive discount code, so again I don't think you were looking at my website. 

Megan