Store optimization Real or Fake

Shopify Discussion
1

Hello! I`m new to this community and at the same time new to what tricks exists in “speed optimizations” tasks. Recently, I have contacted a developer from fiverr for optimization of my store. After I have paid I found some old posts about what kind of unorthodox methods these developers may use to hide the real score speed from pageinsights/gmetrix. So..my question is if someone can have a look at the scripts loaded on my website? is something unusual? malicious code? are the improvements fake? amvisionro.com is my website. Thank you

2

To check for unusual or malicious scripts on amvisionro, use a website security scanner like Sucuri SiteCheck or URLVoid to analyze the site’s code for potential threats. Be cautious, as some developers may use questionable optimization tactics that could mask performance issues or introduce vulnerabilities

3

Hi @AMVisionRO . Some optimization apps or services can indeed bring real improvements to your store’s speed-things like:

  • Compressing and resizing images,

  • Minifying CSS/JS files,

  • Lazy-loading images,

  • Removing unused code.

These techniques can genuinely make your store load faster.

However, there are also cases where “speed optimization” tools or scripts try to trick testing tools (PageSpeed Insights, GTMetrix) by delaying or blocking certain scripts only when a speed test bot visits the site. That can make the score look good, but in reality your customers still get the same load speed.

:warning: One more thing to watch out for: some optimization apps can accidentally block or delay important scripts from other apps, which might cause features not to work properly (for example, review widgets, upsell apps, or custom scripts).

:backhand_index_pointing_right: My advice:

  • Run your site through PageSpeed Insights and compare results with real user experience (open in an incognito browser, on mobile data).

  • Disable the optimization app temporarily to see if there’s any noticeable difference in load time and functionality.

  • Always check your store’s main features (checkout, cart, product pages) after enabling optimization apps, to be sure nothing breaks.

Best regard,
Danny from Samita Team <3.

4

Hello @AMVisionRO , It is always better to optimize your store on your own first, and if it is not solved, then go to any developer to find the solution. Below, I am showing you the real speed insights report generated from the Google Page Insights Report without any alteration done -

shopify_18_august
shopify_18_august1824×782 108 KB

The results seem moderate, either you can continue with this score or apply the techniques below to optimize your store further -

  • Document Request Latency - Add these tags near the top of theme.liquid (inside ) to cut DNS/TLS time on the very first request:
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://cdn.shopify.com" crossorigin>

<link rel="preconnect" href="https://shopifycdn.net" crossorigin>

<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.shopifycdn.com" crossorigin>

<link rel="preconnect" href="https://monorail-edge.shopifysvc.com" crossorigin> 

<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com">

<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin>
  • Use Liquid URLs (not hard-coded links)- Replace hard-coded URLs with canonical Liquid objects so Shopify always emits the correct, non-redirecting URL:
<a href="{{ routes.root_url }}">Home</a>

<a href="{{ product.url }}">View product</a>

<a href="{{ collection.url }}">View collection</a>

<a href="{{ routes.cart_url }}">Cart</a>

Lazy-load images (native loading=“lazy”), and ship modern formats (WebP/AVIF) via img_url filters.

<img

  src="{{ image | image_url: width: 800, format: 'webp' }}"

  width="800" height="600"

  loading="lazy" alt="{{ image.alt | escape }}">

Try these fixes and test your store again, and always keep a habit of testing your performance of store regularly.

Alternatively, if you are looking for an automatic way of solution to fix the optimization problems of the store, I recommend giving a try to Website Speedy- a Shopify optimization app which handles optimization on its own and comes with a 14-day free trial so that you can test and analyze.

(Disclaimer: We are the developers of this app and ready to serve you so any kind of problem you face just reach out to us.)

5

A simple way to find fake speed advantages is testing your store theme scripts and ensure there are no hidden ones such as lazy loaders that serve only the testing tools You can also try lighthouse in the chrome dev tools for more reliable testing Try official shopify optimization apps for safer long term improvements

6

As long as the developer indeed helps you optimize store page speed properly, you have no need to worry about this situation, as the one who cheated Google concerning page speed will not have a good rank or performance in search results.

By the way, I don’t think your website has any scripts or contents loaded after checking. So far so good.