Why is my website loading so slow and how can I improve it?

Technical Q&A

Topic summary

A merchant reports a Shopify speed score of 26 and questions whether their theme developer’s claim that nothing can be done is accurate.

Key Context on Shopify Scores:

  • Shopify’s speed score compares stores relative to other Shopify sites, not absolute performance
  • Even low Shopify scores often represent fast sites compared to other platforms
  • Google PageSpeed Insights provides more actionable metrics (the original poster scored 94 on desktop, 48 on mobile)

Common Speed Optimization Recommendations:

  • Remove unnecessary or unused apps, as they significantly impact load times
  • Optimize images through compression and lazy loading
  • Minify JavaScript and CSS files
  • Reduce third-party code impact
  • Consider lightweight, OS 2.0 compatible themes
  • Address excessive DOM size and layout shifts

Available Resources:

  • Consult theme developers for code-level optimizations
  • Use Shopify Experts marketplace for professional assistance
  • Run diagnostics through Google PageSpeed Insights or specialized Shopify analyzers

Several other merchants joined the thread with similar concerns about slow loading times. The discussion remains open with multiple participants seeking ongoing guidance, though no definitive resolution has been reached for the original poster’s specific situation.

Summarized with AI on October 28. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
9

Good morning,

I am having a lot of issues with my site. I would appreciate any feedback on the performance and setup of my store. I can also use as much help as possible to actually get my store running on a more customer friendly, easy to use, but keep the elegant fancy look and feel. Right now I’m going a number of promotions but I cannot get any customers. Which means a lot. Something is turning them away and making them not want to shop on my site. I’m super confused on what to do with this issue because I’m not tech savvy at all. I hired a developer for my site. They did everything but for some reason my site still isn’t performing at a high speed nor is it ranking high or getting customers attention or trust.

PLEASE PLEASE HELP!

Website