How can I improve my store's speed?

[Anjee_a]

Hi, my store speed has been dropping over a period of time from 60 to 33? I have added external apps, but I needed them. Any suggestions as to what I can do to improve this?

[JoesIdeas]

33 is a common score if you have a few apps. After studying a lot of stores and their speed scores, and optimizing them we've found that apps are the main factor for the score in the Shopify speed score, and most of the engaging, successful sites score in the range 20 - 35. Details here: https://speedboostr.com/shopify-speed-tool

Here's what we (Shopify optimization focused team, speedboostr.com) recommend:

1) Optimize your theme and images. You can see if you have optimization issues by running your site through the Shopify Analyzer. That's a free tool my team built for the community, geared specifically for Shopify sites and with a scoring system based on 1,000+ Shopify sites we've optimized.

2) Now that your site is optimized, you can dive into more advanced tactics if you wish. The first place we start is with apps:
- Remove any old app code from apps you deleted but did not remove the code (apps lose access to your store when you delete them, so if they had code in your theme files you'll need to remove that. Using our tool you can see the requests loaded, to give you clues, also check the theme.liquid file, that's where most app code lies).

- Conditionally load apps: If an app is only needed on certain templates, make it load only on those templates (using Liquid to identify the template and conditionally load the app snippet).

- If you have any apps that are store facing and do not require a database or server, consider coding their features directly into your theme so it's hosted on your Shopify server, which is most likely faster + doesn't require assets from a 3rd party source.

3) Now you should be pretty well dialed in, but if you feel your store is loading slow still, only now is when you start to consider removing functionality. Keep in mind that the score system in the Shopify speed tool uses the same one Google PageSpeed Insights uses, Google Lighthouse. This is a general tool and gives some bad recommendations that can actually make your site slower or be perceived as slower if you implement them (combining files for example can increase load time, or using the font-display: swap feature to load a browser font first, and then change the font when your custom web font loads... both of these can increase your score but not your actual load time).

Lastly, remember the score is not equal to load speed, it's an algorithmic estimate of what can be optimized, without factoring in UX and conversion increasing features.

[Chris_Sydney]

Joe, 

you know, I just didn't consider that the apps are hosted ex-shopify hosting verse shopifgy hosting. thanks! 

[jasonavada]

Hi @Anjee_a 

Website speed is defined to be the speed that is necessary for your website to load when there is someone manually types the URL in, or hits a click on a link that navigates them to your site. On average, the website speed in all industries and countries is at 8.66 percent. However, it is commonly recommended to reduce three seconds or fewer for that amount of time. Kindly take a look at our article 13 Ways to Speed Up your Shopify store to find out how to optimize your website speed in order to remove the barrier between your store and your customers! 

[oscprofessional]

Hello Anjee_a,

You need to work on your website performance’s speed. Low mobile page speed may kill your traffic and affect your conversion.

In order to Improve website speed we need to:
- Remove unnecessary code on a high priority basis.
- Compressed images or Defer offscreen images.
- Web Pages need to be Minified.
- Reduce JavaScript execution time
- Minimize main-thread work
- Beware of excessive liquid loops
- Decrease thumbnail image size
- Weigh the benefits of installing another app

By fixing these issues, your website speed score can definitely improve. For more details please check and select the plan you wish to select -
https://www.oscprofessionals.com/shopify-performance-optimization/ 

If anything is missed out or unclear then don't hesitate to ask
Thank You!

[JoesIdeas]

Quick heads up for the community - be cautious with the previous poster OSC, they've been caught stealing, being unethical, and breaking Shopify terms of service on multiple occasions. (Details here if you're curious: https://speedboostr.com/shopify-partners-caught-stealing/#copyright-osc).

[Kjankko-US]

Hi,

I ask here my question about the files on Shopify. Does the Shopify store's speed score slow a much - if I load files in the store?

I sell digital products (PDF -files) in my store and I have a lot of them in the future.

BR,

- KJ

[AiTrillion]

Hello @Anjee_a, I hope you are doing well!

These are some points that will help you to keep your store’s speed optimized:-

• Optimize all the images
• Eliminate using multiple apps
• Use a fast and reliable hosting
• Use a Content delivery network (CDN)
• “Minify” your code
• Reduce redirects and broken links

You can try the all-in-one Shopify app AiTrillion. 

Thanks