How to Optimize Shopify Store Speed

We have all been there. You type in a question on Google, click on a promising website, and it takes ages to load. What do you do? You leave the page and look for another website to answer your question.

Yip, that's the price of a low website speed score: high bounce rates. Shopify store owners that want to avoid high bounce rates should go for a high Shopify speed score.

What is a good Shopify speed score?

Shopify speed refers to the time it takes for your Shopify store to load when a user accesses it. According to Google, a good website load time is under one second. Only a high Shopify speed score can make that possible. The lower the page loading speed, the higher the bounce rates. For a page loading speed of more than 3 seconds, the bounce rates go up by 32%.

Google uses Google Lighthouse to measure how fast a website loads for most visitors. Your Shopify speed score is a number out of 100 as measured by Google Lighthouse.

A good Shopify speed score is over 50 as measured by Google Lighthouse. A higher score is more desirable, and a score of 85 or above is a sign that the store is operating well.

Why is website speed important?

Optimizing your online store speed can ensure that it's easy for shoppers to find your Shopify store and that they don't leave your website. Fast website loading speeds improve the shopping experience for customers, resulting in increased conversion rates.

It's also important to remember that high page loading speeds are favored by Google. Search engines place a premium on good page loading scores when it comes to placing websites at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). In other words, if your Shopify score speed is low, your site can't rank high on Google.

Website speed optimization is directly related to a higher ranking on Google.

How to speed up a Shopify store?

Use compressed images

Images pose a special predicament: on the one hand, you need high-resolution images for maximum appeal, and on the other hand, these images are large files that slow down page speed.

It is recommended to compress images before uploading them. Tools like JPEGmini or Kraken.io can be used for this purpose. Shopify also has many apps that you can use to compress images that are already in your store.

Image size depends on the dimension and the quality of the image. Shopify recommends using 2048 x 2048 px for square product photos. These are high-resolution images that won't distort when a person zooms in. However, using many of these images will slow down the Shopify score speed.

Optimize use of Shopify apps

While Shopify apps are necessary to add functionality to your store, many of them run scripts on web pages which reduces Shopify page speed.

It's tempting and easy to install apps, but you should keep in mind that they can slow down your page load speed. It's a good idea to re-evaluate the ones you have installed and uninstall the ones that are not directly contributing to the functionality of the store.

However, uninstalling an app doesn't get rid of it. Ask your developer to remove it manually.

Many Shopify apps use external JavaScript and CSS files, which can cause a range of issues, including adding the time it takes to load a page complete with all the functionality and design elements. Apps can cause Shopify theme conflicts, which can cause a number of issues that add to load times.

Implement AMP

Mobile eCommerce sales are increasing continually and are expected to overtake laptop sales. So, Shopify mobile sites must also have a fast Shopify score speed. Google created Accelerated Mobile Pages or AMP to speed up the mobile web, so be sure to include AMP so visitors can access your website quickly on their mobile devices.