How can I optimise my Shopify shop’s loading speed?

Page load speed has been a factor in Google’s rankings since 2021, and its importance is growing. A one-second delay can reduce conversion rates by as much as 7 per cent. Most Shopify shops load in between 3.2 and 4.5 seconds, whereas they should be under 2.5 seconds. Speed alone isn’t enough – good content still matters – but without a fast-loading site, even the best content misses out on the chance of a high ranking. We’ve compiled everything here that actually affects speed Shopify shop: how to measure it, what usually causes it to break down, and how to fix it step by step.

What are Core Web Vitals?

These are three Google metrics that show how a webpage behaves for a real user. LCP is the time it takes for the main element of the page – usually a product image or a header – to become visible. A good result is under 2.5 seconds. INP measures how quickly the page responds to a click. A good result is under 200 milliseconds. CLS shows how much elements shift around whilst the page is loading. A good result is below 0.1. There’s also TTFB, which is the server response time before the browser even starts displaying anything.

How to check your shop’s speed

The quickest way to check this is via Google PageSpeed Insights. Simply enter your URL and, within a few seconds, you’ll get a score from 0 to 100 along with a list of issues. This data is from a single test, so treat it as a lab result rather than a real-world one. In the Shopify dashboard, under Online Store and Themes, you’ll find the Web Performance Dashboard, which shows a score calculated based on traffic to your shop. The most reliable data is in Google Search Console, in the Core Web Vitals section. This data comes from real users over the last 28 days. Therefore, if you make improvements today, you won’t see the effect in Search Console for a few weeks. PageSpeed will show the change straight away, but Search Console needs time. This is normal.

What really slows down Shopify shops

Theme

Themes from the market often come with loads of features that nobody ever uses. And each one is a chunk of code that gets loaded anyway. It’s better to start with something lightweight, like Dawn or Refresh, and only add what you really need.

Apps

Every app adds its own JavaScript and CSS code. Some even leave it behind after uninstallation if the uninstallation process didn’t go as it should. The more apps there are, the more requests are made to external servers. And every such request is a potential delay.

Photos

This is probably the most common problem and the easiest to fix. A product photo uploaded straight from a camera, at a resolution of 4000 by 4000 pixels, can be several megabytes in size. Multiply that by several dozen products on a collection page and you’ve got yourself a problem.

Marketing trackers

The Meta pixel, the TikTok pixel, the Google Ads tag – they all take up some space too. Each one triggers additional code in the customer’s browser. One solution is to move some of the tracking to the server – known as server-side tracking. This means fewer scripts run directly in the visitor’s browser.

Usually, it’s not just one culprit, but several things at once. A background ad pixel, a chat widget that loads on every subpage, a review carousel pulling in an external script, and an uncompressed hero image, which on its own can account for most of the time to LCP. Each of these elements on its own seems harmless. Together, they can add up to several seconds.

Specific amendments, step by step

Start with the image that is the main component of the LCP – usually the hero image on the homepage or a product image. Set its fetch priority to ‘high’ and add it to the preload section in the page’s code. The browser will then fetch it first, rather than having it wait in the queue. Change the image format to WebP or AVIF instead of the old JPG and PNG formats. Shopify scales images well, but this needs to be configured correctly in the theme. Images below the fold should only load when the user scrolls down to them. Carry out a thorough review of your apps and remove those that don’t contribute to your revenue. Finally, fonts. If your shop uses a custom font from an external server, it’s better to host it locally or limit the number of weight variants.

Desktop versus mobile – why such a difference?

It sometimes happens that a shop scores 90 points on a computer and 40 on a mobile in the same test. This isn’t the server’s fault. Mobiles have weaker processors and slower internet connections, so the same images, scripts and fonts take longer to load. And for Google, it’s the mobile result that counts above all else, as ‘mobile-first’ indexing has been the norm for years. That’s why you should start optimising for mobile, even if the desktop version looks great.

Do speed-boosting apps actually work?

There are quite a few apps on Shopify that promise to automatically improve your ranking, such as Thunder, NitroPack and Hyperspeed. And indeed, in lab tests, they can add several dozen points. The problem is that real users’ data in Search Console often doesn’t change, because these apps optimise for the test, not for real mobile devices and connections. Sometimes they even cause problems, for example by delaying the loading of an image that happens to be part of the LCP. In such cases, the score gets worse rather than better. It’s better to carry out a manual review first and fix any obvious issues. Only then should you check whether such an app actually adds any value at all. It often turns out that, after a thorough manual clean-up, the app no longer makes any difference.

When it’s not worth chasing every millisecond

Not every shop needs a load time of under 2 seconds. For most, a reasonable target is 2.0 to 2.4 seconds, as that’s roughly the point at which load speed stops limiting conversion rates on mobile. Shops that achieve loading times of 1.6 to 2.0 seconds usually run on Shopify Hydrogen or have a fully bespoke theme, rather than the standard Dawn theme. Getting below 2 seconds usually involves a major infrastructure overhaul, and such an investment rarely pays for itself with an annual turnover of less than ten million dollars. We’ll cover headless and Hydrogen in a separate post, as that’s a topic for an entire article.

How does it look from our perspective?

We see pretty much the same thing with new clients. Code from apps that were uninstalled ages ago, which nobody has removed from the theme. Photos uploaded straight from a camera or from a provider, without any compression. Themes with dozens of sections, of which perhaps only three actually work. None of these things is difficult to fix individually. The problem is that rarely does anyone check all of this together until the Google search result starts to cause real harm.

Five minutes for an audit

Want to quickly check how your shop is performing? Run your homepage and a product page through PageSpeed Insights and make a note of both results. Head to Search Console, under Core Web Vitals, and check how many URLs are flagged as needing improvement. Count the number of apps in your shop and think about how many you actually use. Finally, check the file size of the image on the homepage by right-clicking and viewing the file properties. If it’s several hundred kilobytes or more, you’ve found your first candidate for compression.

FAQ

Do Shopify apps slow down the shop?

Yes, almost every one adds its own code. Some even remain after you’ve uninstalled them. Check regularly which apps are actually generating revenue, and remove the rest.

Does page load speed affect SEO?

Yes. Core Web Vitals have been a factor in Google’s rankings since 2021. Faster websites are more likely to rank higher and are indexed more efficiently.

Is it worth installing a speed-boosting app?

It may help, but it’s no substitute for a manual check. First, remove any unnecessary apps, compress your photos and correct any obvious errors in the theme. Only then should you check whether the app is actually changing anything at all.

How long does it take to see results on Google?

In PageSpeed Insights, you’ll see the change straight away. In Search Console, where real-user data is what counts, you’ll usually have to wait about a month, as the report is based on the last 28 days.

A faster online shop starts with a single audit

Speed is one of those SEO factors that can be improved without changing your content or strategy, and the results are visible in both your rankings and conversion rates. Start with a simple audit, fix your images and applications, and only then consider more advanced solutions. If you need help with auditing or optimising your Shopify shop, the 4AD Studio team will be happy to take a look and tell you what really needs improving.