7 ways to Make Your Shopify Store Faster

Are you looking for ways to make your Shopify store faster?
Everyone understands the frustration that comes with a slow site. It’s not just annoying for customers but also bad for business. But conversely, a fast website means more sales and better customer satisfaction.
You’re in luck! We have 7 tips that will help you increase the speed of your website. In addition, we have all the tricks you need to improve performance, from speeding up your images to using a CDN. So, leave the rest to us, and you can sit back and relax!

Table of Contents

Why is loading time important for Shopify stores?

To understand why website loading time is so important, you need to know pretty much how people shop online.
If the customer has to wait for more than 5 seconds to see your product on the site, they will probably go back and look for another option. That’s why it’s so essential that your Shopify store is up and running at all times.
Having a fast-loading site will increase the number of customers you will have. However, if you want to be the best Shopify store out there, you need to make sure that your site can handle a massive amount of traffic! If it doesn’t load fast enough, this means more people are going to leave your site.
The best way to figure out if your store is loading quickly enough is by using Google Analytics. It will give you insights into how long it takes for people to start looking at your products, which means the website has loaded. Then, having recorded this information, check it frequently to see any changes in loading time.

>> Signup for Shopify free trial here!

Best Ways to Make Your Shopify Store Faster

Let’s face it – many things slow down your site speed. For example, when you host images on Shopify, they load from one central location. As a result, when you change just one image, the whole site will load the new version. If you have many blog posts and product pages, you know just how tedious this can be.
The thing is, there are several ways you can speed up the way your site works, and this article guides you through all of them! We have listed our favorite ways to improve loading time so that you can focus on running a better online business. Take a look at these 7 tips:

Tip1: Use the Shopify CDN to cache assets closer to customers

The CDN hosts your content on networks of servers. When you use a CDN, you have more control over where images are stored and which web server they’re called from. In addition, using a CDN can improve loading time since it means that images are being loaded from a server that’s physically closer to your customer.
A Content Delivery Network will store all your images and assets needed before your site loads properly. This means that the content you need is stored at different physical locations, from your hosting company to your visitor’s location.
A CDN is beneficial if you have tons of products on your website, and you want them to be accessible from different locations. If you also have a lot of traffic at certain times, then using a CDN can help speed up the entire process. Also, CDNs can help deliver static content. The reason for this is that a CDN stores a cached version of your website, which customers can access quickly when the webserver has experienced high traffic.

Tip2: Optimize your images for better loading times

When optimizing your Shopify store, one of the first things you need is to do image optimization on your site. A smooth and fast website removes all the unnecessary files from your site. It’s also useful for you to have a backup copy of every file so that in case one gets damaged, you can replace it easily.
When working on images, you need to know how each image affects load time. It’s common knowledge that the size of your image’s matters. It’s the width and height of each image that affects load time. This means that if you need to have a large, high-quality image on your site, then make sure to limit its dimensions, so it doesn’t affect page loading speed.
You also need to make sure that you reduce the file size of your images as much as possible to optimize images. The more weight each image has, the slower your page will load, and it may even crash some people’s browsers! For example, if someone with a 4G connection visits your site, they might not be able to open all of its pages because of high-quality images.

Tip3: Enable browser caching of static resources like CSS and JS

Once you’ve optimized all your images, make sure to enable browser caching on static resources. When your customers visit your website, they’ll only need to download the CSS or JS one time. After that, they can access it from their computer instead of loading it from a remote server.
This is especially important if running an eCommerce store with hundreds of product pages. It can also help if you have a lot of traffic to more frequently access your most popular products. So, make sure to do CSS files optimization to speed up your Shopify stores.

Tip4: Minimize redirects with server-side URL rewriting

It’s common sense to remove all the dead links to speed up your Shopify store. However, sometimes these dead-end pages can be linked to other pages on your site, so it’s not always possible to delete them. Another solution is to use server-side URL rewriting.
This is a process where the web server looks for all non-friendly URLs and then automatically redirects them to their new location. A hosting company or your Shopify online store can handle this process in order to ensure that links won’t break anytime soon.
Server-side URL rewriting can also affect how other resources load on your website. Therefore, it’s a good idea to make sure that all your redirects are set up correctly since it can affect caching and static resources.

Tip5: Verify that your Shopify theme isn’t causing you problems.

Sometimes, the Shopify theme you’ve chosen for your eCommerce website can affect the performance of your store speed.
For example, if your theme uses a lot of animations or large images, it might slow down your store speed. This is why it’s essential to make sure that you only use high-quality themes for your Shopify store.
If you aren’t sure about the theme’s quality, then ask for help from Shopify experts. They can check if any themes will be compatible with your site and even judge their performance based on store speed tests. You should consider this option before you spend extra cash on hosting or additional plugins or apps for your website.

Tip6: Check for misbehaving plugins, apps, or code on your Shopify store.

Your online store might crash now and then because of slow-loading scripts or plugins that are integrated into your site. If you receive a lot of traffic on your site, then these problems can be magnified. Because of this, you should monitor your store’s performance every few days.
It’s also a good move to talk with an expert Shopify developer so they can tell you if there are any poorly performing apps on your site. Sometimes, the problem is not with the app but integrated into your theme or website.
This is why it’s also advisable to summarize your online store’s performance so you can see if anything needs improving. You can check your site’s speed with a tool like Pingdom or GTmetrix and look at the results. If you notice that your website uses too much bandwidth, you should check it for any malware infections.

Tip7: Remove Unused Fonts

If you have a font file already installed on your computer, it will probably be used when you upload your site to Shopify. However, if you don’t use the font, Shopify will keep downloading it to load correctly. This means wasted bandwidth, which can slow down your site.
It can be tricky because you might not even realize that a font file is being used, especially if you have many fonts installed on your computer. You can check these by going to System Preferences > Font Book and selecting all the ones you don’t recognize. If there are any that aren’t being used, delete them because they’re just wasting space.

Bonus tips to Make Your Shopify Store Faster

Achieving a high conversion rate in your store can be difficult when multiple factors affect it. So keep these extra suggestions in mind to make your Shopify store faster and run more smoothly:

Load scripts asynchronously where possible to avoid blocking the page load.

Avoid using frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation if you don’t need them. These scripts are heavy and can slow down your website even if they weren’t integrated with scripts that affect performance.
If there are scripts that you need, then make sure to compress them properly. Then, it can load faster on your website since the size will be reduced by at least 50%.

Consider caching dynamic data to improve performance.

Whenever you have an extensive product catalog on your site, make sure that the data is cached so you can load it up quickly. It will allow your visitors to see how much stock you have or discounts available without waiting for the page to load.
Identify and prioritize high-value scripts on your site. These might include scripts for user authentication, shopping carts, payment options, or analytics. These can affect conversion rates, so it’s a good idea to put a lot of attention on them.

Take advantage of lazy loading.

This means that you prioritize loading images, videos, and other media assets when someone scrolls down the site. Code is used to load larger files only as they become available.
Don’t bother optimizing scripts that can be cached, particularly ones for fonts or images. This is because the results will only be temporary and will not provide you with significant gains in conversion rates.

Use code-splitting to improve load time even further.

This process involves breaking down your code into smaller chunks loaded dynamically. It makes your site run faster since you don’t have to load the entire page at once.
Combine external CSS files into one master file. You can do this by putting them in a SASS or Less file that gets converted into standard CSS before it appears on your online store. It can reduce HTTP requests and improve the performance of your pages.
Put HTML at the bottom of your document to ensure that it will load after page scripts and stylesheets. This is because HTML does not affect how fast a page loads, and putting it near the end allows browsers to start rendering earlier (which can help improve search engine rankings).

Remove render-blocking JavaScript by adding async=”true”

HTML provides a lot of helpful elements that can help improve your site’s performance. However, it can take some time before the browser starts rendering your page after receiving the HTML document from the server.
One way to avoid this is by adding async= “true” to one or more tags on your page. This will ensure that the page starts loading instantly without blocking the rest of your content.
Make sure to put any CSS before JS files in HTML to make sure it loads quickly.
Because CSS is already formatted as text, browsers do not need to parse it. It can thus start rendering early on, while the JavaScript files need evaluating before generating.

Use page caching to load specific pages faster.

Caching a specific page will be stored on the server so that any future requests of the same page will load instantly. It can help reduce latency and improve performance since there is no need to generate a new version every time it’s requested.
Some caching plugins also allow you to retrieve data from external APIs or store them in your database to load even faster.

Enable browser caching on all static assets for instant delivery

Using caching plugins for static pages and blog posts can help improve your site’s performance. This will store the files downloaded from your server to be accessed locally!
This is because it will then load a cached version stored on the server rather than generate a new one each time requested. This can help decrease page load time significantly
These techniques will help improve the overall performance of your site. This means that it won’t have to download them again whenever someone requests the file, making it load much faster.

Add Google Analytics to your site for traffic information.

You can add Google Analytics to your site by installing a JavaScript file from the service. Your audience will become more familiar with you, which in turn lets you determine what they want and how you can improve your online store.

Add a sitemap for faster crawling.

A sitemap is an XML file that explains what your site’s pages are all about. Google uses this to understand how your pages are linked to discovering new ones.
You can use either the WordPress plugin or do it manually by creating a .txt file and adding the URLs. You should also update this regularly so search engines can see your latest posts.

Prioritize above the fold content to make it load faster

Above the fold, users see content when they first visit your site and scroll up. This usually contains the main title, image, and a few lines of text that communicate what’s on each page.
It would help optimize these elements since it’s the part loaded first.

Disable unnecessary plugins if you don’t need them

Plugins are a great way to add new features and improve your site’s performance. However, they can also affect page load speed since some might run unnecessary tasks in the background when they’re activated.
If you don’t use a plugin often, you should disable it whenever possible to improve the overall performance of your store.

3D product images slow download time

Load times can be affected by the file size of your product images. You should thus ensure that you’re using optimized ones so they will load much faster.

Utilize device responsive themes

You can utilize device-responsive themes to make your Shopify store stand out. Try to use the Shopify themes that give the website an immersive experience that will be more engaging and easier on users’ screens than traditional layouts, which may not fit all devices properly or at all times depending upon their size/resolution setting!
If you use device-responsive themes, it will automatically guess the particular device and provide the most suitable image resolution for the individual customer. So, make sure to confirm device responsive themes to make your customers happy.

Streamline your Shopify store with Google tag manager

Instead of installing an app that installs additional code and performs DNS lookups, you’d prefer to have a theme that hosts the code locally with Shopify’s CDN. Consider Google Tag Manager if you plan to use external tracking codes such as those from Twitter or Pinterest.
In addition to compressing tracking codes and making them load faster, Google Tag Manager allows you to design the triggers for these tags, the priority (load it immediately, or wait for a specific trigger), and a lot more.

Analyze your SEO for Shopify to drive traffic to your store

If you want a Shopify store to be successful, it’s crucial that customers find you. If not, then what’s the point of installing all these strategies if nobody will be around to see them?
To get more traffic and leads on your website, you need to check your online store’s SEO-friendly. If you do this, potential customers will be able to find you whenever they search for your product online.
Here we list the best Shopify apps for dropshipping, we recommend you to read Best Shopify Apps for Dropshipping in 2022.

FAQs about Shopify store speed

Why should I optimize my store?

A slow website affects the value of a client’s lifetime in some ways. 79 % do not buy again after evaluating your website’s performance. Typical performance difficulties are variable. They could cause small delays and inconvenience your customers, or worst they could leave your site totally unused and inaccessible for use.

What is a good Shopify store speed?

Your shop’s speed is a measure of the way fast your store performs in Google Lighthouse tests. Typical Shopify speed scores are more than 50. Speeds over 70 are considered excellent!
When a customer contacts you about your store’s speed, suggest they make sure that they are using the latest version of their browser, that their cache has been cleared recently, and that their Internet service provider is not having service outages. Its fast, global servers and unlimited bandwidth make Shopify a great host for your online store. Shopify Status allows you to monitor the performance of your Shopify store. Shopify is constantly making improvements to its code requested by the subscriber or user.

Conclusion

Make sure all the above tips are used if you want your Shopify store to run smoothly without any hiccups.
Give your Shopify store a speed boost with these tips to improve page load time and performance. These can help you increase conversion rates by providing visitors with a seamless experience on your online store.
These are some ways to make your Shopify store faster. Implementing some of these tips will allow you to deliver a more enjoyable experience for your customers. This also helps increase their satisfaction with your products or services, leading to more conversions.

>> Free! Free! Signup for Shopify free trial here!