How to improve Shopify store speed? A Shopify store is the business outlet. Its growth depends on the user experience. The speed of the Shopify store directly affects its growth. The reason behind this narration is that it improves conversion rates by reducing bounce rates. It also enhances user experience. In context, how to improve Shopify store speed? We offer strategies to optimize the speed of your Shopify store.
1. Choose a Lightweight Theme
The theme is significant for your Shopify store. It’s role in your store’s performance is very important. That is why selecting a theme is also important when answering the question, “How to improve Shopify store speed?” The ideal theme for your Shopify store should be lightweight and designed for speed. You have both theme options on Shopify. Opt for a theme that is coded efficiently, with specific mentions for speed.
2. Optimize Images
How to improve Shopify store speed? Shopify SEO helps in improving speed. Images take loading time. And contribute significantly to loading times. For image optimization, follow the following steps:
Compress Images
Some tools reduce image size without compromising quality. For this size reduction, you may use TinyPNG or JPEGmini. These are considered efficient tools.
Use Proper Formats
JPEG is suitable for photographs, and PNG or SVG for proper graphics with fewer colors. Viewport is crucial for improving initial load time. This viewport supplies images to the Shopify store, which supports lazy loading.
3. Reduce App Overload
How to improve Shopify store speed? Shopify store progress can be achieved through digital marketing. PPC is a digital marketing strategy. Apps enhance the functionality of any store. But as excess of everything is bad, too many apps can slow down your site. To reduce this time, an app evaluation is necessary.
Remove Unused Apps
Abandoned apps or those no longer in use should be uninstalled.
The second option you can avail yourself of is the limitation. You can limit the active apps. For this, allow only essential apps. Essential apps add value to your customers. Further, they help monitor the performance impact.
4. Minimize Redirects and Broken Links
Redirects are a common hurdle in the smooth functioning of your store. It is also a component of the answer to the question How to improve Shopify store speed? Maximizing redirect avoidance can improve your store’s loading time. To minimize the number of redirects is helpful in speed optimization; the following steps can be taken to avoid redirects:
Avoid Unnecessary Redirects
Make sure pages are linked directly, without unnecessary paths or chains. Any indirect link causes redirects.
Regularly Check for Broken Links
For checking broken links, different tools are available in the market. You can use the Broken Link Checker to find broken links. The next step is to fix this broken link issue efficiently. Such broken links are the underlying cause of the site slowdown. Therefore, their immediate fixing is a step in the right direction.
5. Enable Browser Caching
Browser-catching sites always work efficiently. Because browsers cache a user’s device, this storage enables users to visit the site without downloading the data each time. Shopify also manages setup in its infrastructure, as do other social media marketing platforms. Therefore, a site with product and collection pages efficiently set up to leverage browser caching is bound to minimize loading time.
6. Optimize Code
Large files containing different coding and infrastructure components of the site hinder the site’s speedy loading. Therefore, their size should be reduced to a minimum and efficiently optimized. To improve performance, minify your site’s HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Here are the methods for doing so:
Reduce Line Spacing and Comments
After proper coding, you can delete unnecessary characters, spaces, and comments.
Combine Files
Combining files reduces the number of server requests. So, combine files whenever possible. This will ultimately reduce loading time.
7. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
CDN is a content delivery network. However, Shopify uses a content delivery network powered by Fastly. To use it properly, a site’s files must be routed through this Content Delivery Network CDN. This will improve your site speed not only for local customers but also for customers who are far from the server’s geographic location. Furthermore, if you host additional files externally on your site, it is advised that you use a CDN for them. Clodfare is a good choice for further optimization.
8. Limit the Use of Web Fonts
Web fonts highly affect the aesthetic approach of your site. They can improve aesthetic appeal. But they can hinder the loading speed of your store. To improve loading speed, you may optimize this:
Use System Fonts
Standard system fonts are recommended for faster site loading. Sometimes sites are loaded with different fonts, which significantly slows down page load time. Therefore, try to use standard system fonts to avoid additional loading time.
Limit the Number of Fonts
Custom fonts are good, but their increased number causes a delay. So, a minimum number of font styles and weights greatly minimizes the impact on loading times.
9. Test Your Speed Regularly
Regular speed monitoring is a good practice for your Shopify store. To monitor your site speed, you can use tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Pingdom. These tools not only monitor the edge but also point out the factors or files causing delays in loading and reduced speed. Further, these tools guide how to fix the issues.
Conclusion
How to improve Shopify store speed? Improving the site speed involves technical aspects. We at Pervasive Marketing offer services from speed monitoring and tenacity experts. We have a complete package for you, tailored to your needs and with customization options. Different tools and techniques, in combination with employed strategies, help to improve loading speed.
