Ever clicked on a website, watched the loading bar creep along, and immediately bounced? Yeah, your customers do that too. A slow Shopify store isn't just frustrating; it's bad for business. 

Studies show that if a page takes more than three seconds to load, 53% of visitors leave. That means lost sales, lower rankings on search engines, and a whole lot of potential customers who never even get to see your products.

So, what’s dragging your store down? Let’s break it down and, more importantly, fix it.

Your Theme Might Be the Culprit

Not all Shopify themes are built for speed. Some come loaded with unnecessary code, flashy animations, and bulky elements that slow down performance. If your store is crawling, your theme could be to blame.

To fix this, start by selecting a speed-optimized theme. Shopify’s “Dawn” theme is a great option because it’s built for performance. If you’re using a different theme, run a speed test using Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. These tools will highlight problem areas. 

If your theme is overloaded with unnecessary design elements, consider switching to a minimalist option that prioritizes fast loading times.

Too Many Apps Are Weighing Your Store Down

Shopify’s app store offers thousands of apps that can upgrade your store. The downside? Each one adds extra code that can drag down performance. Even if you uninstall an app, some leftover code may remain.

Analyze which installed apps you need and delete any unnecessary applications. After uninstalled apps need a check for leftover code through an examination of theme files or Shopify Analyzer. Seeking a Shopify developer to clean up code can be an intelligent decision if you find coding challenging.

Your Images Are Too Large 

While high-resolution images increase the sales of a product, they can lead to sluggish website performance due to their tendency for large file sizes. Your store may be lagging because it features images that have not been optimised.

Reduce image dimensions to the correct sizes before you upload them. Shopify automatically turns your images into the faster-loading WebP format but it remains beneficial to use image compression tools like TinyPNG or Kraken.io before uploading them. 

Be sure not to upload excessively large images that extend beyond the page view since cropping them to an appropriate size can improve performance.

You’re Not Using Lazy Loading 

Lazy loading postpones image loading until users scroll them into view. The technique avoids overwhelming the browser by loading all content initially and instead focuses on rendering elements visible to the user first.

You can manually enable lazy loading if your theme lacks this functionality by default. Enable lazy loading through the Shopify theme editor settings or by installing a dedicated app. This feature implementation will shorten initial load durations while boosting total page performance.

Pro Tip for Lazy Loading:
Even if your Shopify theme supports lazy loading, double-check that it applies to all images, videos, and iframes. Some themes miss key elements like banner images or product thumbnails, so inspect your pages carefully.

Hosting Videos Directly on Shopify 

Product videos effectively display your merchandise, yet their direct hosting on Shopify significantly degrades site speed. Video files consume a bulk of storage space and slow website loading times more severely on mobile devices.

Your Shopify store should obtain video content by embedding content from YouTube or Vimeo. Your Shopify store can achieve performance excellence through embedded videos as these platforms maintain the required heavy workload. 

The “lazy loading” approach should be used for embedded media while also disabling automatic video playback except where needed.

Unused Code and Scripts Are Clogging Up Your Store

Shopify stores build up unnecessary code from outdated features, abandoned applications, and obsolete script files during their operational lifespan. 

A small combination of unnecessary code fragments hinders performance by forcing the browser to execute needless requests resulting in slower page loading times.

You must use the theme’s code editor to remove unused scripts. You can improve your Shopify store backend through built-in performance tools or by hiring a developer to handle backend optimization. 

If you're not comfortable editing code, Shopify’s built-in tools offer a simpler alternative. Running a speed test through Google PageSpeed Insights can help pinpoint scripts that are slowing down your website, allowing you to address performance issues without diving into complex coding.

Your Store Lacks a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Your store gains speed through content delivery networks (CDNs) that keep multiple website duplicates on international servers. Your site's nearest server version will automatically serve the customer, thus decreasing the page load time.

Your Shopify CDN operates effectively through built-in infrastructure although complete optimization of images, scripts and videos strengthens its performance power. 

Online stores receiving visitors from worldwide should use a content delivery network because it enables quick page loads from various geographic regions.

Too Many Redirects and Broken Links

Using redirects can prove helpful in reorganizing your store, yet an abundance of them causes performance decline. Too many redirects cause a browser to process multiple requests before loading the final web page, thus leading to performance problems.

Run a site audit using tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to identify redirects and broken links. Keep redirects to a minimum and remove outdated ones whenever possible. Ensuring a clean and well-structured URL system can make a noticeable difference in performance.

Your Store Isn’t Optimized for Mobile

The majority of online shopping takes place on mobile phones. Your Shopify store requires mobile-friendliness due to which customers leave quickly when experiencing slow load times.

Conduct an assessment using Google's Mobile-Friendly Test to evaluate your store's presentation on mobile screens. 

Your design should be simple while avoiding large animations and incorporating flexible text and image dimensions. Smooth navigation should include clickable elements that are easy to operate taps.

FAQs:

1. How do I check my Shopify store's speed?
   Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Shopify’s built-in speed report to analyze performance and find areas for improvement.
   
   
2. Does Shopify hosting affect store speed?
   Shopify provides fast hosting with a built-in CDN, but your store’s speed also depends on theme choice, apps, and media optimization.
   
   
3. Can a high number of products slow down my store?
   Not necessarily, but unoptimized product images, excess scripts, and poorly structured collections can impact speed.
   
   
4. Will switching themes improve speed immediately?
   A lightweight theme can boost speed, but you may still need to optimize images, remove unused apps, and clean up code.
   
   
5. Why does my store load faster on desktop than mobile?
   Mobile devices have different processing power, and if your site isn’t mobile-optimized, it may load slower due to large images, animations, or complex scripts.
   
   
6. Does a fast Shopify store help with SEO?
   Yes! Faster load times improve user experience and can boost your rankings on Google, leading to more organic traffic.
   
   

Faster Store = More Sales

A slow Shopify store can cost you sales, but you don’t have to fix it alone. Digitorm is here to help. Let’s get your store running faster; reach out today!

Don’t wait until slow speeds start affecting your revenue. Take action now, speed things up, and watch your Shopify sales grow.

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