Store Speed
A slow store loses sales before a shopper ever sees a product. Most of what makes a Shopify store slow is not the theme itself: it is oversized images, apps that keep loading scripts long after you stopped using them, and heavy content stacked at the top of the home page. This page shows you how to measure your speed, what to fix first, and how to keep it from creeping back.
Before you start
- Your store is live, or at least has a preview link, because speed tests need a real page to load.
- You have a few real products with real images published.
- You can access Analytics and Apps in your Shopify admin.
- Measure before you change anything, so you can tell whether your changes actually helped.
Step 1: Measure your current speed
Steps:
- Go to Shopify admin > Analytics > Reports.
- Open the Online store speed report.
- Note your score and the date, and note how it compares with other stores on the same plan.
- Come back to this report a few days after making changes, since it updates on a delay.
Result: you have a starting number for your store, measured on your own pages with your own content.
The Shopify report scores your home page, one collection page, and one product page. It is a trend indicator, not a per page audit. For a page by page breakdown, use Google PageSpeed Insights on the exact URL you care about.
Step 2: Test a single page in detail
Steps:
- Copy the URL of the page you want to test, usually your home page or your best selling product.
- Open Google PageSpeed Insights and paste the URL.
- Run the test and read the Mobile results first, because most shoppers arrive on a phone.
- Look at the Opportunities and Diagnostics lists, not only at the score.
- Run the same test twice, since a single run can be affected by network conditions.
Result: you get a concrete list of what is slowing that page down, usually images, third party scripts, and unused code.
Step 3: Fix your images
Images are the single biggest cause of slow storefronts, and the easiest thing to fix without touching code.
Steps:
- Export or review the images you use in banners and on product pages.
- Resize anything wider than about 2000 pixels before uploading. A 5000 pixel photo does not look better on a phone, it only weighs more.
- Re-upload the resized versions in Content > Files or in the product editor.
- Replace autoplaying background videos on the home page with a still image where you can.
- Fill in the alt text while you are there, which helps both accessibility and search.
Result: pages transfer far less data, which improves loading on mobile connections most of all.
Step 4: Remove the apps you no longer use
Steps:
- Go to Shopify admin > Apps.
- List every app and write down what it does for you today.
- Uninstall any app you no longer use.
- After uninstalling, check your theme for leftover code the app left behind, and ask the app support to remove it if you are not sure.
- Keep a note of the ones you keep, so the next review is faster.
Result: fewer external scripts run on every page load, which is often a bigger win than any theme setting.
Uninstalling an app does not always remove the code it injected into your theme. If a feature disappears but the page still loads its script, that leftover code is now pure weight.
Step 5: Keep the top of the page light
Steps:
- Open Online Store > Themes > Customize.
- Look at what loads first on your home page: a slideshow with many slides, a video, and an animated banner all compete for the same seconds.
- Reduce the number of slides, or replace the slideshow with a single image.
- Move heavy sections such as long product grids or embedded feeds further down the page.
- Click Save, then measure again with Step 2.
Result: the first screen appears sooner, which is what shoppers and speed tools both react to.
Step 6: Review your fonts and tracking scripts
Steps:
- In the theme settings, count how many font families you use. Two is usually enough.
- Prefer the system and Shopify hosted fonts over externally loaded ones.
- Review the tracking and marketing scripts pasted into your theme or into Settings > Customer events.
- Remove any script belonging to a tool you stopped using.
Result: the browser downloads fewer external files before it can render your text.
What you should see
- The Online store speed report moves in the right direction over the following days.
- Your PageSpeed Insights mobile score improves, especially the image related opportunities.
- The home page shows its first screen quickly on a phone, on a normal mobile connection.
- You still recognize your store. Speed work that strips out your brand is not a win.
If something goes wrong
- The score did not change after your fixes. The Shopify report is calculated over time. Wait several days, and use PageSpeed Insights in the meantime for immediate feedback.
- Your score is much lower than the theme demo. Demo stores run without extra apps, with optimized images, and with light content. The gap is usually your apps and your images, not the theme.
- Scores differ every time you test. That is normal. Compare trends across several runs rather than single numbers.
- A page got faster but a feature stopped working. You removed a script that was still in use. Put it back and look for a lighter alternative.
- Speed dropped suddenly with no changes on your side. A recently installed app is the usual cause. Check what was added in the last few days.
Related pages
- Recommended apps : choosing apps deliberately rather than accumulating them
- Apps : the apps the theme works with
- Update Laurel: performance fixes often arrive with a new version
- Release notes : what changed in each version
- Layout : page width and spacing
- Header: the first section every page loads
- Footer : a common place for unused scripts and links
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