How Can Shopify Plus Merchants Improve Site Speed?

For Shopify Plus merchants, improving site speed is important to maintaining high conversion rates and better SEO rankings. A slow site can frustrate users, increase bounce rates, and negatively impact your sales. Here's how to improve your Shopify Plus site speed using most-effective strategies that ensure fast and smooth navigation for your visitors.

1. Optimize Images for Faster Loading

Images often account for the majority of a webpage’s weight, affecting loading times. While high-quality images are important for aesthetics and product clarity, unoptimized images can drastically slow down your site. You can ensure the images are the exact size needed for display. Oversized images require more bandwidth to load, making your pages slower. 

In addition, you can use tools like TinyPNG or Image Optimizer to reduce file size without losing image quality. JPEGs work well for photos, while PNGs are better for logos and images requiring transparency. The WebP format is ideal for faster loading times and quality preservation. You can also use Lazy Loading technique that defers the loading of off-screen images until the user scrolls to them, improving the initial load speed of the webpage.

Key Tips:

• Always resize and compress images before uploading.

• Implement lazy loading to save bandwidth and improve load time.

• Test image load times with GTmetrix.

2. Use Reliable Shopify Hosting and a CDN

Among the greatest benefits of Shopify Plus is its robust hosting environment. Shopify Plus merchants benefit from automatic CDN integration, ensuring faster delivery of site resources globally. 

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) stores copies of your site on multiple servers across the world. When a visitor accesses your store, the CDN delivers the content from the closest server, speeding up the load time.

Shopify Plus uses a global CDN that helps reduce latency by delivering content from servers close to the user’s location. You can reduce the number of server requests by combining and minifying JavaScript, CSS, and HTML files. Reducing these requests improves overall speed and server performance.

Key Tips:

• Use Shopify’s CDN for faster content delivery.

• Optimize your site’s backend code to minimize load times.

Also read- Why Hire Shopify Experts in Singapore Through PSG Funding?

3. Audit and Minimize Third-Party Apps

Third-party apps provide added functionality to Shopify stores. Nonetheless, they can also slow your site down if not properly managed. Each app adds its own JavaScript, CSS, or images to the site, leading to increased load times.

Regularly audit the apps on your Shopify Plus store. Identify and remove apps that you no longer need or that slow down your site. You must also opt for lightweight or multifunctional apps that don’t overload your store with excess code. For merchants using many apps, a custom-coded solution built by a web developer in Singapore can replace multiple apps, offering the same functionality without sacrificing speed.

Key Tips:

• Audit apps regularly and uninstall unnecessary ones.

• Replace slow apps with faster, more efficient alternatives.

4. Reduce Redirects for Better Performance

Redirects can cause additional HTTP requests and delay the loading process, resulting in slower page speeds. Shopify Plus merchants must ensure they use redirects sparingly and effectively. Broken links can result in 404 errors, which slow down your store. Use tools like Screaming Frog to audit your Shopify store and fix any broken links. Redirect chains, where one URL redirects to another and so on, can slow down page load times. Always link directly to the final destination URL.

Key Tips:

• Regularly audit your store for broken links.

• Fix redirect chains to minimize unnecessary HTTP requests.

5. Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML Files

Minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML reduces file sizes by eliminating unnecessary characters like spaces, comments, and line breaks. This decreases the amount of data that needs to be downloaded by the browser, resulting in faster page loads.

Use tools like Minify Code or Asset Minify for Shopify Plus to reduce file sizes. You can also combine CSS and JavaScript files into fewer files to reduce HTTP requests.

Key Tips:

• Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML for better performance.

• Combine multiple CSS and JavaScript files to reduce server load.

6. Use Browser Caching

Browser caching allows visitors’ browsers to store static files like images, CSS, and JavaScript locally. This means that on subsequent visits, the site loads faster because the browser doesn’t need to reload these elements.

Control how long specific assets are stored in a visitor’s cache by setting proper expiration headers. Shopify Plus automatically caches certain elements, but you can further optimize caching by using tools like Cloudflare to manage caching settings and ensure that your content is cached effectively.

Key Tips:

• Set long-term caching for static assets like logos and product images.

• Use caching services to optimize load speeds on return visits.

Also read- How PSG Grant Helps Build Your Shopify Store in Singapore?

7. Optimize Fonts for Faster Rendering

Fonts play a crucial role in a website’s branding, but custom fonts can slow down your Shopify Plus store if not optimized properly. System fonts are pre-installed on most devices, meaning they load instantly. Consider using system fonts to speed up your site. If you must use custom fonts, host them locally instead of relying on external resources, which can cause delays.

Key Tips:

• Use system fonts for improved load times.

• Limit the number of custom fonts to reduce external requests.

8. Optimize Mobile Experience

With more users shopping on mobile devices, it’s essential to ensure your Shopify Plus store is optimized for mobile users. Google’s mobile-first indexing also prioritizes sites that offer excellent mobile experiences.

Shopify Plus offers responsive themes that automatically adjust to different screen sizes. Ensure your theme is mobile-friendly. Large images, videos, and unnecessary pop-ups can slow down mobile load times. Use compressed images and minimize on-page elements that don’t serve a critical function.

Key Tips:

• Test your site’s mobile-friendliness using Mobile-Friendly Test.

• Compress images and remove heavy media for faster mobile load times.

9. Implement AMP for Faster Mobile Pages

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) load faster on mobile devices by stripping down unnecessary elements and streamlining page content. Shopify Plus merchants can use apps like Shopify AMP to implement AMP on product pages, blogs, and other content-heavy pages. Regularly test AMP performance using AMP Test to ensure fast and efficient mobile page loading.

Key Tips:

• Use AMP for content-heavy pages like blog posts and landing pages.

• Test AMP speed regularly to ensure it enhances mobile performance.

10. Professional Web Developer

Optimizing site speed often requires technical expertise. Hiring a web developer in Singapore can help merchants improve their Shopify Plus store’s speed and overall performance. A developer can perform regular site audits, optimizing code, apps, and other elements that might slow down your store. Instead of relying on multiple third-party apps, a developer can create custom solutions tailored to your store’s unique needs, reducing the number of HTTP requests.

Key Tips:

• Hire a reputable web developer in Singapore for regular site speed optimizations.

• Conduct thorough speed audits to identify and resolve performance bottlenecks.

11. Apply for the PSG Grant in Singapore

The Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) provides financial support for Shopify Plus merchants in Singapore to invest in eCommerce solutions, including site speed optimization. The PSG Grant covers up to 50% of costs for approved digital solutions. Apply to use the grant for web development, hosting upgrades, and more. You can also collaborate with Shopify Singapore partners to apply the PSG Grant for speed-boosting solutions.

Key Tips:

• Check your eligibility for the PSG Grant.

• Use the grant to improve your Shopify Plus store’s performance.

Also read- Latest Ecommerce Trends in Singapore for 2024

12. Monitor Site Speed Regularly

Regularly monitoring your Shopify Plus store’s speed ensures that any performance issues are addressed quickly. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Pingdom to test load times and identify areas for improvement.

Google PageSpeed Insights analyze your site’s speed on mobile and desktop, providing actionable insights for improvement. Use Pingdom to track your site’s load times across various devices and regions.

Key Tips:

• Regularly monitor your site’s speed to detect performance bottlenecks.

• Act on recommendations from speed testing tools to improve loading times.

Conclusion

Improving your Shopify Plus site speed is essential for driving more sales, reducing bounce rates, and improving your store’s SEO performance. From optimizing images and using a CDN to using the PSG Grant Singapore for technical upgrades, these strategies ensure your store loads fast and efficiently. Collaborating with a web developer in Singapore ensures expert support and ongoing site speed improvements.