Quick Wins for Speeding Up Your Shopify Store Today

In the fast-paced world of online retail, speed is paramount. Your Shopify store’s loading time can make or break a sale. Imagine this: a potential customer clicks on your website, eagerly anticipating your products, but the page takes forever. Frustrated, they click away, straight into the welcoming arms of your competitors. It’s a scenario none of us want to face. Let’s dive into quick wins to turbocharge your Shopify store’s speed and keep those customers returning for more.

Enable Shopify’s Online Store Accelerator (OSA)

Let’s kick things off with one of Shopify’s best-kept secrets: the Online Store Accelerator (OSA). OSA is like a supercharged engine for your Shopify store, designed to make everything load faster and smoother. Enabling OSA is as easy as flipping a switch. Simply head to your Shopify admin panel, navigate to Settings, Online Store, and Preferences. There, you’ll find the option to enable OSA. With just a few clicks, you’ll be on the fast track to a speedier store. For more proven speed optimization strategies for Shopify, click on the link.

Optimise and Compress Images

Next up, let’s talk about everyone’s favourite: images. While they’re essential for showcasing your products, they can also drag your site’s speed if they’re not optimised.

But fear not, because optimising and compressing your images is easier than you might think. Plenty of tools and apps are designed specifically for this purpose. One of our favourites is the Shopify-built image optimiser, which automatically compresses your images without sacrificing quality. It’s like magic for your load times!

Minimise Redirects

Now, let’s get rid of those pesky redirects. Every time your website has to redirect to another page, it adds precious seconds to your load time. And in the world of e-commerce, every second counts. So, take some time to audit your site and identify any unnecessary redirects. Streamlining your redirect structure will speed up your site and improve the overall user experience.

Leverage Browser Caching

Browser caching is a nifty little trick that can significantly reduce load times for returning visitors. Here’s how it works: when someone visits your site for the first time, their browser stores a copy of your page’s static elements, like images and stylesheets. Then, the next time they visit, their browser simply pulls up the cached version instead of re-downloading everything from scratch, slashing load times in the process. Enabling browser caching in Shopify is a breeze. Just head to your admin panel, navigate to Online Store, then Preferences, and tick the box that says “Enable browser caching.” It’s that simple!

Remove Unused Shopify Apps

Ah, yes, apps—the lifeblood of any Shopify store. But here’s the thing: too many apps can slow your site down to a crawl. That’s why it’s essential to regularly audit your installed apps and remove any you’re not using. Trust us, your load times will thank you for it. So, go ahead, Marie Kondo your Shopify store and declutter those unused apps. Your customers—and your site’s speed—will thank you.

Why You Should Not Ignore Your Website Speed

Are you not convinced that your website speed really matters? This is a mistake made by many businesses. They believe that if people want to read something or have a product they wish to purchase, they’re going to do it regardless of the speed. In other words, they’ll wait around all day if they have to.

However, you should know that this is far from the truth. Studies have found that online shoppers today are impatient, and they have higher expectations than ever before. They demand that websites load quickly and display everything they want. Let’s take a look in more detail at why you must not make the mistake of ignoring your website speed.

You Create Frustration

Sometimes, you need to put yourself in the shoes of your customers. How do you feel when you land on a website and it takes forever to load? The chances are that you will click off their website and choose another one. Why? Because you don’t have the time or patience to wait around.

Know that when your website is slow, it just causes frustration and negativity. This is not how you want to introduce your brand to potential customers. Know that they’re unlikely to return if you have a slow website.

You Lose Sales

Ultimately, when you annoy your customers, and they leave your website, you’re missing out on a sale. Somebody can click on your website and be ready to make a purchase. But, because the page won’t load correctly and it takes a long time, they give up. You’re missing out on many sales this way and won’t even know it. This is why it’s recommended that you always monitor your website speed.

You Don’t Impress Google

Know that Google takes a lot of factors into account when ranking. Did you know that your website speed can be one of them? You could be working hard on optimisation and missing out on this detail. So, you don’t get the ranking on Google you deserve. This isn’t something that should be overlooked.

Conclusion

And there you have it— quick wins for speeding up your Shopify store and keeping those customers coming back for more. By following these simple tips and tricks, you’ll be well on your way to a faster, more responsive online store that leaves the competition in the dust. So, what are you waiting for?