While maintaining ranks and visibility on SERP, Google considers a website's load speed as a critical factor and might demote it if it scores lower than the threshold value assigned on those parameters in its algorithm.
Fortunately, it provides a free tool - Google pagespeed insights, which lets you know where your websites are lagging and what all areas inside the pages need a fix. But unfortunately, it doesn't explain to you the best ways of fixing them!!!
At CartCoders, we have put up our years of expertise collectively to figure out below aspects of a Shopify store, which greatly impacts the overall google pagespeed insights score
- Content/Resource Compression: We completely focus on compressing the high-resolution images and other resources used in your shopify store, which is frequently called upon. For example - index.php. Compression helps greatly in decreasing the page loading time.
- Usage of Responsive Designs and Unnecessary Redirection Links: Google pagespeed insight score significantly decreases if you unnecessarily redirect your users to another link when they first visit your page. This is true in cases when your Shopify store doesn't have a responsive design, and you are forced to redirect the mobile users to your mobile sites, which is generally a copy of your existing desktop site. At cart coders, we encourage the practice of having responsive designs for your shopify stores and provide development services too for the same.
- Usage of Browser Cache: Caching certain page elements, in case of multiple request-response scenarios between client and server greatly helps in decreasing the page load time. Larger the number of elements preloaded in the browser cache, faster your shopify pages will load.
- Minifying the Scripts and Use of Bad Codes: Usage of redundant server calls or use of tags in your HTML, CSS or JS codes can seriously hamper your Shopify store's page load time. The goal is to remove such redundancies, without affecting the overall look and feel of the pages, along with critical workflows.
- Analyzing the Hosting Server Performance It has been observed many times, that a poor hosting network results in a slow response from the server, which ultimately affects page loading time. Cpu usage, network bandwidth, outages, etc. Are the parameters responsible for servers to respond erratically, and should be analyzed asap to get them fixed.
It is already a fact, that websites or stores built over Shopify for example, tends to slow down over time after additions of themes, high-resolution images, tools, etc. A slow eCommerce store translates into a higher bounce rate, and ultimately a lower conversion rate, which is a major bummer for any Shopify store owner.