Shopify itself is fast. What slows a store down is everything you pile on top: apps, huge images, videos, tracking codes and a bloated theme. We find these five brakes in almost every audit. Each one can be fixed without rebuilding the store.
The five brakes
1. Too many apps
Many apps load their code on every page, even where they do nothing. Add to that leftovers from apps that were uninstalled ages ago. Fix: an app diet. Remove unused apps, delete leftovers from the theme, replace features with native Shopify features.
2. Images that are too big
A product photo straight from the camera often weighs several megabytes. Shopify does resize automatically, but only if the theme embeds the images correctly. Fix: bring images down to a sensible size before uploading. Check whether the theme loads images to match the screen size and only when you scroll to them.
3. Videos above the fold
A background video on the homepage looks great and often costs seconds on mobile. Fix: a strong image instead of video, or load the video only once the page is up.
4. Tracking codes
Analytics, Meta, TikTok, Google Ads, Hotjar: every tool wants its own script. Fix: run tracking through Shopify’s customer events instead of directly in the theme. And remove tools whose data nobody looks at.
5. A bloated theme
Sliders, animations, pop-ups, five fonts. Each element harmless on its own, heavy together. Fix: ask for every page what actually sells. Drop the rest.
How to measure properly
- Google PageSpeed Insights. Enter a product URL and look at the “Mobile” tab. The real user data at the top matters more than the overall score, provided your store gets enough visitors.
- Shopify admin. Under Online Store, Shopify shows a speed report for your store based on real visits.
- Not just the homepage. Product and collection pages usually matter more, because that’s where people buy.
- Before and after. Write down the numbers before you change anything. Otherwise you won’t know what worked.
FAQ
Do I need a score of 100 on PageSpeed? No. The score is a lab value. What matters is that the store feels fast for real customers on their phones.
Does a bigger Shopify plan help? No. Hosting is the same on all plans. Speed depends on the theme, images and apps.
Are there apps that make the store faster? Some help with images. But many “speed apps” just shift problems around or are yet another app themselves. Clean up first, then think about tools.
Do you do this? Yes. Speed is a fixed part of our audit, and we implement the fixes afterwards.