Improving Website Speed on Shopify – The Updated Guide for 2025

Website loading speed is one of the most critical factors affecting user experience, conversion rates, and organic promotion in online stores. As expectations for fast and smooth browsing increase, a slow Shopify website puts your business at risk of increased churn and loss of potential customers. How to improve website speed? In the following guide, you will find the latest techniques for 2025 to improve your website speed, from precise measurement to advanced solutions that will help you achieve optimal performance and increase business revenue.

Measuring website speed in Shopify

Google PageSpeed Insights

Google PageSpeed Insights Provides a comprehensive analysis of your website speed on both mobile and desktop, providing a numerical score and identifying specific issues that need to be addressed.Increasing online store sales starts with properly measuring website performance, with this tool providing important metrics such as the time it takes a user to first interact with the site ( FID). ) and visual content loading time ( LCP) ).

GTmetrix

GTmetrix Allows you to examine website performance through advanced metrics and offers detailed recommendations for improving performance based on the analysis it performs. The tool provides a graphical display of the loading process, making it possible to easily identify "bottlenecks" and understand which resources are causing significant delays in website loading.

Tests from Shopify

The Shopify platform itself offers internal performance analysis tools that are specifically tailored for stores hosted on the platform. These tools provide valuable information relevant to your store and can identify issues related to the template you’ve chosen, the plugins you’ve installed, or the way your content is organized on your site.

Methods to improve website speed on Shopify

Optimization for media files

Large media files are one of the main reasons for slow websites, especially for online stores with many product images. Proper optimization of images and videos can reduce loading time by tens of percent, while maintaining high visual quality that attracts customers' attention.

Image Compression – Which Tools to Use  

Image compression allows you to significantly reduce the file size without compromising visible quality. An experienced Shopify programmer can recommend tools that help with this, such as ShortPixel, Tiny PNG Or Squoosh Which offer optimal compression while maintaining the best ratio between quality and file size.

Advanced formats ( WebP, AVIF) )

Innovative formats like WebP and AVIF Offer much more efficient compression compared to other formats, such as JPEG or PNG Using these formats can reduce image size by up to 30-50% compared to standard formats, while maintaining similar levels of visual quality.

Lazy Loading ) – What is it and why is it important?

Lazy loading is a technique where a website loads images and videos only when the user scrolls to them, rather than loading them all on the initial page load. This method significantly improves the initial page load time and reduces data consumption, which improves the user experience especially on mobile devices or slow internet connections.

Smartly manage apps and extensions

How to identify plugins that slow down the website?

Performance monitoring tools like Google Chrome DevTools can help identify which plugins are consuming a lot of resources and slowing down the site, while load tests and comparing load times before and after enabling specific plugins can reveal those that are negatively affecting site performance.

Optimize only necessary plugins

It is recommended to install only the plugins that are truly required for the store's business operations and avoid duplication of functionality, while periodically checking the installed plugins and removing those that are not used can significantly improve the site's performance and reduce the risk of compatibility or security issues.

Improving the code and CDN

To significantly speed up your Shopify website, you need to address two key components: the website code and the infrastructure behind it. First, a well-organized and optimized code allows for faster loading - this is done by compressing JavaScript files. and CSS and removing unnecessary code segments that do not serve the site. These actions directly reduce the amount of information the browser is required to process. At the same time, proper use of a CDN network (Content Distribution Network) ensures that website files will be stored on servers that are geographically close to customers, regardless of their location in the world, thus significantly shortening the time it takes for the content to reach the user.

Advanced techniques for improving Shopify store speed

Adapting the website to mobile  

Most online shopping is now done via mobile devices, so mobile optimization is essential for a great user experience. The benefits of Shopify for business include pre-built mobile-friendly templates, but you still need to make sure that all elements in your store – including images, text, and buttons – are well-adapted for small screens.

Database optimization

As a store grows, so does its database, which can negatively impact website response times. Periodic database cleanup—removing inactive products, optimizing collections, and effectively organizing tags—can significantly improve the speed of retrieving and processing information.

API request management – When do they hit speed?

API requests Multiple requests, especially those directed to external services, can create significant delays in loading the site. Consolidating requests, limiting their frequency, and using caching ) for common answers can reduce the time spent communicating with external servers and improve overall site response times.

Recommended – ongoing maintenance and performance monitoring

What monitoring tools are recommended and how to use them?

Tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar and New Relic Provides a comprehensive picture of a site's performance in real time and over time. Proper use of these tools allows you to identify trends, pinpoint problems, and make data-driven decisions about which aspects of the site require improvement, leading to targeted and effective optimization.

How often should you check speed?

Weekly speed tests are recommended for active stores, especially those with high traffic or frequent content changes. Regular testing allows you to identify new issues in real time and address them before they impact user experience or conversions, ensuring that your site continues to meet the highest standards of performance.

What to check for with each store update or plugin?

Any change to the store requires testing for impact on site speed, including loading times, JavaScript performance and resource usage. Integration with Shopify requires special attention to how new plugins integrate with the existing system, so it is important to test changes in a development environment before uploading them to the live site.

Summary

Improving Shopify website speed is not a one-time action, but a long-term process that requires ongoing monitoring and implementation of advanced techniques. It is important to understand that even small improvements in loading speed accumulate to a significant impact in three key areas: customer satisfaction when browsing, increasing the conversion rates of visitors to buyers, and improving search engine rankings. Therefore, an informed investment in website speed optimization can make all the difference between a successful website and business, and one that is less so.