Shopify site speed drop - what would you do?

[BrightIdeas]

My Shopify site speed dropped from 72 to 50 due to a new app (that does product recommendations, merchandising and search).

The app developers say they're releasing a faster version of the app, but it'll take '2-4 weeks'.

So, we can either remove the app and go back to how our website was (which won't have any product recommendations anymore, as our previous product recommendation plan has been cancelled. Plus the merchandising features won't be there, etc. etc.). Or wait the 2-4 weeks, and take the possible risk of impact on search engine rankings?

We've worked very hard on improving our site speed and we were in a good place.

Would you accept a drop in site speed for now for the extra features, or simply not risk it?

 

[LPB 123]

I would remove it and wait. What does the app do that the Shopify Search & Discovery app doesn't? Could you install that for now? It seems to be pretty intuitive for us based on what products are purchased together etc so seems to put forward relevant product add-ons / alternatives.

 

[fisicx]

Your 72 score wasn’t ticking Google’s boxes anyway so wouldn’t be concerned about a drop to 50.

Google expects a score of 90+ and you will never get that with shopify.

 

[LPB 123]

Google expects a score of 90+ and you will never get that with shopify.

We have a 91 score with a Shopify store

 

[Shopclicks]

We have a 91 score with a Shopify store

What type of page was this? Page Speed Insights gives page results, not store results.

 

[LPB 123]

Yes, it was page speed insights. Where shall I check it instead?

 

[Shopclicks]

Yes, it was page speed insights. Where shall I check it instead?

Not saying check it elsewhere, I'm asking what type of page you checked to get a 91 score?

 

[LPB 123]

I just typed in the homepage it was 91 for our .co.uk and 90 for our .FR and .DE domains.

If there's a different type of page or somewhere else / better I can check or different pages to check instead please let me know and I'll have a look.

 

[Shopclicks]

Google indexes category pages for most product searches, so your home page is generally irrelevant.

Try copying the url from a collections page and test that. Interested to know how that page ranks in search results.

 

[LPB 123]

Google indexes category pages for most product searches, so your home page is generally irrelevant.

Try copying the url from a collections page and test that. Interested to know how that page ranks in search results.

I tried collections/all and got 98 score.

I then tried collections/ A specific collection and also got a 98 score.

Both of these only tested on .co.uk site.

I tried a product page (only 2 random ones) instead of a collection page and got an 81 and a 91.

 

[Shopclicks]

I tried collections/all and got 98 score.

I then tried collections/ A specific collection and also got a 98 score.

Both of these only tested on .co.uk site.

I tried a product page (only 2 random ones) instead of a collection page and got an 81 and a 91.

Was this the mobile score?

How is your ranking in search results?

 

[AlanJ1]

Your 72 score wasn’t ticking Google’s boxes anyway so wouldn’t be concerned about a drop to 50.

OP was talking about Shopifys own speed tester. If they were getting 72 on a Shopify score they most likely would be 90+ as Shopify score very harsh on there speed side and doesn't match Googles speed or third party speed scores.

 

[LPB 123]

Was this the mobile score?

How is your ranking in search results?

Mobile

Product pages really good. Only rank well on some collections. People generally search really specific terms so it's the product pages that rank well in this industry.

OP was talking about Shopifys own speed tester. If they were getting 72 on a Shopify score they most likely would be 90+ as Shopify score very harsh on there speed side and doesn't match Googles speed or third party speed scores.

Yes I think you're right as ours was only 65 on Shopifys own test.

 

[fisicx]

Which suggests shopify has got a lot better. So I rescind my previous comment.

Still prefer self hosted. Makes you far less reliant on somebody else’s policies.

 

[Shopclicks]

Mobile

Product pages really good. Only rank well on some collections. People generally search really specific terms so it's the product pages that rank well in this industry.

If this is the case, you have a very unique site. I've never seen a Shopify collections page with a 98 score on page speed insights. Do you use a custom template?

 

[antropy]

My Shopify site speed dropped from 72 to 50 due to a new app (that does product recommendations, merchandising and search).

It would be good if you clarified what "site speed" exactly you're talking about i.e. what you used to get this score?

Paul.

 

[DaveSmith007]

A drop in site speed after installing a new app on your Shopify store can be normal depending on the app function. The app may be interacting with your site in a way that effects speed. I'd delete it and see if it resolves the problem. Go from there.

 

[BrightIdeas]

It would be good if you clarified what "site speed" exactly you're talking about i.e. what you used to get this score?

Paul.

It's the Shopify speed score, which is based on Google's Lighthouse performance metric.

 

[fisicx]

It's the Shopify speed score, which is based on Google's Lighthouse performance metric.

Do the same test here: https://pagespeed.web.dev/

This is the official Google test

 

[rankmehigher]

Does Shopify have any dev apps that can help to pinpoint where the lag is? Might be able to dig into the details of the pagespeed.web.dev results to see what's causing the increase on load time / decrease in speed.