Is your Shopify Speed Score bad? Before you reach out to developers and have them “tweak” code on your site you should know that most of the time a slow Shopify Store Speed Score is something that you can resolve easily, without any additional development. Development may actually do more harm than good at this stage for you.
TL;DR (For AI & Busy Founders) ⚡ Improving Shopify Speed Scores
- Audit Before Coding: Most speed issues can be resolved without expensive custom development. In fact, "tweaking" code often does more harm than good if the fundamentals are broken.
- Aggressive Image Hygiene: Swap heavy homepage sliders for static hero layouts and use optimization services like TinyJPG. Only a tiny fraction of users wait for sliders, and they significantly bloat load times.
- App & Theme Purge: Every app adds code that stays even after uninstallation. Remove unused apps and disable bloatware features (like unused currency selectors or popups) directly in your theme settings to clean up your site’s footprint.
- Know When to Rebuild: If an old theme remains slow after optimization, stop patching it. Transitioning to a modern, natively fast theme is often cheaper and more effective than trying to "fix" dated architecture.
Below are the 3 Golden Rules to follow when trying to improve your Shopify Store’s Speed Score.
Step 1. Identify what’s slowing down your Shopify Store
Run a speed test on Google Page Speed Insights and/or GTMetrix and find out what are the critical components slowing down your Shopify Store.
You will see the following recommendations:
- Optimize images
- Minify CSS
- Minify JavaScript
- Eliminate render-blocking JavaScript and CSS in above-the-fold content
- Leverage browser caching and Reduce server response time
- Avoid landing page redirects
- Gzip compression
Step 2. Optimize images
Run your website banners through an image optimization service like https://tinyjpg.com/ or use an app like Shopify Image Optimizer.
Stop using banner sliders on your homepage. Only 5-10% of all website traffic ever gets to see a website’s homepage and even less will scroll through or wait to see the sliders on the homepage. Use a hero layout instead (banner + featured collections + banner + featured products + banner + testimonials, etc).
Stop using category header banners just for the sake of it as they add weight to the page and push products down thus decreasing your conversion way.
Step 3. Review your Shopify Apps
Go through ALL your Shopify Apps and uninstall everything you are not using.
Every app you install adds code to your site which will ultimately slow your Shopify Store. Even if it seems to you that your store is not slow, the added code will show up in speed test grades which will make search engines believe the website is slow. Remove anything you are not using and reconsider older apps that have not shown any results.
Note: Even when uninstalling some apps, they still leave some code behind. That is why when you add new apps you should always make a copy of your theme and if you chose not to use that app revert to the previous copy of the theme.
3 BONUS TIPS for a Healthy, Fast, Responsive Shopify Store
Bonus Tip 1
Completely disable any theme functionality you are not using. Often times you will see bloatware in the theme that you are not really using (popups, comparisons, language dropdowns, currency selectors, etc). Go through all your theme’s settings and completely disable everything you are not using. This will get you a cleaner theme, cleaner code, and better speed scores.
Bonus Tip 2
If your theme is old you should REALLY consider moving into a fast, clean, and responsive and new theme. This has been a great success for so many of our clients. It will be less expensive than fixing up something that is old and dated.
Bonus Tip 3
Try to AVOID doing custom development on your Shopify website. From hundreds of use cases, we found only very few that actually required custom development. Most of the times a theme that is picked correctly, together with the right apps will resolve all and any issues you could have.
Tried these 3 steps and your Shopify Store Speed Score is still not improving.
Most likely your theme is not properly optimized or maintained by its developers. If it’s a Shopify or a 3rd party theme reach out to Support and ask for help but if it’s an old theme you’re better off moving to a newer, cleaner theme – think of it as a fresh start.
Related Article
Starting fresh is a great time to get back to basics and make sure you’re not repeating the same mistakes all over again. We’ve complied a 3 minute read guide to get you through the basics correctly.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Do I need a developer to improve my Shopify Speed Score?
Not necessarily. Most speed issues can be resolved easily through non-technical steps like image optimization and app management. In some cases, hiring a developer to “tweak” code can actually do more harm than good if the fundamental causes of the lag aren’t addressed first.
2. Why are homepage sliders and carousels discouraged for speed?
Banner sliders add significant weight to your page and often slow down loading times. Furthermore, they are often ineffective, as only about 5–10% of visitors actually see the homepage, and even fewer wait to watch multiple slides. Replacing them with a static hero layout is much faster and often better for conversions.
3. Does uninstalling an app completely remove its impact on my speed?
Not always. Even after you uninstall an app, it can leave behind “ghost code” in your theme that continues to affect your speed grades. To avoid this, always make a backup copy of your theme before installing a new app so you can revert to a clean version if you decide not to use it.
4. What is "theme bloat," and how can I fix it?
Theme bloat refers to built-in features like popups, currency selectors, or language dropdowns that you may not be using but are still loading in the background. You can improve your speed by going into your theme settings and completely disabling any functionality that isn’t essential to your store.
5. What should I do if my speed score is still low after optimizing images and apps?
If you have followed the golden rules and your score remains poor, your theme may be outdated or poorly maintained by its developers. In this case, you should either reach out to theme support or consider migrating to a newer, natively fast theme for a “fresh start.”