Mild-mannered designer by day…
I don’t actually think I’m a superhero. I mean, many people have this notion that superheroes have genetic mutations and have superpowers. Neither of which I have. Unless you count being a triplet as a genetic mutation 😉
A site faster than a speeding bullet
At least once a week, I hear from e-commerce shops that they need to improve their site speed.
I’ve done everything possible to improve my site speed that I can think of and my mobile speed is so low! In Google’s eyes, that’s failing and it’s impacting my SEO. HELP!
Page speed is proven to have an impact on conversion rates, SEO rankings, engagement, and revenue. So yes, you need a fast website.
Many will depend on Google Search Console or Google PageSpeed Insights. I mean, it makes sense to look at Google analytics tools to tell you how to improve your site especially when we want to improve SEO rankings on Google.
Personally, I prefer to use Google Analytics site speed metrics because it’s the real-world results of your site, not some grade. Unfortunately, the site speed metric in Google Analytics is going away soon as Google Analytics 4 doesn’t offer this measurement natively. But I digress.
Your page speed score doesn’t matter.
Sound the alarms! This person is crazy! Ok but hear me out.
Have you ever actually read the recommendations given to you from Google PageSpeed Insights? Some of their recommendations are unrealistic, illogical or impossible to achieve.
For example, Shopify and similar platforms use CDN (content delivery network) as a way to increase speed. PageSpeed will give you a lower score for using a CDN on your site. Yet using a CDN actually improves the speed of your site.
The other issue I take with page speed scores is the score itself. Guess what, you cannot get a perfect score. No one can.
Ok so I know of one person who has a perfect score but their site is two small paragraphs of text and that’s it. No photos, no links, no nothing.
Grades are not an indicator of speed.
We are conditioned to want an A+ when in reality, a C is perfectly acceptable. Trying to focus on achieving a specific grade is going to drive you insane pretty quickly.
Everyone who visits your site will have a different experience (connection speed, browser, the device… etc).
Speed is important, yes, but when you’ve done as much as you can do, focus on other parts of your website/business. Revisit this on occasion but don’t let it consume you.
If SEO is your main focus, check out this in-depth article for Shopify SEO tips.
When I see this cry for help, there’s usually a bigger issue at stake. If you’re concerned about poor speed causing revenue problems, you might consider buying my Website Rescues. I clean up old code and fix dozens of other problems that impact Shopify sites.
JSON-LD for SEO
Get more organic search traffic from Google without having to fight for better rankings by utilizing search enhancements called Rich Results.
Linking Llama
Link discontinued products to their best substitute. Keep discontinued products published on your website and continue to benefit from traffic to these pages.