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Melissa - Site Speed Audit

Brough to you by
Roadrunner
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- Shopify Site Speed Experts

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Website:
https://www.shopmelissa.com/
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Link to PageSpeed Test Results
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Summary
Results from the site speed audit show that the Melissa Shopify store has technical issues that are resulting in longer than average page load times.
Most notable, the site has slower than average Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) time on both mobile and desktop devices.
Mobile: 6.9 seconds (recommended time should be 2-3 seconds)
Desktop: 4.1 seconds (recommended time should be 1-3 seconds)
Not only is LCP the most common way that a website’s load time is measured, a long LCP time will have negative effects on an conversion rates and bounce rates (which will hurt organic search ranking and paid marketing performance).
The primary technical issue slowing down the site’s load time is excess Javascript/HTML/CSS code present in the site. This is a the most common occurrence in ecommerce sites hosted on Shopify. Every app installed, theme change, and third party script (i.e. Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics, etc.) injects code into the site. Even if the app/theme is removed, the code stays behind, accumulating over time.
I recommend a full codebase optimization to remove the excess/unused code would improve page load time, which would result in increase conversion rates.
Research conducted by Shopify has shown that a 1 second improvement in page load time can increase mobile conversion rates by up to 27%.
To learn more about our site speed optimization services, click the section labeled Next Steps.
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Mobile Page Speed Audit

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Overview

The Melissa Shopify site is currently failing 3 of the 4 core site speed performance metrics on mobile devices: First Contentful Paint, Largest Contentful Paint, Total Blocking Time.
The most important metric to note is Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). The site registered and LCP of 6.9 seconds on mobile. It’s recommended that ecommerce sites have an LCP of 2-3 seconds on mobile.
Not only is LCP the most common way that a website’s load time is measured, poor LCP score will have negative effects on the site’s conversion rate and bounce rate (which was hurt organic search rankings and paid marketing performance).

Results

First Contentful Paint: 3.5 seconds
Explanation: First Contentful Paint (FCP) measures how long it takes for content to start appearing on a website. This is typically an empty box or plain text. It’s the first pixels rendered in for the site.
Optimal time for ecommerce sites is < 1.8 seconds.
Largest Contentful Paint: 6.9 seconds
Explanation: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures how long it takes for a website to display its biggest single content element. It's one of the most common ways to measure page load time.
Optimal time for ecommerce sites is < 2.5 seconds.
Total Blocking Time: 8960 ms (8.96 seconds)
Explanation: Total Blocking Time (TBT) measures how responsive your site is to user input (i.e. if the user performs an action, such as click a button, how long before the next action can be performed).
Optimal time for ecommerce sites is < 0.3 seconds.
Cumulative Layout Shift: 0
Explanation: Cumulative Layout Shift is a measure of how “stable” your website it after it first renders. A website that has content shift down as more object load will have a higher score. Cumulative Layout Shift is one of the core ranking factors for Google.
Optime score for ecommerce sites is < 0.1.
Speed Index: 14.5 seconds
Explanation: Speed Index (SI) measures how quickly content appears on your website. The value is determined visually by analyzing screenshots of your website during the page load process. Speed Index is a lesser important metric comparatively; however, optimizing it will benefit the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP).
Optimal time for ecommerce sites is < 3 seconds.

Optimization

Accord to the PageSpeed results, there are 4 technical issues slowing down the website:
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image.png
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Reduce Javascript execution time
In short, this means that there is a substantial amount Javascript, HTML, and CSS code that is slowing down the site. There are four ways that Javascript code can accumulate on your site: when you connect a new Shopify app, when you use certain themes, when you use third-party scripts such as Facebook Pixel or Google Analytics, and if you have custom code on your site. The biggest culprit is Shopify apps. Each app “injects” a bit of code into your site. Even if the app is deleted, the code it injects stays behind. Over time, this code will slow down your site’s load time.
Minimize main-thread work
Main thread overload happens when too many tasks, like heavy JavaScript execution, complex CSS code, and third-party scripts, are processed simultaneously. This slows down the site’s load time. The best way to fix this is to delete unused Javascript, compress essential Javascript code, and remove unnecessary third party scripts.
Optimize Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
The LCP takes up a considerable amount of main thread resources when loading. As a result, it needs to be optimized through image compression, preloading important page elements, and eliminating unused CSS and Javascript files.
Reduce the impact of third-party code
Third-party scripts, such as ads, analytics, and social media widgets, can slow down your site. Delaying the firing of analytics, or deferring them from using the main thread, can improve performance.
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Desktop Page Speed Audit

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Overview

The Melissa Shopify site has much better performance on desktop devices.
The First Contentful Paint (FCP) is within the recommended range, and the Total Blocking Time (TBT) is right outside of the recommended range.
However, the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is higher than what is recommended for ecommerce sites. It’s recommended that LCP be between 1-3 seconds on desktop. Melissa registered an LCP of 4.1 seconds.
The same technical issues present for the site on mobile are present for the site on desktop. Optimizing for improved mobile performance would improve the site’s desktop performance too.
This would results in higher conversion rates and improved bounce rates.

Results

First Contentful Paint: 0.8 seconds
Explanation: First Contentful Paint (FCP) measures how long it takes for content to start appearing on a website. This is typically an empty box or plain text. It’s the first pixels rendered in for the site.
Optimal time for ecommerce sites is < 1.8 seconds.
Largest Contentful Paint: 4.1 seconds
Explanation: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures how long it takes for a website to display its biggest single content element. It's one of the most common ways to measure page load time.
Optimal time for ecommerce sites is < 2.5 seconds.
Total Blocking Time: 840 ms (0.84 seconds)
Explanation: Total Blocking Time (TBT) measures how responsive your site is to user input (i.e. if the user performs an action, such as click a button, how long before the next action can be performed).
Optimal time for ecommerce sites is < 0.3 seconds.
Cumulative Layout Shift: 0
Explanation: Cumulative Layout Shift is a measure of how “stable” your website it after it first renders. A website that has content shift down as more object load will have a higher score. Cumulative Layout Shift is one of the core ranking factors for Google.
Optime score for ecommerce sites is < 0.1.
Speed Index: 5.4 seconds
Explanation: Speed Index (SI) measures how quickly content appears on your website. The value is determined visually by analyzing screenshots of your website during the page load process. Speed Index is a lesser important metric comparatively; however, optimizing it will benefit the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP).
Optimal time for ecommerce sites is < 3 seconds.

Optimization

Accord to the PageSpeed results, there are 4 technical issues slowing down the website:
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image.png
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Reduce Javascript execution time
In short, this means that there is a substantial amount Javascript, HTML, and CSS code that is slowing down the site. There are four ways that Javascript code can accumulate on your site: when you connect a new Shopify app, when you use certain themes, when you use third-party scripts such as Facebook Pixel or Google Analytics, and if you have custom code on your site. The biggest culprit is Shopify apps. Each app “injects” a bit of code into your site. Even if the app is deleted, the code it injects stays behind. Over time, this code will slow down your site’s load time.
Minimize main-thread work
Main thread overload happens when too many tasks, like heavy JavaScript execution, complex CSS code, and third-party scripts, are processed simultaneously. This slows down the site’s load time. The best way to fix this is to delete unused Javascript, compress essential Javascript code, and remove unnecessary third party scripts.
Optimize Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
The LCP takes up a considerable amount of main thread resources when loading. As a result, it needs to be optimized through image compression, preloading important page elements, and eliminating unused CSS and Javascript files.
Reduce the impact of third-party code
Third-party scripts, such as ads, analytics, and social media widgets, can slow down your site. Delaying the firing of analytics, or deferring them from using the main thread, can improve performance.

It’s common for the same technical issues to affect the site on mobile and on the web. The issues are extenuated on mobile due to the lower processing power.
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Next Steps

Anyone selling products on the internet should think about their website’s speed. It plays a major part in how effectively a website can turn visitors into paying customers.
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Shopify
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found that a 1 second improvement in website speed can boost mobile conversion by up to 27%.
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Deloitte
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found that a 0.1 second improvement in website speed can increase overall conversion rates by 8.4%.
Other sources have found interesting links between fast site speed and better SEO, lower cost acquisition costs when using paid ads, and an increase in repeat purchases.

Let’s make it real with an example. Let’s say an ecommerce site get’s 100,000 visitors per month and has a 3% conversion rate.

If that site is optimized for speed, and see a 20% increase in conversion rates, it would go from 3000 sales/month to 3600 sales/month. At an AOV of $30, that’s an addition $20,000 per month in sales for every 100,000 visitors.

Site speed is important.

That’s why I started
Roadrunner
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, a done-for-you site speed optimization agency helping Shopify brands improve their online performance.

Our process is simple, straightforward, and requires no downtime for the website at all.

If you’re interested in learning more about the work we do at Roadrunner, please reach out to my on my
LinkedIn
⁠
or via email (kris@tryroadrunner.com).

Best,
Kris
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