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Old Hippies - Site Speed Audit

Brough to you by Roadrunner (
`https://www.tryroadrunner.com/`⁠
) -

Shopify Site Speed Experts.

⁠

Website:

https://oldhippys.com/⁠

⁠

PageSpeed Test Results⁠

(see below for breakdown)

tl;dr

The Crooked Media store has solid performance on the web; however, there are two technical issues that are slowing down the site on mobile devices.

“Main thread overload” - there are too many tasks, like heavy JavaScript execution, complex CSS code, and third-party scripts being process simultaneously when the website loads, slowing it down.

“Excess/unused Javascript code” - Javascript, HTML, and CSS code tends to accumulate on Shopify sites over time. Every plugin, theme, or third party script (i.e. Klaviyo) injects code into the site. Even if these plugins, themes, and scripts are removed from the site, the code stays behind. This code must be loaded every time someone loads the site. This slows down the process.

Currently the site is loading around 10 seconds on mobile devices, which can negatively impact the store’s performance (i.e. lower conversion rate, higher bounce rate, and more).

The best fix would be a codebase audit where a developer would removed and/or minimize the heavy Javascript code in the site.

With proper optimizations, the site’s load time would like decrease to <1s on web and <3s on mobile, which would have positive affects on conversion rate, bounce rate, and more.

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Mobile Page Speed Results

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Load time for site on mobile devices: 6.4 Seconds (industry standard is <2-3s)

Technical issues slowing down site on mobile (numbers correspond with picture):

1) 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.

2) 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.

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Web Page Speed Results

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Load time for site on mobile devices: 2.4 Seconds (industry standard is <1-2s) - tbh this not a bad load time for desktop

Technical issues slowing down site on mobile (numbers correspond with picture):

1) Avoid large layout shifts

This refers to the Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), a metric that measures how much the page layout shifts during the page load. Layout shifts happen when visible elements change their position from one frame to another, which can be frustrating for users. For example, if text or images move around unexpectedly while a page is loading, this can result in a poor user experience.

2) Largest Contentful Paint element

The Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures how long it takes for the largest visible content element (like an image or a block of text) to appear on the screen. In this case, the LCP is 1.41 seconds, which is relatively good but could be optimized further for a faster load time. To improve LCP, optimize the size and delivery of your largest elements, such as compressing images, using efficient CSS, and minimizing JavaScript that blocks rendering.

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Proposed Optimizations

The best optimizations to fix these technical issues would be a codebase audit and image compression.

The first step would be to delete any unused Javascript code on the site and reduce the size and complexity of necessary JavaScript files. Most Shopify apps and themes inject code into the site, and this code remains even if the app is removed or theme is changed. Every so often, a developer needs to go through and optimize the code for efficiency.

The second step would be to go through your HTML code and remove any extra tags or elements that don’t serve a purpose. This makes the webpage lighter and faster to load.

The last step would be applying compression to images that have the largest affect on CLS and LPC performance.

This is a very common optimization that needs to be done periodically for every Shopify site. Over time, as we change our sites theme, add plugins to the site, connect more advertising pixels, etc., code accumulates under the site. Even if we revert the changes made in the theme or uninstall apps, the code often stays behind.

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Resulting Benefits

If properly optimized, here is what you would expect Old Hippies load time to be:

Device

Current Load Time

Optimized Load Time

Reduction in Load TIme

MOBILE

6.4 seconds

2-3 seconds

4 seconds

WEB

2.4 seconds

1-2 seconds

0.5-1 seconds

There are no rows in this table

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Research shows that every 1 second decrease in a Shopify site’s load time can:

Increase mobile conversion rates by 20-50%

Increase overall conversion rates by >10%

Increase customer loyalty and repeat purchases by ~80%

Increase SEO ranking (site speed is an important factor in Google’s ranking algorithm)

Decrease cost-per-click on paid advertising

Overall, the optimization would improve both bottom line and top line numbers, as well as improve user experience on the site.

If you’d like to learn more about our Shopify Site Speed Optimization Services at

Roadrunner⁠

, please contact me at

kris@tryroadrunner.com⁠

or via

LinkedIn⁠

Thank you,

Kris

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