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Outerknown - Site Speed Audit

Brough to you by
Roadrunner
⁠
- Shopify Site Speed Experts

⁠
Website:
https://www.outerknown.com/
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⁠
⁠
Link to PageSpeed Test Results
⁠

Summary

There are 3 metrics to pay attention to when testing a website’s load time & performance:
First Contentful Paint (FCP) time: how long it takes for the first pixels to load
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) time: how long it takes for the largest image & text to load on the site. This is the most common way of measuring how long it takes for a site to be fully loaded for a visitor.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): this is a measure of how “stable” the website is when loading (i.e. do images load in and stay in place or do they shift up/down when loading in the website)

Together FCP, LCP, and CLS has a strong impact a website’s conversion rate, organic ranking, paid marketing performance, and overall customer experience.

Here are the results of the audit:
The Outerknown site has an above average FCP time on mobile and desktop devices.
The Outerknown site has an above average LCP time on mobile and desktop devices.
The Outerknown site has an above average CLS on mobile and desktop devices.

Overall, the Outerknown site is performing well on both mobile and desktop platforms.

However, there are a few technical issues slowing down the website’s load time.
Most notably, there is excess/unused Javascript code that is slowing down the website. 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.

Research shows that an ecommerce site’s conversion rates will increase will every millisecond faster it loads:
53% of visitors will leave a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load on mobile (
Google
⁠
)
1 second improvement in page load time will increase mobile CVR by up to 27% (
Shopify
⁠
)
Every 0.1 second improvement in page load time will increase overall CVR by up to 8% (
Deloitte
⁠
)

If you’d like to increase conversion rates for the Outerknown site, I would recommend a codebase optimization.
This is when necessary Javascript code is compressed to run more efficiently, and unused Javascript code is removed.
The optimization would further decrease website load time, which would increase CVR.

For more information about a codebase optimization, visit the section titled Next Steps.
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Mobile Page Speed Audit

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image.png
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Results

First Contentful Paint: 1.5 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: 1.7 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.
Cumulative Layout Shift: 0.08
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.

Technical Issues

⁠
image.png
⁠
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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image.png
⁠
⁠

Results

First Contentful Paint: 1.4 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: 1.6 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.
Cumulative Layout Shift: 0.02
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.

Technical Issues

⁠
image.png
⁠
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.
⁠

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.
⁠
Shopify
⁠
found that a 1 second improvement in website speed can boost mobile conversion by up to 27%.
⁠
Deloitte
⁠
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
⁠
, 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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