Website Performance: What It Is & How To Assess

Website performance is an umbrella term for the quality of a user’s experience on a site, including measures like load time and responsiveness.

Wouldn't it be great if a few technical changes could boost your ecommerce revenue? 

A slow website can be the difference between making a sale and losing a visitor. A faster website not only improves your users’ browsing experience but can also boost your search engine optimization (SEO), help you retain customers, and improve your conversion rate by 20%.

Here’s how to measure and improve your website performance.

What is website performance?

Website performance refers to the quality of a user’s experience on a site. It includes measures like load time, responsiveness, and overall functionality across devices, browsers, and locations. 

Strong site performance provides a better user experience, improves user engagement, and can drive your conversion rate. Slow load times can lead to frustration, loss of potential customers, and decreased sales. 

Why web performance optimization is vital in ecommerce

The better your website performs, the more sales you’ll make.

Deloitte found that conversions jumped by 8.4% with a 0.1-second increase in page speed. Those consumers spent almost 10% more in a single fast-loading session. 

Portent's research also finds that ecommerce sites that load within a second have a 2.5 times higher conversion rate than those that load in five seconds.

Search engines like Google prioritize site speed and user experience, meaning website performance can affect your search engine ranking. An underperforming website can also prevent people from finding your website, negatively impacting customer acquisition

What impacts website performance?

Many variables impact website performance. Here are the six most important factors to consider: 

1. Server response time

This is the time it takes for a web server to load a webpage after a user requests it. Time to first byte (TTFB) measures the time it takes a browser to get its first byte after requesting it from the server. It covers both server processing time and network latency, so you can see how responsive a website is at first. A slow server response time means a site loads slowly, negatively impacting its performance.

Choosing the right hosted platform can make a big difference in server response times. Shopify has the fastest server speed in commerce, being up to 3.9x faster and on average 2.8x faster than other platforms. With this performance, your customers get a quick load time and a better user experience—and you’ll get more sales.

But not all organizations use hosted platforms. If you’re considering hosting your own server, know that it comes with its own set of challenges:

1. High initial costs: Setting up a server requires upfront investments in hardware, software, and infrastructure. 
2. Ongoing maintenance: You’re responsible for handling updates and securing patches. 
3. Scalability issues: As your website grows in traffic, you’ll need to allocate additional resources such as CPU, RAM, and storage, along with load balancing solutions to distribute traffic across multiple servers.
4. Downtime: Any server downtime will lead to lost sales and a poor reputation. That’s why hosted platforms, like Shopify Plus, provide 99.99% uptime. 

Using a platform like Shopify, you can avoid these pitfalls and enjoy superior server response times and reliable performance without managing your own servers.

2. Page load size

When the internet connection is slow, bigger pages can take a while to load—large images, videos, and other multimedia elements can bloat the page size and make it slow. This is especially important considering the impact on user experience and conversion rate. 

Our research shows that a half-second faster page load time can increase conversion. As per Google Core Web Vitals, 93% of Shopify merchants have first contentful paint (FCP) loading times under 1.8 seconds. 

3. DNS lookup time

DNS lookup time—or domain name system lookup time—refers to the time it takes to convert a domain name (like “Shopify.com”) into an IP address, allowing the user’s browser to understand and access the site’s web server. 

4. Code quality

Poor code quality, such as excess or outdated code, can slow your site’s loading time, so web developers try to minimize and remove inefficient code and optimize markup.

This is where our commerce components really shine. The tool makes it easier for retailers to take the ecommerce technologies they need, when they need them, instead of loading up their site with too many coding snippets that slow it down.

Website performance gets worse as your site scales.

5. Browser compatibility

A user’s browser and the device they use to access your site can cause it to load slowly or not display correctly—that’s why it’s important to optimize your web pages for different devices. Websites optimized for mobile devices load faster, provide a better experience to mobile users, and—as a result—have better mobile SEO. Given that mobile now accounts for more than 50% of all ecommerce traffic, compatibility with mobile browsers is an essential priority for your business. 

6. Location

A user’s location can also impact website performance. For example, websites hosted in given regions may load faster for users in that region. One way to do this is by using a CDN, which caches data in different locations to make sure your site is optimized for performance all over the world.

11 website performance monitoring tools 

You can use several monitoring tools to measure website performance and identify areas for improvement. Here are some examples:

1. Shopify Web Performance dashboard: Our tool continuously evaluates your online store's performance using Real User Metrics (RUM) across three Core Web Vitals: loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. You can get insights into desktop and mobile experiences, see the impact of changes like app installs or theme updates, and track performance trends over time by filtering by device type.
2. Google PageSpeed Insights: Google PageSpeed Insights offers a free website speed test and analyzes the results, offering suggestions for making a page faster.
3. Pingdom: Pingdom provides insights on website speed and performance metrics and identifies performance bottlenecks.
4. GTmetrix: GTmetrix analyzes website speed and provides actionable recommendations to improve site performance.
5. WebPageTest: WebPageTest analyzes website performance and allows you to test your site from multiple locations worldwide.
6. YSlow: YSlow analyzes website speed and provides suggestions on how to improve page performance.
7. New Relic: New Relic monitors website performance in real time and helps you identify and troubleshoot performance issues.
8. Cloudflare: Cloudflare provides website performance optimization, security, and CDN services to businesses of all sizes.
9. Sematext: Sematext provides website performance monitoring, user experience analytics, and error tracking.
10.  K6: K6 lets you simulate website traffic and test website performance under heavy load conditions.
11.  Uptrends: Uptrends provides website performance monitoring, website uptime, and user experience analytics.

Tips to improve website performance

Strong website performance is essential for ecommerce, as it directly impacts visitor experience and conversion rates. There are several methods you can use to improve your website performance.

1. Optimizing page loading time

You can optimize page load time by reducing the number of HTTP requests the page requires. This means reducing or removing large images, scripts, and stylesheets the site needs. You can also compress files, minimize code and markup (like CSS and JavaScript), and use a content delivery network (CDN) to rapidly serve static files.

2. Monitoring performance metrics

Keeping an eye on relevant performance metrics (such as page speed, bounce rates, and conversion rates) and using automated tools to monitor these statistics can help you quickly identify and fix performance issues.

3. Testing your sites on multiple browsers

It’s essential to test your website on various platforms to gauge its performance. Trying on different browsers and devices helps you detect inconsistencies in page rendering, loading speed, and user experience and adjust accordingly, ensuring the website functions well across all platforms.

4. Replatforming your website

Migration and replatforming a website involves moving it from one platform to another to improve its performance, functionality, or user experience. It’s a big undertaking, and you should only pursue it after careful analysis and planning, considering factors such as cost, timeline, and potential risks associated with the website migration. This might involve upgrading hardware or software, migrating to a faster web server, or using a more robust content management system (CMS).

Boost website performance with Shopify 

Optimizing your website’s performance can improve your customers' shopping experience, increase your store's discoverability, and boost conversions. The Shopify Web Performance dashboard is an invaluable tool in this process. It helps you stay on top of performance issues, make informed adjustments, and deliver a seamless and efficient shopping experience that earns more sales.

Website performance FAQ

What is good website performance?

Good website performance refers to how quickly a website’s pages load and display in the web browser, providing a seamless browsing experience for users. A fast website is essential for retaining visitors and ensuring high search engine rankings and conversion rates.

How often should I monitor and optimize my website’s performance?

You should monitor your site’s performance regularly, perhaps weekly or monthly, and optimize performance metrics like page speed, HTTP requests, server response time, and DNS lookup time. This will ensure fast load times and peak functionality. Regular monitoring can help you identify and address performance issues before they negatively impact user experience and sales.

How does website performance affect search engine optimization (SEO)?

Website performance, including page speed and load time, can affect SEO. A faster-loading website can lead to higher search engine rankings, as search engines prioritize websites that provide a better user experience. Slow load times and performance issues can negatively impact search engine rankings, leading to decreased traffic and conversions.