How to Speed Up Your Shoptet E-shop: Practical Tips and Common Mistakes

A fast website is not just a technical novelty; it's a business necessity. Customers leave slow sites quicker than you can say "goodbye," and Google simply doesn't favor sluggish websites.

Research by Portent shows that when a page loads in 1 second, the average conversion rate is nearly 40%. At 2 seconds, it drops to 34%, and at 3 seconds, it falls to 29%. A fast website brings conversions, higher traffic, cheaper PPC, and many other benefits.

If you run an e-shop on Shoptet, you have a solid foundation, but even the best e-shop needs regular care when it comes to web speed.

Shoptet's speed is generally good, but be cautious with theme modifications#

On e-commerce platforms like Shoptet, you don't have direct server access, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The server response time (TTFB, Time To First Byte) is excellent with Shoptet.

Shoptet is definitely among the technically adept e-commerce platforms, running like a Swiss watch.

Problems only start on the frontend, the part of the web that customers see. When developers begin significantly altering the original template's appearance, they often need to use a lot of JavaScript.

Shoptet gives you a quality engine, but how fast you go depends on what you load into the car.

Users aren't just interested in server response time; they care about the overall impression the page makes directly in the browser. We measure web speed using a set of user experience metrics called Core Web Vitals.

Core Web Vitals are critical numbers because if a page meets their recommended values, users are 24% less likely to leave before it loads. (Source)

• Loading speed (LCP) and layout stability (CLS) will be excellent thanks to very good servers. The issue arises when making custom modifications.
• The interaction response speed (INP) is also excellent at Shoptet's core (partly thanks to our help), but problems can occur when modifying the site or adding third-party components.

Check the Core Web Vitals values for several reference sites we monitor:

Most e-shops on Shoptet have very good Core Web Vitals values, but there are exceptions, so pay close attention to speed.

The basic goal is "green" Core Web Vitals values for the entire domain and to have everything green in Google Search Console.

A fast Shoptet exists. You just need to set it up correctly and not burden it with unnecessary elements.

Five Typical Traps in Shoptet Modifications#

Every web modification is like adding luggage to a car. After a certain number of changes or their clumsy execution, speed starts to falter.

1) Clumsy Design Modifications#

When you want to significantly change the template's appearance, it often means rewriting the original code with JavaScript. Discuss with designers whether you really need to change everything. Sometimes, gentle tuning of default templates like Classic is enough instead of a complete renovation.

Image: The layout can break unpleasantly during loading on Shoptet.

The next step is to require developers to avoid negative impacts on Core Web Vitals when implementing these changes. LCP (loading speed) and CLS (layout stability) metrics are particularly at risk.

2) Adding Plugins and Third-party Services Without Monitoring Speed Impact#

Every new plugin or JavaScript component is another suitcase in your car's trunk. Before implementation, ask yourself: "Do I really need this?"

External services inserted through Google Tag Manager (a tool for managing analytics codes), marketing scripts, or ad systems can create "long tasks" (measurable synthetically with TBT or in real user scenarios with JS Long Tasks (JSLT)), which slow down web response and worsen the INP metric.

The main rule for adding new components to the web: always monitor speed to know the impact on speed.

3) Unoptimized Images#

Modern formats like WebP or AVIF can save dozens of percent in size compared to old JPEG or PNG formats.

Ask Shoptet support to enable image saving in WebP format, which is significantly more data-efficient.

Important is also lazy loading – deferred loading of images not immediately visible on the screen. Why download photos from the bottom of the page if the user may never see them? However, Shoptet must solve this for you, as you don't have access to the HTML code.

4) Unaddressed Image Sizes#

Every asynchronously loaded element on a page should have a defined size. This can be an image, video, iframe, or another web component.

For this e-commerce platform, it's mainly about images. Shoptet won't help you here, as you can't edit the HTML source of the web. However, there are ways to achieve the same effect in CSS:

img {
	min-height: 200px;
}

There are more options. Check out our article on how to maintain element height for CLS metric needs.

5) Poor Web Modification Contractor#

Look for verified, well-communicating developers with quality references. Prefer larger studios and thoroughly vet cheap freelance coders. You might be surprised, but it's not necessary to focus on the technical knowledge of the individual or company.

The key is communication. At PageSpeed.ONE, we often find that development and optimization don't run as smoothly as we'd like due to insufficient developer communication.

Choose people who communicate, are approachable, and proactive. You'll notice this in the early stages of development.

How PageSpeed.ONE Helps Shoptet E-shops#

Speed is always the result of systematic collaboration between multiple parties. PageSpeed.ONE acts as a speed guarantor. We assist every Shoptet client in three different areas.

1) Monitoring PLUS: Your E-shop's Speed Guardian#

Speed optimization isn't a sprint with a finish line but an endless marathon. A website requires ongoing care and regular monitoring.

Our Monitoring PLUS functions like an alarm. The watchdog alerts you to issues before customers notice.

Thanks to the Watchdog, you can somewhat let go of speed concerns.

The service provides continuous insight into your Shoptet's performance, helps focus on specific optimization areas, and offers timely alerts when metrics worsen.

2) Optimization of Your Shoptet's Speed#

We've completed dozens of optimizations across various platforms. Our analyses uncover specific "low-hanging fruit," i.e., issues that can be quickly resolved with a significant impact on speed.

Optimization of Core Web Vitals on Shoptet sped up deNatura.cz and +17% traffic from Google.

We also assist other clients on Shoptet like Brainmarket.cz, Olivie.cz, and ČistéDřevo.cz.

The portal Srovname.cz experienced a 25% conversion increase thanks to our speed-up recommendations. A faster website also means better Google rankings and lower ad costs.

3) Cooperation with Shoptet Itself#

Our direct cooperation with Shoptet developers led to INP improvements for all e-shops, placing most of them into the green range of Core Web Vitals ratings and likely improving their SEO rankings.

Improvement of interaction response (INP metric) after joint optimization by PageSpeed.ONE and Shoptet.

Most Shoptet sites were in the non-optimal, orange range for this metric according to Google's methodology. This meant not only a sometimes poorer user experience but possibly also worse SEO or PPC ratings.

We hope to continue this collaboration, as the impact of speed optimization on 40,000 e-shops is enormous, and the mission of PageSpeed.ONE is to speed up websites for everyone.

Conclusion: Shoptet Has Speed Potential, Make the Most of It#

Shoptet provides your e-shop with an excellent technical foundation – the server runs fast and reliably, and the default templates meet Core Web Vitals metrics.

It's clear that most e-shops won't suffice with just the basics, but with the right approach, active monitoring, and good developers, managing the increasing complexity of an e-shop is achievable.

If you're unsure where to start or looking for specific solutions for your Shoptet, we're ready to help at PageSpeed.ONE. Speed is our business.