Website performance plays a crucial role in user experience, search rankings, and conversion rates. Yet for many business owners and marketers, the technical side of web performance can feel overwhelming and difficult to approach. The good news? You do not need to be a developer to make meaningful improvements. Whether your site runs on Shopify, WordPress, Wix, or another platform, there are simple, impactful steps you can take to boost speed, reduce bounce rates, and drive more engagement.

This checklist walks you through practical steps to improve your site's speed, stability, and responsiveness.

Let’s dive in.

1. Check and improve Core Web Vitals

Why it matters

Core Web Vitals are Google's way of evaluating the real-world user experience of your site, based on data collected over the past 28 days of site activity. These metrics capture how fast your pages load, how stable they are while loading, and how responsive they feel to engaging users. Core Web Vitals also directly influence your SEO rankings. Addressing performance issues not only keeps visitors engaged but also strengthens your site's visibility in search results, helping you attract and retain more traffic.

Action

• Use the Core Web Vitals section of Google’s PageSpeed Insights or tools like Crux Vis to assess your LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), INP (Interaction to Next Paint), and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift).

Performance impact

Improving your Core Web Vitals starts by being aware of your site’s current user experience. Improving your site’s CWVs leads to a faster, more stable, and more satisfying experience for visitors, helping boost your SEO performance and overall user engagement.

2. Choose a lightweight theme and clean up heavy or unneeded assets

A fast site starts with a solid theme and a lean setup.

Why it matters

Your website’s theme controls how your pages load, how content is structured, and how users interact on mobile. A slow or bloated theme can drag down performance across your entire site, even if everything else is optimized.

Actions

• Look for themes that are labeled performance-optimized or mobile-friendly in your platform’s theme store.

• If using Shopify, consider using ThemeVitals when selecting your theme to ensure it’s aligned with Google’s performance standards. 

• Run your site through Google’s PageSpeed Insights assessment. Check in the Diagnostics section to see if performance issues are caused by your theme or third-party scripts. 

Performance impact

A streamlined site loads faster, feels more stable, and works better across devices. By choosing a fast theme and cleaning up the clutter, you’ll improve user satisfaction, reduce bounce rates, and boost your SEO and conversion rates.

Check out our article on the Top 10 fastest Shopify themes.

3. Optimize Images and Media Files

Why it matters

Oversized images and media files are among the biggest causes of slow websites. Large files lead to longer load times, higher bounce rates, and frustrated users. Smart optimization ensures that your site looks great while delivering a faster experience that keeps users engaged.

Actions

• Compress images before uploading using free tools like TinyPNG or modern formats like WebP.

• Resize images to match their display dimensions on your pages.

• Enable lazy loading so images load only when they come into view.

• To improve performance with large media files, implement optimization techniques like lazy loading or using static image placeholders in place of the media content. Various tools are available to facilitate these strategies.

Performance impact

Smaller, smarter image files lead to faster page loads, smoother browsing, better mobile experiences, and improved chances of conversion.

4. Improve Delivery with a CDN and caching solution

Speed up load times for every visitor.

Why it matters

Pairing a Content Delivery Network (CDN) with a caching solution is one of the most effective ways to improve how quickly your website loads. A CDN speeds up delivery by serving your content from servers closer to each visitor’s location. Caching stores versions of your pages so they don’t need to reload from scratch each time. Together, they reduce delays, improve global and mobile performance, and make your site feel faster for both new and returning visitors.

Actions

• Enable a CDN through your hosting provider or by using an external service like Cloudflare.

• On WordPress, use plugins to set up page and browser caching with minimal setup.

• On Shopify or Wix, check that built-in caching is active or enable any performance-enhancing options available.

• Use a tool like GTMetrix and Google’s PageSpeed Insights to test repeat load times and confirm that caching is working as expected.

Performance impact

Using a CDN and proper caching improves global loading times, supports better mobile browsing, and increases visitor satisfaction across different regions. Faster access often translates into higher conversion rates and greater international reach.

5. Monitor and Fix Broken Links

Why it matters

Broken links frustrate users, hurt your site's credibility, and signal poor quality to search engines. Sites filled with dead ends can erode trust, increase bounce rates, and lower your SEO rankings. Keeping your links healthy ensures a smoother experience for visitors and helps maintain your site’s reputation and search visibility.

Actions

• Use free tools like Ahrefs’ Broken Link Checker or online services like Dead Link Checker to find broken links.

• Fix broken links by updating them or setting up redirects where needed.

• Routinely check high-traffic and key conversion pages to ensure important links are working properly.

Performance impact

Maintaining healthy links improves navigation, keeps users engaged, protects your SEO efforts, and ensures that visitors can easily find the information or products they need.

Take performance even further with Navigation AI

The checklist above gives you direct actions you can take to improve your site's speed, stability, and responsiveness. But performance does not stop there.

Navigation AI can build on top of your optimizations and unlock even greater improvements through smart, real-time page preparation.

Navigation AI continuously learns from real user behavior, accurately predicting which pages visitors are likely to visit next. It then prepares those pages in the background so they are fully loaded, painted, and stabilized before the user arrives. This eliminates delays and layout shifts, creating faster transitions, smoother browsing, and a better overall experience.

Built as a low-code solution, Navigation AI makes advanced performance improvements accessible to both technical and non-technical teams.

Navigation AI helps improve key performance metrics like:

• LCP: Visitors experience faster load times with pages fully ready when they click.

• INP: Interactions feel quicker and more responsive.

• CLS: Layouts remain stable during navigation.

Whether your site is just beginning optimization or already highly tuned, Navigation AI works alongside your setup to deliver additional speed, engagement, and user satisfaction.

Conclusion

Website performance is not just about faster load times. It is a powerful driver of user engagement, customer loyalty, and business growth.

By taking simple actions like optimizing your images, choosing a lightweight theme, streamlining your site setup, and enabling a CDN, you can create a faster, more reliable experience that keeps visitors engaged and moving toward conversion.

And when you are ready to amplify those improvements, Navigation AI can help you go even further. By preparing pages before users click, Navigation AI makes your site feel instant, driving deeper engagement, longer sessions, and better business results without requiring complex development work.

Investing in a better user experience is investing in your growth. Start with the fundamentals, and let Navigation AI help you deliver the kind of seamless journeys that turn visitors into loyal customers.