“Blend Commerce deliver real value from day one. The practical, actionable information they share in their emails is remarkable.
- Subscription sign-ups increased by 61%.
- Overall store conversion rate improved by 14%.
The most impressive part is that we achieved all of this purely by using the data and tools Blend make freely available.”
Years ago, we worked with a client who was obsessed with their PageSpeed score.
They were convinced it was the main thing driving their SEO rankings.
So they kept pushing us to raise the score…
We decided to test the theory and track the results.
We ended up lazy-loading everything.
And to keep the score climbing, we started hiding key content behind clicks.
- Reviews
- Images
- Specs
Anything with weight was tucked away in accordions, tabs, and carousels that you had to click to load and display.
The scores looked incredible.
And the net result…
Their rankings didn’t improve as the score increased. In fact, they started to dip.
More alarming… conversion rate dropped as well.
So why did this happen?
Because the website felt like you were walking into a shop where auto sensors turned the lights on when you were already halfway down the aisle.
Instead of a single slightly longer load at the start, we replaced tiny bits of friction everywhere.
And as you already know…
Friction kills conversions.
And Google knows this, too.
It’s not “higher score equals better rankings”.
It’s “better experience equals better rankings”.
If people pogo stick back to Google and click the next result, you’re basically telling Google you weren’t the best option.
Yes, a slow-loading site can be the cause of that issue.
But the law of diminishing returns is also at play here.
At some point, your site will be “fast enough”, so speed isn’t the biggest friction point…
That’s the time to stop chasing the score and start fixing the rest of the user experience.
Chat soon,
Peter
P.S. Tomorrow, I’ll send a short guide on how to check your site speed and see if you’ve got easy wins, or if you’re already good to go.
About the author
Peter Gardner Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer
Peter Gardner is the Australia-based co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Blend Commerce, the specialist Shopify CRO agency named Global CRO Agency of the Year 2026. He helps established Shopify brands improve conversion rate, average order value and repeat purchase by combining quantitative data, qualitative customer insight and structured experimentation.
Peter writes the Shopify CRO Newsletter and is known for the Buy Trifecta®, a framework focused on helping customers Buy Now, Buy More and Buy Again, while using prioritisation models such as PECTI to help brands focus on the highest-impact CRO opportunities.
Peter also co-founded the eCom Collab Club®, a dynamic eCommerce community that connects and empowers eCommerce professionals through events, networking opportunities, and educational resources.
“Blend Commerce deliver real value from day one. The practical, actionable information they share in their emails is remarkable.
- Subscription sign-ups increased by 61%.
- Overall store conversion rate improved by 14%.
The most impressive part is that we achieved all of this purely by using the data and tools Blend make freely available.”
