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Hi there, hope you're having a great Friday!
This is Colm and Simon from CommerceGurus, with a handpicked weekly roundup of eCommerce articles.
Unused CSS might be one of the most important factors contributing to the slower response and slow page speed on your site. Since unnecessary CSS is added to the stylesheets, it increases the overall file size.
As a result, it drastically slows down response times and causes a delay in first rendering content on your web page.
Unused CSS is the code in stylesheets that is not used to style any page element necessary to first render content on the page. However, it’s completely normal to have some unused CSS in some parts of the code that makes up your web pages.
In Maria's latest post we’ll show you different ways to fix the “remove unused CSS” warning from your web pages.
See How to Remove Unused CSS in WordPress
If you're familiar with Google's Core Web Vitals recommendations and have run your site through their PageSpeed Insights tool you may be confused about the two different data sets it uses; lab data and field data.
They define it as follows:
- Tools that report lab data—data collected in a controlled environment with predefined device and network settings.
- Tools that report field data—data collected from the real users visiting your site.
The problem is that sometimes the data reported by lab tools can be quite a bit different from the data reported by field tools!
Your lab data might indicate that your site performs great, but your field data suggests it needs improvement.
This article from Google explains this in more detail. In summary, prioritize field data as it's what your real users are experiencing.
Learn about the difference between Lab Data and Field Data
Chris Lema has put together quite a cool calculator which estimates how much it will cost to build a WooCommerce store, based on individual requirements.
Obviously each agency is different, and US-based pricing may be higher than in other parts of the world, but it's a good barometer for developers to see if you are undercharging for your work.
He also doesn't factor design into the equation, and as he puts it: "Design is powerful and can have a massive impact on your conversions. But it has a cost."
Run the numbers on how much you (could) be charging for a WooCommerce store
The WooCommerce development blog has published an interesting update on where they are going with blocks and full-site editing.
It's quite a lengthy and detailed summary but it covers the progress they've made with the cart and checkout blocks and their desire to ensure compatibility with 85-90% of extensions.
They're also planning a revamped Mini Cart block (which may include a quantity selection), as well as individual product page blocks which would allow for some really customizable templates.
However for now, the lack of compatibility with various plugins and extensions are the main issue facing blocks.
This is because the markup is very different, and generally do not support the standard WooCommerce hooks.
Read more about WooCommerce's Blocks Roadmap
Icons8 have put together a superb collection of really high quality illustration sets. Many of the sets include hundreds of illustrations so if you're designing a landing page, you're bound to find some designs to suit your needs.
A PNG version is free for commercial use if you include a backlink to the site.
You can also download a higher resolution version of a single illustration in PNG or SVG format without the backlink requirement for USD$9 which is pretty affordable.
Take a look at Icons8's Illustratrations
That's it for this edition. Simply reply to this email if you have any questions or suggestions, we read every message. Have a great week and best of luck with your projects!
Colm and Simon from CommerceGurus
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