Overview
Exor Games is a full-service hobby game retailer specializing in board games, trading card games (TCGs), sports cards, accessories, and in-store event ecosystems. Operating on Shopify, their digital storefront had become the first impression for thousands of gaming enthusiasts. However, sluggish performance and long page loads were undermining both the user experience (UX) and the company’s SEO performance.
Download Case StudyRecognizing that slow sites not only frustrate users but also weaken search rankings, Exor Games partnered with our team at seoplus+ to improve SEO, site speed and engagement. The goal was straightforward: make the online store as fast and responsive as the in-person shopping experience fans already loved.
Challenges
Before optimization, Exor Games’ Shopify storefront experienced long load times and inconsistent performance. Visitors frequently abandoned sessions before browsing products, resulting in a high bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page).
The slow site also weakened search visibility (how often the store appeared in Google results) and session quality (a measure of how engaged users were once they arrived). Poor speed scores led to fewer conversions and inefficient marketing spend.
The Exor team was aware of their SEO limitations but lacked the technical knowledge to address the deeper issue of site performance. They needed a solution that would enhance both UX and search efficiency, without requiring a costly website rebuild.
Solution
To address these performance issues, our team implemented Hyperspeed, a Shopify website optimization plugin. Hyperspeed uses a suite of technical enhancements to speed up page load times and improve performance, working seamlessly within the Shopify ecosystem.
What Hyperspeed Does
- Accelerates load times: Reduces the delay between clicking a link or product and seeing meaningful content.
- Optimizes media: Compresses and lazy-loads images so only necessary assets load first.
- Cleans up code: Defers non-critical JavaScript, minimizes CSS, and removes redundant data to lighten page weight.
- Reduces app drag: Manages third-party scripts that commonly slow down Shopify sites.
- Improves key SEO metrics: Enhances Core Web Vitals (Google’s performance signals like “Largest Contentful Paint” and “Time to Interactive”) that directly impact ranking and user experience.
The optimization pass was implemented in November 2024, with results tracked through Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console. No major site redesign or downtime was needed, allowing Exor Games to continue operations as usual.
What changed
A focused speed pass went live in the first half of November 2024. The work was meant to reduce upfront page load times and defer non-critical code, so that meaningful content appears sooner and pages feel more responsive, without requiring a website or theme rebuild.
Documented results
Search visibility & demand (Google Search Console):
- From November 1, 2024, daily impressions and clicks trended up.
- Between November 2024 and February 2025, average monthly clicks grew 26%, while average monthly impressions grew 139%.
Bounce rate (GA4):
- Direct traffic average bounce rate dropped from 30% (Aug–Nov 2024) to 24% post‑optimization (20% relative decrease).
- Organic Search average bounce rate fell from 23% to 21% (8.6% relative decrease).
Session quality (GA4):
- Average session duration:
- The average Direct user session duration rose from 7:20 → 7:40 (+4.55%)
- The average Organic user session duration rose from 7:50 → 8:15 (+5.32%)
- Engagement rate:
- Direct Search engagement rate increased 70% → 75% (+7.14%)
- Organic Search engagement rate increased 75% → 78% (+4.00%)
| Metric | Before Optimization | After Optimization | Change |
| Search Visibility (how often the site appeared in search results) | — | +139% in monthly impressions | +139% |
| Organic Clicks (users visiting from search engines) | — | +26% | +26% |
| Bounce Rate (how many users leave after one page) | 30% (Direct) / 23% (Organic) | 24% / 21% | −20% and −8.6% |
| Average Session Duration (how long visitors stay engaged) | 7:20 min (Direct) / 7:50 min (Organic) | 7:40 min / 8:15 min | +4–5% |
| Engagement Rate (how many visitors actively interact with content) | 70% (Direct) / 75% (Organic) | 75% / 78% | +7% and +4% |
| Monthly Sales Conversions (completed purchases) | — | — | +31% |
What does this mean?
Faster, more stable pages reduced early exits and encouraged deeper browsing, which is especially important for product discovery on mobile. The uplift in impressions and clicks indicates a stronger search presence, while the engagement gains show that those visits are higher quality.
Google uses both the improved user engagement metrics and the improved site performance as a positive sign that the website provides more value to users. This helps increase your site’s SEO score and can help improve your search engine results page (SERP) positioning over time.
Industry research
Independent case studies report similar patterns when page speed improves:
- Vodafone Case Study
- Vodafone ran an A/B test focused on Web Vitals; a 31% improvement in LCP, the time it takes to load the largest files and assets on a page, resulted in:
- +8% sales
- +15% lead‑to‑visit
- +11% cart‑to‑visit
- This presents a direct link between site performance and revenue.
- Vodafone ran an A/B test focused on Web Vitals; a 31% improvement in LCP, the time it takes to load the largest files and assets on a page, resulted in:
Key takeaways for your website
- Website speed can be a growth lever. Exor Games’ declines in bounce rate and gains in engagement show that performance improvements translate into more productive sessions. This means that you will have more attentive eyes on your products and services, increasing your chances of making a sale.
- SEO and UX move together. The 26% increase in monthly clicks and 139% increase in monthly impressions (over three months) coincided with a more responsive experience, demonstrating how improved UX enhances visibility and makes every visit count.
- Pragmatic path to improved SEO. A targeted optimization pass using a speed plugin, such as Hyperspeed, delivered meaningful user-behaviour gains without a complete website redesign risk or operational disruption.
Conclusion
For Exor Games, improving site speed wasn’t cosmetic. It was a much-needed business transformation. Faster, more stable pages lowered bounce rates, improved discoverability, and encouraged visitors to explore and purchase more. Within three months, the store achieved a 31% lift in conversions and a 139% surge in search visibility, proving that technical optimization can directly drive growth.
The Exor Games case shows how SEO and UX work best when aligned: optimizing for speed not only pleases algorithms but also delights real users. In a competitive market where every click counts, fast pages convert visitors into customers.
Fast Pages Convert Visitors Into Sales
Your website speed could be your strongest growth lever.
Get a site performance audit today and see how faster pages can improve engagement, rankings, and revenue.
