How We Helped National Service Animal Registry Improve Site Speed and Pass Core Web Vitals

The Challenge

Project Overview

NSAR asked us to help improve the speed and stability of their WooCommerce site. The store used several plugins and custom-coded features, so every change had to be carefully planned and tested to avoid disrupting core functionality. We worked closely with their internal developer to coordinate access and deployment. Our team ran a full Core Web Vitals audit, implemented the necessary optimizations, and monitored real user data until the site reached the performance goals.

NSAR wanted a faster shopping experience and needed to pass Google's Core Web Vitals. The store had accumulated significant performance debt from years of growth, plugins, and custom code, leading to slow server response times and poor Core Web Vitals scores.

The Goals

Goals & Objectives

The primary goal of this project was to improve Google's Core Web Vitals, site speed, and overall user experience and usability.

Our primary goals were to:

• Reduce desktop LCP below 2s
• Eliminate Total Blocking Time on desktop
• Pass Core Web Vitals on key pages

The Solution

Our Approach

A systematic, step-by-step process tailored to NSAR's needs.

1. 1

   CWV Audit

   Ran a full Core Web Vitals audit to identify performance issues across key pages.

2. 2

   Plugin & Code Review

   Reviewed plugins and custom-coded features for performance impact.

3. 3

   Frontend Performance

   Optimized theme assets, scripts, and images while preserving all WooCommerce functionality.

4. 4

   Server Optimization

   Improved server response times through caching strategies and database query optimization.

5. 5

   Staged Deployment

   Deployed improvements in controlled batches to avoid disrupting live orders.

The Results

Outcomes

Core metrics that improved over the duration of the project.

• 32% Desktop LCP Reduction. Desktop LCP improved from 2.8s to 1.9s.
• 79% Desktop TBT Reduction. Desktop TBT dropped from 480ms to 100ms.
• 13% Mobile LCP Reduction. Mobile LCP improved from 7.7s to 6.7s.

Lessons

Key Takeaways

• Large databases need targeted query optimization on top of caching layers.
• High-volume stores require staged deployments to protect revenue.
• Server-side improvements (TTFB) often deliver the biggest gains on WooCommerce.