Shopify Expert Needed—Full Audit & Optimization (Fine Jewelry DTC)

We're an established fine jewelry brand with 30 years of manufacturing and custom design experience. We're looking for a hands-on Shopify developer who can own the audit, the recommendations, and the work. HERE'S WHAT WE NEED REVIEWED: Video Hosting & Plan Costs We're on a $500/month Shopify plan to handle video volume. We have a potential workaround in development. We need your honest assessment: does it actually solve the problem or just patch it? Site Performance Our booking calendar and other elements load slowly, causing measurable customer drop-off. Full audit required with actionable fixes. Theme & Development Velocity Our current build is on Dawn and was fully customized. We own Prestige, but it wasn't used. Is it better to go back to Prestige, optimize the current build, or explore another approach based on what's new? The goal is to make future changes faster and easier to manage internally. Variant Handling (Mobile + Meta Catalog) Fine jewelry has complex variants (metal, stone, enamel color combinations), and that complexity is breaking down in two places. On mobile, our variant selectors don't display or function properly. In Meta, our catalog sync is messy because of how the variants are structured. We need your take: is this a structural build issue, a limitation of our setup, or something fixable through optimization? SEO & Geo-Targeting Audit our metadata, keywords, schema, technical SEO, and geo-targeting setup so we can improve discoverability and target geographic markets effectively. Conversion Tracking & Analytics We're currently running paid ads on Meta and need proper conversion tracking so every appointment booking registers as a conversion event in Meta. We also have Microsoft Clarity set up (heatmaps and session recordings), but we're not actually using the data. We need someone to analyze it, identify where customers are falling off, and adjust accordingly. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR: You actually know Shopify inside and out. You understand Liquid, custom apps, Klaviyo integrations, and conversion optimization. You can speak intelligently about theme architecture, performance trade-offs, and why certain decisions matter. You understand the full picture, how all the pieces connect. You know how the apps and tools (Klaviyo, Microsoft Clarity, and others) work together, and you understand that changing one thing can affect others. You're not the kind of developer who fixes one item and breaks three more. You know how to use Microsoft Clarity and other heat mapping and session tracking tools to see where customers are falling off and turn that into performance improvements. You build on the best, most current architecture available, using modern best practices, so our store is structured the right way for today, not the way sites were built years ago. You give honest, straight feedback, not an upsell. We want someone who tells us what actually needs to be done, what's a must-have versus a nice-to-have, and what matters short-term versus long-term. We're not looking to be sold things we don't need. REQUIREMENTS TO APPLY (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY): You must have proven experience building and optimizing Shopify stores for high-ticket products with complex, multi-variant structures. Clear, fluent English communication is essential. This role requires sharp, responsive, back-and-forth collaboration. We move fast and don't have time for slow or unclear communication. To be considered, your application must include three current client references, stores you've actively managed for over a year. We want long-term retention, not one-off projects. Please keep all communication on Upwork. Do not contact us directly outside the platform. Applications without the three references will not be accepted. No exceptions. NEXT STEPS: We'll review applications that meet the requirements and schedule a brief call with the developer(s) we select to discuss findings and next steps.