A one-second delay in page load time results in a 7% reduction in conversions, 11% fewer page views, and a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction. Speed is not a technical nice-to-have — it directly impacts your revenue.
How Fast Should Your Website Be?
Google recommends your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) happens within 2.5 seconds, your First Input Delay (FID) is under 100ms, and your Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is below 0.1. These three metrics — known as Core Web Vitals — directly influence your search rankings.
Common Speed Killers
Unoptimised images are the number one culprit — a single 5MB hero image can add 3-4 seconds to load time. Excessive plugins slow down WordPress sites significantly. Cheap hosting with shared resources creates bottlenecks during peak traffic. Render-blocking JavaScript and CSS prevent the page from appearing until everything loads.
Quick Wins to Speed Up Your Site
Compress all images with WebP format. Install a caching plugin (WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache). Use a CDN for static assets. Minimise plugins — remove any you are not actively using. Upgrade your hosting if you are on a budget shared plan.
Not sure how fast your site is? Request a free speed audit and we will give you a prioritised action plan.