1. Remove unused scripts
Chat widgets, heatmaps, session recorders, A/B tools and social embeds are the usual culprits. Load them on interaction, or remove them.
Guide
The website speed checklist
Most slow websites are slow for five predictable reasons. Work through this list in order, measure after each change, and you will remove most of the delay without a redesign.
Speed is not one number. It is how quickly the main content appears (LCP), how quickly the page responds when tapped (INP), and how much the layout moves while loading (CLS). A site can load in one second and still feel broken because the button moves under your thumb.
Measure on a throttled mobile profile, not office wifi. Record the date, the URL and the profile. If you change three things at once and the number improves, you will not know which one mattered.
Baseline
The numbers to record first
| Metric | Good | Needs work | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|---|
| LCP | ≤ 2.5s | > 4s | PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse |
| INP | ≤ 200ms | > 500ms | CrUX field data, Search Console |
| CLS | ≤ 0.1 | > 0.25 | PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse |
| Page weight | < 1MB | > 2.5MB | DevTools Network tab |
| Third-party origins | 0–2 | 5+ | DevTools Network, request domains |
Checklist
The twelve fixes, in order
2. Cut third-party fonts
Self-host, subset to the characters you use, and load two weights at most. A Google Fonts request costs a DNS lookup, a connection and a render delay.
3. Size and compress images
Serve WebP or AVIF, set width and height, and do not send a 4,000px photograph to a 390px phone. Images are usually the largest bytes on the page.
4. Lazy-load below the fold
But never lazy-load the hero image. That is the LCP element; delaying it makes the score worse.
5. Preload the hero
One preload for the LCP image or font, with the correct type and crossorigin attribute. More than one preload competes with itself.
6. Defer non-critical JavaScript
Use defer or module scripts. Inline only what must run before paint, and keep it tiny.
7. Remove render-blocking CSS
One stylesheet, critical rules first, and no enormous framework you use 5% of. A 300KB CSS file delays first paint.
8. Fix layout shift
Reserve space for images, ads, embeds and cookie banners. Use font-display and a metric-compatible fallback to reduce text reflow.
9. Reduce server response time
Cache at the edge or in front of the app, avoid cold starts, and do not run a database query on every page view.
10. Remove redirect chains
Every redirect is another round trip. Point old URLs directly at the final destination, not at another redirect.
11. Audit plugins and apps
Every plugin is a script, a stylesheet and often a database query. If you cannot say what it does, remove it and see what breaks.
12. Set a budget
Page weight, LCP and JS bytes in the build. Without a budget, the next marketing request adds the weight back within six months.
Diagnosis
What the common symptoms mean
If the page is blank for two seconds, the problem is usually server response or render-blocking CSS. If it appears but cannot be tapped, the main thread is busy with JavaScript. If the text jumps as it loads, the font or an unsized image is shifting the layout. If only the homepage is slow, a plugin or a hero video is the likely cause.
Test one template at a time. The homepage, a service page and a contact page often have different problems, and a single score hides that.
If you would rather not do it yourself
If you would rather not do it yourself
- Website speed serviceA measured baseline, the fixes, and a before-and-after you can show a client.
- How this site is builtOne stylesheet, one small script, no third-party requests.
- Website auditA broader look at speed, search, accessibility and conversion.
Questions
The things people ask first
What is a good page weight?
Under 1MB for a first view is a reasonable target for a marketing site. The median mobile page is around 2.6MB, and much of that is images and third-party JavaScript.
Does a CDN fix slow pages?
It fixes distance and caching. It does not fix a 3MB page, a render-blocking stylesheet or a chat widget that loads before the content.
Is Lighthouse accurate?
It is a useful lab approximation, not field truth. Use CrUX or Search Console field data where available, and always compare like with like.
How often should we check?
Monthly for a small site, and on every release if the site changes often. A one-off optimisation decays as soon as someone adds a tag.
Related
Let’s find out whether technology is the answer
Tell us what you are trying to achieve. We will tell you honestly whether we can help, what it would take, and roughly what it would cost — before anyone signs anything.