Quick answer
A slow website loses visitors, raises ad costs and can hold back rankings. Diagnose with PageSpeed Insights and Search Console, then fix the usual culprits: unoptimised images, bloated code, poor hosting, no caching and too many third-party scripts.
Key takeaways
- Every extra second of loading increases the chance visitors leave.
- Diagnose first with PageSpeed Insights and real user data.
- Images, bloated code, hosting, caching and third-party scripts cause most problems.
- Fix the biggest issues first and re-test after each change.
How do you diagnose the problem?
- Run key pages through PageSpeed Insights on mobile.
- Check the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console.
- Note the biggest issues flagged.
- Test a competitor's site for comparison.
What are the five common culprits?
- Unoptimised images: resize, convert to WebP or AVIF and lazy-load.
- Bloated code: remove unused CSS and JavaScript and choose lightweight themes.
- Poor hosting: use a quality host or a CDN.
- No caching: use page caching, browser caching and compression.
- Too many third-party scripts: audit and delay them.
What are quick wins by platform?
| Platform | Quick wins |
|---|---|
| WordPress | Caching and image plugins, remove unused plugins |
| Shopify | Fewer apps, compressed images, lightweight theme |
| Custom sites | Code splitting, modern image formats, CDN |
How does a slow site hurt each channel?
| Channel | Effect |
|---|---|
| Organic search | Weaker page experience, more bounces |
| Google Ads | Lower landing page scores, higher costs |
| Email and social | Visitors leave before the page appears |
| Ecommerce | Abandoned carts |
When should you call a developer?
If quick wins do not move your scores, the cause is usually deeper, such as a heavy theme, inefficient code or underpowered hosting. A developer can profile the site and find the real bottlenecks.
How do you keep your site fast?
- Check speed after adding plugins or tags.
- Compress images before uploading.
- Review Core Web Vitals regularly.
- Keep software updated.
Our website speed optimisation team can diagnose and fix it.
Bottom line
Measure first, then fix the biggest problems: images, heavy code, hosting and third-party scripts. Re-test after every change.
