How to speed up a slow small business website
Most people won’t wait long for a page to load. They just go back. These six fixes deal with most of what slows a small business website down.
1:47 · No narration: the video shows each step as text on screen, and every step is written out below, with buttons that jump the video to it.
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The 6 fixes in the video
The video opens with a question you’ll recognise: ever waited for a page that won’t load? Most people won’t wait long. They just go back.
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Step 1: Test your speed first
A free online speed test shows what’s slowing your site down.
Google’s free PageSpeed Insights (opens in a new tab) loads a page on a simulated mid-range phone, scores it out of 100 and lists what’s slowing it down. A score of 90 or more counts as good. Test your homepage and one or two other busy pages, and note the scores before you change anything.
If your site gets enough visitors using Chrome, the same report also shows how fast it was for real people over the last 28 days. Many small sites don’t get enough traffic for that, so you’ll see the test score only.
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Step 2: Shrink your photos
Resize big images and save them in a modern format like WebP.
A photo straight off a phone is thousands of pixels wide and often several megabytes. Resize it to about the width it shows on screen, or twice that for sharp phone screens, and save it as WebP or AVIF. Google says WebP is 25 to 34% smaller than JPEG (opens in a new tab) at the same quality, and every major browser shows both formats.
Oversized photos usually cost far more than the choice of format, so resizing comes first.
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Step 3: Remove what you don’t use
Old plugins, sliders and widgets all add weight.
Every plugin, slider, chat widget and tracking script adds code that a visitor’s phone has to download and run. Remove anything you no longer use, and question anything that loads on every page to help on one.
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Step 4: Use good hosting
Cheap, crowded hosting can slow every page down.
The cheapest shared plans put many websites on one server, so your pages can slow down when your neighbours get busy. Good hosting replies quickly and serves your site from somewhere close to your visitors, which for Jersey means the UK or a network with UK locations.
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Step 5: Turn on caching
Saved copies of your pages load much faster for visitors.
Caching keeps ready-made copies of your pages and files, on the server and in each visitor’s browser, so the next visit doesn’t fetch everything again. It speeds up repeat visits (opens in a new tab) rather than the first one. Most good hosts and website platforms build it in; a WordPress site usually needs a caching plugin.
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Step 6: Test again
Check on a phone too, and again after any big change.
Run the same test on the same pages and compare. Then test again whenever you add a feature, a plugin or a big batch of photos, because speed slips back a little at a time.
What Google counts as fast
Google measures real visits with three Core Web Vitals (opens in a new tab). A page passes when, for three visits in four, the main content appears within 2.5 seconds, the page reacts to a tap within 200 milliseconds, and the layout doesn’t jump around as it loads.
Fast broadband doesn’t fix a heavy page
Jersey became the first full-fibre jurisdiction in the world (opens in a new tab) in 2018, so a visitor at home on the island may barely notice a slow site. Plenty of your customers will find you on mobile data instead, out and about or off the island, and that’s where a heavy page loses them.
Common questions
How do I test how fast my website is?
Use Google’s free PageSpeed Insights. It loads a page on a simulated mid-range phone, scores it out of 100 and lists what’s slowing it down. A score of 90 or more counts as good.
What usually slows a small business website down?
Oversized photos most of all, then plugins, sliders, chat widgets and tracking scripts that load on every page, and cheap, crowded hosting.
What size should photos be on a website?
About the width they show on screen, or twice that for sharp phone screens, saved as WebP or AVIF. Google says WebP is 25 to 34% smaller than JPEG at the same quality, but resizing usually saves far more than the format.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Google’s three measures of real visits. A page passes when, for three visits in four, the main content appears within 2.5 seconds, the page reacts to a tap within 200 milliseconds, and the layout doesn’t jump around as it loads.
Does caching make a website faster?
It speeds up repeat visits rather than the first one, by keeping ready-made copies of your pages and files. Most good hosts and website platforms build it in, and a WordPress site usually needs a caching plugin.
My site seems fast on my broadband. Why does speed matter?
Jersey has had full-fibre broadband since 2018, so a slow site can feel fine at home on the island. Plenty of customers find you on mobile data instead, out and about or off the island, and that’s where a heavy page loses them.
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