Without exaggerating, website speed is one of those things that you have to have nailed down and on point. Users aren't patient, and people aren't going to hang around to wait for a site to load. Your website speed is the very first impression people have of your business. If in a couple of seconds your page isn't displaying on their device, they'll be on to the next thing. Visitors want websites, apps (and pretty much anything else digital) to load instantly. If your site takes too long (even between 5-10 seconds), many users won’t wait around – they'll click away and check out a competitor instead.
The good news is that improving your website speed doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive, even if you've had a go at building it yourself. With a few small tweaks, you can make your site faster, smoother and far more effective at generating business. In this blog, we'll take you through some straightforward ways to improve your website speed, even if you're using a self-build platform like Wix or Squarespace.
1. Prioritise loading the most important content first
When someone lands on your website, they don’t need everything to load at once. What they really care about is seeing the key content on your home/landing page (like your headline, images and main business message), as quickly as possible. This is where you can use lazy loading to load content gradually, rather than all at once. Using this method, images, videos and other heavy elements only load when the user scrolls down the page. This makes your site feel much faster, even if it contains lots of visual content.
For example, if you run an online shop with dozens of product images on one page, lazy loading ensures that only the products visible on screen load immediately, while everything else just loads when its needed. Wix and Squarespace enable this automatically in most templates, while WordPress users can rely on modern themes or performance plug-ins to achieve the same effect.
2. Reduce image file sizes
Images are one of the most common reasons websites load slowly. While high-quality visuals are important for branding and credibility, overly large image files can significantly drag down your page speed. Before you upload images to your website, it’s essential to resize and compress them properly. Many people upload images straight from their phone or camera, which can often be much larger than necessary for web use.
There are some online tools out there like TinyPNG or JPEGmini that allow you to reduce file sizes without noticeable loss in quality. Ideally, most images should be under 200KB. Some platforms even automate this process using plug-ins.
3. Enable browser caching
Browser caching helps your website load faster for returning visitors. It does this by storing parts of your site on their device, so their browser doesn’t need to re-download everything each time they visit. Your website visuals like your logo, fonts and background images can be cached so that repeat visitors experience much faster load times. This is particularly useful for businesses that rely on returning customers such as service providers, e-comms sites, blogs or membership sites. Wix and Squarespace manage browser caching automatically. If you’re using WordPress, there are plug-ins you can use to enable caching too.
4. Choose faster, more reliable hosting
Your hosting provider plays a huge role in how fast your website loads. Even a well-designed site can feel sluggish if it’s running on slow or overcrowded servers. Budget hosting like Wix, Ionos or Squarespace can be temptingly cheap, especially when starting out, but beware that cheaper plans often mean shared resources and slower response times. If your site experiences traffic spikes or hosts large files, this can quickly become a problem.
If your website feels slow despite optimising images and content, upgrading your hosting is often one of the most effective improvements you can make. Reliable hosting ensures your site stays fast, stable and accessible even during busy periods. We always recommend Webflow to our clients because it uses fast, global hosting with built-in CDN technology, meaning your site loads quickly for visitors wherever they are in the world. It also generates clean, lightweight code and handles optimisation automatically, reducing bloat and keeping page load times consistently low for users.
5. Identify hidden problems
Sometimes, reasons for your website being slow aren’t obvious. Tools like PageSpeed Insights are great for uncovering what's really going on. By entering your website URL, you’ll get a performance score for both mobile and desktop, along with clear recommendations for improvement. These may include suggestions around image compression, unused code, server response times or mobile performance issues. As a general rule, websites scoring above 90 are considered well-optimised. If your score is lower, you'll get tips on how to improve it, even if you're not technically-minded or a web expert.
6. Keep the user journey simple and intuitive
Website speed isn’t just about technical performance or speed. User experience (UX), is also really important. Users must find it easy to navigate and move through your site, or you risk losing their attention. Overly complex layouts, confusing navigation and cluttered pages can frustrate visitors.
A clean, intuitive user journey helps people find what they’re looking for quickly. Clear menus, logical page structures and well-placed buttons all contribute to a smoother experience. When users don’t have to think too hard about where they need to click next, they’re more likely to stay longer and engage with your site. If your site feels busy or overwhelming, consider simplifying it. Removing unnecessary elements will improve page speed and conversion rates. If you need help spotting which elements to change, why not contact us for a website audit?
7. Optimise your website for mobile users
With more than half of all web traffic now coming from mobile devices, your website has to perform flawlessly on smaller screens. A site that looks fine on desktop but struggles on mobile will lose visitors quickly. Mobile-friendly websites load faster, display content clearly and avoid awkward zooming or tiny text. Google also prioritises mobile performance when ranking websites, so this has direct SEO benefits, too.
Wix, Squarespace and most modern WordPress themes can sometimes have issues with being mobile-responsive, as many templates are still designed desktop-first, so it's important to test your pages manually if you have these platforms. Common symptoms include text that’s too small, sections that feel overly tall, or content stacking in an order that doesn’t make sense. This often happens when pages are built visually, without checking how the flow works on mobile.
Many templates and plug-ins also load extra scripts, animations and features that look great on desktop but slow things down on mobile. Sliders, background videos, scroll animations and third-party embeds (like booking tools or chat widgets) can significantly impact mobile speed, especially when many are used together.
8. Maintain and update your website regularly
Websites aren’t a “do it and forget it” project. If you don't update your site frequently and review its performance, outdated plugins, unused features and broken links can slow it down and create security risks. Make sure to update your themes and plug-ins (if you have them), removing anything you no longer use, checking for broken links and reviewing performance every few months.
If you’ve built your own site and maintenance feels overwhelming, that’s completely normal. Many small business owners reach a point where handing things over to professionals saves time, stress and money in the long run. Get in touch with us if you need help maintaining your site.
The takeaway
A fast website isn't just about speed – it's also about providing a good user experience, looking professional and helping to convert visitors into customers. Even small improvements can have a great impact on how your website performs and how people perceive your business. If you're making updates and changes by yourself, remember that you don’t need to tackle everything at once. Take baby steps and start with one or two changes and go from there.
