Why a hand-coded website loads faster on a phone

Most people who look up a local business do it on a phone, often on the go and on a so-so signal. If your site takes too long to show up, some of them give up and call whoever’s next in the search results.

That’s the main reason we hand-code every site instead of using a website builder.

Where the weight comes from

Website builders like Wix, Squarespace and drag-and-drop WordPress themes are made to do everything for everybody. That flexibility has a cost: every page carries code for features your site may never use.

• Scripts for the builder itself. Editors, animations, pop-ups, widgets and tracking, loaded on every page whether you use them or not.
• Plugins. On WordPress, each plugin can add its own files. Sites often end up with a dozen or more.
• Heavy themes. Themes are built to cover every kind of business, so they ship styles for layouts you’ll never use.

Your customer’s phone has to download all of that and work through it before your page is ready to use.

What “hand-coded” means

A hand-coded site is written line by line for your business and nothing else. If a page doesn’t need a slideshow, there’s no slideshow code on it. Photos are sized for the screen they’re shown on. The fonts are only the weights the design uses.

For example, the page you’re reading uses one small script and two font files, and nothing else.

Nothing to maintain

Speed is one benefit. The other is that there’s nothing for you to keep up with. There are no plugins to update and no builder subscription, and nothing breaks because an update didn’t agree with your theme. Hosting and upkeep are on us, and if you want something changed, you send us the change and we make it within 3 business days.

What speed does and doesn’t do

A fast site gives visitors a better first impression and makes it easier for them to call you. Page speed is also one of the things Google looks at.

It’s not magic, though. Nobody honest can promise you the top spot on Google or a set number of leads. Speed is one piece. Clear information about your services and the towns you work in matters too, which is why we write your copy around both.

Check your own site

You can test any website for free with Google’s PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev). Type in your address and look at the mobile score. If it’s low, that’s worth fixing, whether you work with us or not.

If you’d like a second opinion, call us or send a quote request and we’ll take a look.