Design for speed: How to optimize website performance with website builders
As a website designer, I’m always working with clients who want their websites to look stunning and load fast. Recently, I worked with a small business website client who was concerned that their beautiful, image-heavy site might be slowing down the website and discouraging visitors from clicking through their galleries and sales page.
By implementing a few key optimization techniques, we created a visually appealing site that also loaded quickly for users.
Studies show that visitors expect sites to load within seconds; potential customers will likely bounce and head to a competitor's site if they don't. The good news? Many website builders, like Squarespace, offer built-in tools to help you improve your website's loading speed and appeal to visitors' desires to find what they need easily and quickly.
In this article, I’ll share the strategies we used—practical, easy-to-apply tips that can help any website, no matter the builder, perform at its best.
Simplify your website design
One of the best ways to create a fast, efficient website is to keep it simple. A clean, straightforward layout without unnecessary elements speeds up load times and provides a more enjoyable experience for visitors. Focus on minimalist styles with plenty of white space and a streamlined navigation menu. Avoid cluttered layouts by prioritizing only the most essential text, images, videos, and other media.
Take Action: Look at your homepage—are there any elements you could remove to create a cleaner, more focused design?
Many platforms offer hundreds of well-designed templates, even on a budget Squarespace price plan, allowing you to keep things simple without sacrificing style.
Optimize images
Images play a significant role in making your website reflect your brand and overall vibe, but they can also be one of the largest contributors to slow load times. To get the best of both worlds, optimize your images by following these best practices:
Compress images: Most website builders have image compression tools to help reduce file sizes without sacrificing quality. Pro tip: If you use Canva Pro, download images with a specific file size limit to eliminate manual resizing later.
Use the proper format: JPEGs are best for photos, while PNGs work well for logos and graphics.
Add alt text: Improve accessibility and SEO by adding descriptive alt text for each image. (Here’s a bonus resource on how to fix the most common website accessibility errors in just five days!)
Lazy load images: Set images to load only when they're in view, reducing initial page load times.
Take Action: Try using your website builder or a third-party compression tool on a few pages—did you see a difference in loading speed?
Reduce HTTP requests
Every element on a webpage—images, scripts, stylesheets—requires an HTTP request to load, and each request adds up. Reducing the number of HTTP requests can significantly impact site speed. Here's how:
Combine files: Use a single CSS file and one JavaScript file whenever possible.
Image sprites: Combine small icons or decorative images into a single file.
Embed icons in CSS: Tiny icons can often be embedded directly into your CSS, reducing additional HTTP requests.
Most website builders simplify these steps with built-in tools or plugins, so check what's available on your platform.
Enable caching
Caching is like saving a shortcut to your website on a visitor's device. When someone visits your site, their browser saves key pieces, like images and design files, so the next time they visit, these elements load quickly without downloading again. Most website builders handle caching automatically, but it's a good idea to check your settings to ensure it's enabled and working smoothly.
Minify code
Minifying your code can be a game-changer and one of those "behind the scenes" tactics to improve speed without messing with your design. Minifying code means removing extra spaces, comments, and characters that don't impact how the site functions. This additional step improves load times and is often built directly into your website platform.
Take Action: If you're curious, check with your website builder to see if minification is enabled on your site.
Optimize web fonts
Custom fonts can enhance your website's look, but too many font styles can slow things down. Here's how to optimize font loading:
Limit font choices: Stick to two or three fonts to keep your site stylish yet efficient.
Use font CDNs: Providers like Google Fonts offer fast font delivery.
Set fallback fonts: Specify alternatives if a custom font doesn't load.
Take Action: Quickly audit your website and count how many different fonts you use. If there are more than three, work with a branding expert to refine your font choices or reduce the number of fonts and use font variations, like bold or italics, to set them apart. This article on the impact of graphic design on brand perception is a helpful resource, too!)
Choose the right web host
Your website's host plays a significant role in site speed. A reliable host with optimized server locations, ample bandwidth, and efficient caching can improve performance. Many website builders provide hosting that's already optimized for speed, but it's worth checking with customer support to make sure your host meets your needs.
Test and monitor site speed
To keep your site loading quickly, it's helpful to test its speed regularly using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or Pingdom. These tools show you how well your site is performing (according to industry averages and standards) and highlight areas you could improve. Plus, they're perfect for tracking your site's speed over time to ensure everything stays on track.
Take Action:
Run a speed test on your homepage.
Record the results.
Make changes to your website before repeating the test.
Even small improvements will add up over time.
Final words on optimizing your website for speed
By being strategic about your design choices and using the built-in tools most website builders provide, you can create a beautiful, high-performing website that appeals to your ideal audience and functions well. Implementing some of these practical steps will likely result in faster loading speeds, better engagement, more conversions, and a better overall user experience.