(Website Speed Optimisation · London)
Every page under
two seconds.
Lighthouse 90+. Always.
WebAnts is a London website speed optimisation agency. We audit, diagnose, and fix slow websites — improving Core Web Vitals, Lighthouse scores, and conversion rates for businesses running WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, and custom-built sites across the UK.
90+
Target Lighthouse score on every project
+7%
Average conversion lift per 1 second saved
48hrs
Written audit report turnaround
<2s
Target LCP on desktop and mobile
(What is website speed optimisation?)
Speed is not a
technical metric.
It is a revenue metric.
Website speed optimisation is the process of identifying and eliminating every technical factor that makes your site load slowly — then verifying the improvement with real data. It covers image compression, caching, CDN delivery, JavaScript cleanup, font loading, server response time, and third-party script management.
The benchmark is Google’s Core Web Vitals: LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds, and CLS under 0.1. Sites that pass these thresholds outrank those that fail — and convert at significantly higher rates. Google’s own data shows that a 1-second improvement in load time increases conversions by an average of 7%.
WebAnts provides website speed optimisation services for London businesses — a written audit report within 48 hours, a prioritised fix plan, and full implementation on WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Next.js, and custom-built sites.
(Why it matters)
Three reasons speed optimisation
pays for itself.
40%
of visitors leave if a page takes over 3 seconds
Speed is your first conversion tool
You can't convert a visitor who has already left. A slow homepage is your most expensive marketing problem — visitors from paid ads, organic search, and social all bounce before they read your headline. Every second of load time costs you conversions before any copy or design decision matters.
Ranking
factor — confirmed by Google since 2021
Core Web Vitals directly affect your rankings
Google's Page Experience algorithm uses Core Web Vitals — LCP, INP, and CLS — as a direct ranking signal. Two sites with identical content, identical backlinks, and identical on-page SEO will rank differently if one passes Core Web Vitals and the other fails. Speed is no longer just a UX concern.
£0
extra ad spend needed to improve paid search Quality Score
A fast landing page lowers your cost per click
Google Ads Quality Score is partly determined by your landing page experience, which includes load speed. A slow PPC landing page scores lower, which means you pay more per click than competitors with faster pages — for the same position. Speed optimisation is often more cost-effective than increasing ad budget.
(Core Web Vitals explained)
The three metrics Google
uses to rank your site.
Core Web Vitals are real-world measurements collected from Chrome users — not synthetic tests. Failing any one of them is a ranking disadvantage. We fix all three.
LCP
Largest Contentful Paint
How long it takes for the largest visible element on the page to load — usually your hero image or main heading. The most direct measure of perceived load speed.
How we fix it
- →Image compression and WebP/AVIF format
- →CDN delivery for hero images
- →Server response time (TTFB) reduction
- →Preload hints for critical resources
INP
Interaction to Next Paint
How quickly the page responds to user interactions — clicks, taps, keyboard input. Replaced FID in 2024. A high INP score means the page feels sluggish and unresponsive even after it has loaded.
How we fix it
- →JavaScript execution optimisation
- →Defer non-critical third-party scripts
- →Long task breaking and chunking
- →Main thread congestion audit
CLS
Cumulative Layout Shift
How much the page layout jumps around while loading — images resizing, fonts swapping, ads appearing. A high CLS score means buttons move before users click them and content shifts unexpectedly.
How we fix it
- →Explicit image and video dimensions
- →Font-display: swap with preloaded fonts
- →Reserve space for ad slots
- →Avoid dynamically injected content above the fold
Common cause
Unoptimised images
The most common cause of a slow website. A single hero image served as a 4MB JPEG when it could be 180KB WebP is destroying your LCP score. Image-heavy WordPress and Shopify sites often have hundreds of unoptimised assets accumulating over years.
Common cause
Render-blocking JavaScript
Plugins, analytics scripts, chat widgets, ad pixels, and tracking tags all execute on page load and block the browser from rendering content. A typical WordPress site with 20 plugins has 15–30 external scripts loading synchronously on every page.
Common cause
No server caching or CDN
Without caching, every page request hits your database and rebuilds the page from scratch. Without a CDN, visitors in Manchester, Edinburgh, or internationally wait for files to travel from a single server location. Both are fixable in hours.
Common cause
Shared hosting at capacity
Budget shared hosting that was fine when the site launched becomes a bottleneck as traffic grows. A server spending 800ms generating a page before a byte reaches the visitor's browser cannot be cached or CDN-ed into acceptable performance.
(What we fix)
Every layer of your
performance stack.
01
Performance Audit & Report
Comprehensive Lighthouse and CrUX audit covering LCP, INP, CLS, and TTFB. Written report with prioritised findings, effort estimates, and expected impact per fix — delivered within 48 hours.
02
Image Optimisation
Convert all images to WebP or AVIF, implement responsive srcset, add lazy loading, and configure next-gen delivery at the CDN layer. Often the single biggest speed improvement on any image-heavy site.
03
JavaScript & CSS Cleanup
Defer non-critical JS, eliminate render-blocking resources, tree-shake unused code, and minify CSS. Full WordPress plugin audit to identify and remove performance-killing bloat.
04
Caching Configuration
Server-side caching (Redis, Nginx FastCGI), browser cache headers, and WordPress caching plugin configuration (WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache). Correctly configured caching cuts TTFB dramatically — often to under 200ms.
05
CDN Setup & Configuration
Cloudflare or BunnyCDN setup, DNS configuration, cache rules, image optimisation at the edge, and Brotli compression. Your assets served from 300+ edge locations — fast for every visitor regardless of location.
06
Font Loading Optimisation
Self-hosted fonts with font-display: swap, preload hints, and subsetting. Eliminates layout shift from web font loading and removes third-party DNS lookups that block rendering on every page.
07
Third-party Script Audit
Identify and defer analytics, chat widgets, ad scripts, and tracking pixels that block the main thread. Implement Partytown or script facades where appropriate to isolate third-party impact.
08
Hosting & Server Upgrade
Audit current hosting stack. Recommend or implement server upgrades, PHP version updates, OPcache configuration, or migration to a faster host — Kinsta, Cloudways, or Vercel — when the hosting is the ceiling.
(Platforms)
We optimise every platform —
not just WordPress.
WordPress
Plugin audit, WP Rocket configuration, image optimisation, caching, and hosting review.
Shopify
Theme code audit, app script deferral, image pipeline, and Lighthouse improvement within Shopify constraints.
Webflow
Custom code optimisation, image settings, CDN configuration, and CMS performance.
Next.js
Bundle analysis, Server Components audit, image pipeline, and Vercel edge configuration.
Framer
CMS image optimisation, custom code review, and Core Web Vitals monitoring.
Custom CMS
Framework-agnostic audit — we profile the stack, identify the bottlenecks, and fix them.
(What you get)
Every engagement
includes these.
- ✓Written performance audit report with prioritised findings
- ✓Before and after Lighthouse scores (desktop and mobile)
- ✓Core Web Vitals report: LCP, INP, CLS, TTFB
- ✓Image optimisation — WebP/AVIF conversion
- ✓Caching configuration (server-side and browser)
- ✓CDN setup and configuration
- ✓Font and third-party script optimisation
- ✓Post-optimisation monitoring setup
- ✓Google Search Console Core Web Vitals verification
- ✓Recommendations report for ongoing maintenance
(Tools)
From idea to live site in four steps.
Milestone payments — you see progress weekly and own every deliverable the moment it's completed.
Discovery Call & Flat Quote
Every project starts with a free 30-minute call — no pitch deck, no jargon. We ask the right questions about your goals, your audience and your budget, then deliver a written flat-fee proposal within 24 hours. You know the full cost before we touch a single wireframe.
- Free 30-minute strategy call
- Digital brief and business goal analysis
- Written flat-fee quote within 24 hours
- No hourly rates, no scope creep surprises
- Platform and technology recommendation included
(Get started)
Free performance audit.
Written report in 48hrs.
Flat quote to fix it.
Share your URL and your current Lighthouse score if you have it. We’ll run a full audit, identify every bottleneck, and send a written report with a prioritised fix list — and a flat quote to implement it.
★★★★★ 4.9 on Google
★★★★★ 5.0 on Clutch
★★★★★ 5.0 on Upwork
Top Web Designers 2025 — DesignRush
(FAQ)
Speed optimisation questions,
answered directly.
What is website speed optimisation?
Website speed optimisation is the process of identifying and fixing the technical factors that make a website load slowly — then verifying the improvement with measurable scores. It covers image compression, caching configuration, CDN delivery, JavaScript and CSS cleanup, font loading, server response time, and third-party script management. The goal is to pass Google's Core Web Vitals thresholds (LCP under 2.5s, INP under 200ms, CLS under 0.1) and achieve a Lighthouse Performance score of 90+ on both desktop and mobile. WebAnts provides website speed optimisation services for London businesses across WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, and custom-built sites.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are three metrics Google uses to measure real-world page experience, and they are a confirmed Google ranking factor. LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) measures how long your main content takes to appear — target under 2.5 seconds. INP (Interaction to Next Paint, which replaced FID in March 2024) measures how quickly the page responds to clicks and taps — target under 200ms. CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) measures how much the page layout shifts while loading — target under 0.1. Failing these thresholds means your site ranks lower than comparable competitors who pass them.
What is a good Lighthouse score?
Google classifies Lighthouse Performance scores as: 90–100 Good, 50–89 Needs Improvement, 0–49 Poor. For practical SEO and conversion purposes, we target 90+ on desktop and 75+ on mobile. Mobile scores are consistently lower than desktop because they simulate a mid-range Android device on a 4G connection — a realistic scenario for most of your visitors. Most WordPress sites we audit score 20–50 on mobile before optimisation. After our work, we typically achieve 70–92+ on mobile.
Will improving page speed improve my Google rankings?
Yes — Core Web Vitals are a direct Google ranking signal, confirmed as part of the Page Experience update. More significantly, speed improvements compound: faster pages rank better, get more clicks, and then convert those visitors at a higher rate. Google's own research shows that a 1-second improvement in mobile load time increases conversions by an average of 7%. Speed optimisation is simultaneously an SEO investment and a conversion rate optimisation investment.
How much does website speed optimisation cost?
A standalone performance audit costs from £300–£500 and includes a written report with prioritised recommendations and before/after scores. A full optimisation engagement — audit plus implementation — typically costs £1,000–£3,500 depending on site complexity, platform, and hosting environment. Shopify optimisation (where some levers are limited by the platform) tends to sit at the lower end. WordPress and custom-site optimisation with server configuration can sit at the upper end. Flat written quote after the audit.
How long does website speed optimisation take?
The written performance audit takes 48 hours. A focused optimisation — image compression, caching configuration, and CDN setup — typically takes 1–3 days to implement. A comprehensive engagement including JavaScript cleanup, server configuration, third-party script management, and font optimisation takes 1–2 weeks. Complex custom-built sites with bespoke bottlenecks take longer. We agree the scope and timeline after the audit, before any implementation work is quoted.
Why is my WordPress site slow?
The most common causes of a slow WordPress site are: (1) unoptimised images — large JPEGs that have never been compressed or converted to WebP, often accumulating for years; (2) too many plugins loading JavaScript on every page, including plugins that are active but not in use; (3) no caching or a misconfigured caching plugin, meaning every page visit hits the database; (4) no CDN, so all assets are served from a single server location; and (5) shared budget hosting that is at capacity. Most WordPress sites have all five issues simultaneously — fixing them in the right order produces the biggest improvement.
Do you work on Shopify, Webflow, and non-WordPress sites?
Yes. We optimise WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Framer, Next.js, and custom-built sites. The specific techniques differ by platform — Shopify, for example, has limited server-side caching control — but the diagnostic process is the same: measure, identify bottlenecks, prioritise fixes by impact, implement, and verify. We set honest expectations for each platform's constraints before quoting.
Can you help if my site fails Core Web Vitals in Google Search Console?
Yes — this is the most common reason businesses contact us. If Google Search Console is showing Core Web Vitals failures (URLs in the 'Poor' or 'Needs Improvement' category), we run a full CrUX and Lighthouse audit to identify the specific failing metrics and pages, implement the fixes, and monitor Search Console over the following 28 days until the URLs move to 'Good' status. Google typically takes 28 days to reflect Core Web Vitals improvements after fixes are deployed.
What is the difference between Lighthouse score and Core Web Vitals?
Lighthouse is a synthetic performance testing tool — it simulates a page load in a controlled environment and gives you a score from 0–100. Core Web Vitals are field data — real measurements from real visitors using Chrome, collected and published by Google in the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX). It's possible to have a high Lighthouse score but fail Core Web Vitals if your real visitors experience different conditions than the Lighthouse simulation. We use both to diagnose issues, with CrUX data taking priority since it reflects actual user experience.
Client stories
4.9★ across Google, Clutch & Upwork. 100+ projects. 14 countries.
“WebAnts built something better than I'd ever imagined — shipped faster than any agency I've worked with.”
LaTisha Ebanks North Pointe Marketing
Dr. Nadish Ravindran
Founder · Elite Scholars
“The team were methodical, fast and honest. Exactly what we needed. No surprises, just results.”
Guillaume Etlin Bro Bread
“We ranked #1 in three London postcodes within 90 days of launching with WebAnts. The ROI has been remarkable.”
Ahmed Hassan Papa Doner
Rachel Piccoli
Founder & CEO · Humming Bliss Acres
“WebAnts delivered our marketing site faster than any agency we'd worked with before. Clean build, great communication throughout.”
Patrick Bishop ReRoute Americas
“Incredible attention to detail. The site launched under budget and our leads doubled in the first month.”
Tom Walker Access Super
“WebAnts built something better than I'd ever imagined — shipped faster than any agency I've worked with.”
LaTisha Ebanks North Pointe Marketing
Dr. Nadish Ravindran
Founder · Elite Scholars
“Incredible attention to detail. The site launched under budget and our leads doubled in the first month.”
Tom Walker Access Super
“The team were methodical, fast and honest. Exactly what we needed. No surprises, just results.”
Guillaume Etlin Bro Bread
“We ranked #1 in three London postcodes within 90 days of launching with WebAnts. The ROI has been remarkable.”
Ahmed Hassan Papa Doner
“WebAnts delivered our marketing site faster than any agency we'd worked with before. Clean build, great communication throughout.”
Patrick Bishop ReRoute Americas
Rachel Piccoli
Founder & CEO · Humming Bliss Acres
Verified ratings
Make your site fast enough
to rank and convert. →
Free performance audit. Written report in 48 hours. Flat quote to fix it. No prepayment.
WebAnts is a London website speed optimisation agency providing Core Web Vitals audits and performance fixes for businesses across the UK. Services include website performance audits, LCP optimisation, INP optimisation, CLS fixes, image compression and WebP/AVIF conversion, caching configuration with Redis and Nginx, CDN setup with Cloudflare and BunnyCDN, JavaScript and CSS cleanup, font loading optimisation, third-party script auditing, and hosting and server upgrade recommendations. We optimise WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Framer, Next.js, and custom-built websites. Performance audit reports are delivered within 48 hours. We target Lighthouse scores of 90 or above on desktop and 75 or above on mobile. Based in London, serving clients across the UK and worldwide. Rated 4.9 stars on Google, 5.0 on Clutch, 5.0 on Upwork. Top Web Designers 2025, DesignRush.