Welcome to the Brand It, Build It Podcast! I’m your host, Kelly Zugay, and today, we’re exploring an often-overlooked yet incredibly powerful aspect of web design: speed.

We’ve all had that experience — clicking on a website, waiting a few seconds, and then, without even thinking, moving on. It’s human nature. In today’s fast-paced digital world, attention is a luxury. If your website takes too long to load, potential clients aren’t just inconvenienced — they’re likely to move on and browse another business’s website.

That’s why today, we’re diving into why website speed matters and, more importantly, practical, effective ways to ensure your website loads seamlessly. The best part? These strategies are straightforward, highly effective, and don’t require a tech background.

Why Website Speed Matters

Website speed is more than just a technical detail — it’s a direct reflection of your brand’s professionalism. When a site loads quickly, it immediately communicates efficiency, credibility, and attention to detail. When it lags, it does the opposite.

Beyond first impressions, speed directly impacts your business growth. Research shows that if a website takes more than three seconds to load, nearly half of visitors will leave before ever engaging with your content. And search engines like Google prioritize faster websites, meaning that a slow site could also be harming your SEO rankings — making it harder for new clients to discover you.

The good news? You have the power to fix it. Let’s explore how.

Optimize Your Images

One of the biggest culprits of a slow website is oversized image files. While high-quality imagery is essential, it doesn’t need to come at the expense of speed.

Before uploading an image, take a moment to compress it using a tool like TinyPNG or JPEGmini. These tools reduce file size without compromising quality.

For Showit users, a good rule of thumb is:

• Regular images: Keep them under 500KB
• Background images: Aim for 300KB or less

If your website is already live, I encourage you to right-click on a few images, check their file sizes, and note any that are over 1MB. Those should be resized and re-uploaded. It’s a simple update that can dramatically improve load times.

Simplify Fonts and Effects

Beautiful typography is a hallmark of a well-designed brand, but too many fonts can slow down your website. Each custom font requires an external download, which adds seconds to your load time.

For an elegant and efficient website, I recommend limiting your site to:

• Three to four fonts maximum
• Google Fonts over custom fonts whenever possible (as they load faster)

The same goes for animations, auto-playing videos, and heavy scrolling effects. While they can add sophistication to your design, they also add weight to your site. Streamlining these elements creates a cleaner, more polished experience — both visually and functionally.

Remove Unnecessary Plugins and Code

If your website has been live for a while, it’s likely accumulated extra plugins or snippets of code that may no longer be needed. These unnecessary elements can slow things down significantly.

If you’re using WordPress, take a few minutes to:

• Deactivate and delete any plugins you’re no longer using. Even inactive plugins can slow down your site.
• Use a tool like WP Rocket to clean up excess scripts and optimize performance.

For Showit users, review any embedded elements—such as Instagram feeds, tracking scripts, or extra widgets. If they’re not serving a strong purpose, consider removing them.

A quick and highly effective step is running your site through Google PageSpeed Insights. This tool will pinpoint exactly what’s slowing your site down, allowing you to make targeted improvements.

Invest in Quality Website Hosting

Even with all of these optimizations, your website is only as fast as its hosting provider. If you’ve implemented best practices but your site still lags, your hosting plan may be the issue.

If you’re using Showit, your hosting is built in, so there’s nothing to adjust. But if you’re on WordPress, Squarespace, or another platform, consider upgrading to a hosting provider known for speed, such as:

• SiteGround
• Flywheel
• WP Engine

These premium providers offer faster servers, better caching, and improved security—all of which contribute to a more seamless website experience.

Enable Caching and Minimize Redirects

Caching is a simple but powerful way to speed up your website. It stores key elements of your site so they load instantly when a visitor returns, instead of reloading from scratch.

For WordPress users, installing a caching plugin like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache can handle this automatically. If you’re using Showit, caching is already managed for you behind the scenes.

Another factor that slows down websites? Excessive redirects.

Redirects happen when one page sends visitors to another page — this is useful in some cases, but too many can create unnecessary delays. If you’ve redesigned your website recently, take a moment to audit any redirects and remove those that are no longer needed.

Final Thoughts

Website speed isn’t just a technical concern — it’s a key part of your brand’s experience. A fast website enhances credibility, improves user engagement, and even boosts search rankings.

If you have just a few minutes today, I encourage you to:

• Run your site through Google PageSpeed Insights
• Compress your largest images
• Check for unnecessary plugins or scripts

Small, intentional changes like these add up—creating a website that loads beautifully, engages visitors, and ultimately drives more conversions for your business.

If today’s episode was helpful, I’d love for you to share it with a fellow business owner who might need it. And as always, thank you for tuning in to the Brand It, Build It Podcast! I’ll be back next week with more strategies to help you build a brand and website that truly work for you. Thanks for tuning in!

Brand It, Build It Podcast, Hosted by Kelly Zugay

Hosted by Kelly Zugay, co-founder of With Grace and Gold, The Brand It, Build It Podcast is the best small business marketing podcast for small business owners, creatives, and founders. Weekly, brief, actionable episodes will equip you to build a successful, sustainable small business. Since 2014, With Grace and Gold has provided award-winning custom brand and Showit web design and completely customizable Showit website templates for small businesses worldwide.