If you've built a site on Wix, Squarespace, or one of the other big site builders, you might have noticed something: it feels a bit sluggish. Pages take a second or two to load, images pop in late, and on your phone it can feel downright clunky. You're not imagining it. Web building sites like Wix are no good for fast modern sites, and there are solid reasons why.
I'm not here to slag off these platforms entirely — they have their place, especially if you need something up quickly and don't mind the trade-offs. But if site speed matters to your business (and it should), it's worth understanding what's actually happening under the hood.
Site builders are designed to do everything for everyone. That's their strength, but it's also their Achilles heel when it comes to speed.
When you use a platform like Wix, you're getting a one-size-fits-all system. Every page loads the same enormous bundle of code, whether you're using those features or not. Got a contact form on one page? The code for that form loads on every single page of your site, even the ones that don't have a form.
It's like carrying around a full toolbox when all you need is a screwdriver. That extra weight slows everything down.
These platforms run on JavaScript — a lot of it. Before your visitor even sees your content, their browser has to download, parse, and execute all that code. On a mobile connection, or on an older phone, that delay is noticeable.
I've tested Wix sites that load over 3MB of JavaScript before showing a simple homepage. That's not a typo. Three megabytes. For context, a well-built modern site might use a tenth of that.
Most site builders will let you upload images, but they don't always handle them intelligently. They might resize them, but they often don't compress them properly or serve them in modern formats like WebP. And they rarely load images only when they're needed (a technique called lazy loading, done properly).
The result? Your visitor's phone is downloading massive image files that could've been a fraction of the size.
A slow website isn't just annoying — it costs you money and credibility.
If your page takes more than a couple of seconds to load, a chunk of your visitors will give up and go elsewhere. They won't wait around. They'll hit the back button and try your competitor instead.
This isn't a guess. Study after study shows that load time directly affects bounce rate. The slower your site, the more people leave without seeing what you offer.
Google has been clear about this: site speed is a ranking factor. If two sites are otherwise similar, the faster one will generally rank better. It's not the only thing that matters, but it's part of the picture.
More importantly, Google now measures how real people experience your site — things like how quickly the page becomes usable, whether elements jump around as it loads, and how fast it responds to clicks. Site builders tend to score poorly on these metrics.
First impressions matter. If someone lands on your site and it feels slow or clunky, that colours their view of your business. Rightly or wrongly, a sluggish website makes you look behind the times.
If you're a local business competing with others in your area, a fast, polished site gives you an edge. A slow one puts you at a disadvantage before anyone's even read a word.
Building a fast website isn't about tricks or hacks. It's about starting with a solid foundation and only adding what you actually need.
Fast sites are built with purpose. Every line of code has a reason to be there. There's no bloat, no unused features, no leftover scripts from a plugin you tried once and disabled.
This usually means custom-built or carefully assembled sites, not all-in-one platforms.
Images should be compressed, served in modern formats, and only loaded when they're about to come into view. Fonts should be subset so you're only loading the characters you actually use. CSS and JavaScript should be minified and delivered efficiently.
These aren't exotic techniques — they're standard practice for anyone building sites properly. But site builders often can't or don't do them well.
Most of your visitors are on phones. A fast site is designed with that in mind from the start, not as an afterthought. It's lightweight, touch-friendly, and performs well even on a patchy 4G connection in rural Kent.
If you're running a small business in Hythe or anywhere else, your website is often the first impression you make. You don't need every bell and whistle — you need a site that loads quickly, looks professional, and doesn't get in the way of people finding what they need.
Site builders have their place, especially if budget is tight and you're comfortable with the limitations. But if you're serious about your online presence, and you've noticed your current site feels slow or clunky, it's worth considering something built properly from the ground up.
I build fast, modern websites for small businesses here in Kent — sites that load in under a second, work beautifully on phones, and don't come with all the unnecessary baggage of a site builder. If that sounds like what you need, take a look at what I do at ArloWebStudio. I'd be happy to have a straightforward chat about whether it's a good fit for you.