Is Your Website Slow? Here’s How to Find Out in 60 Seconds
You’ve probably noticed it, but you’re not quite sure what it means. Someone clicks your website, and… nothing happens. For what feels like forever. Then finally, your homepage appears. And you’re wondering: is this normal? Is it just me? Am I losing clients because of this?
The truth is, you’re not imagining it. And you’re not alone. A lot of business owners I talk to describe the same thing, that awful moment when they realize their own website feels sluggish. It’s like showing up to a client meeting in shoes with broken heels, you know? Everything else about you is polished and professional, but that one thing is nagging at you the whole time.
Here’s the thing though, I want you to know: you can fix this. And you can find out in literally 60 seconds whether your website is actually slow or if something else is going on. No special skills required. No tech jargon. Just you, a link, and a little bit of curiosity.
Let me show you how.
Why Speed Matters (But Not For the Reason You Think)
Before we jump into the how, let me tell you why this actually matters beyond just the annoying feeling.
I don’t care if your website loads in 2 seconds or 5 seconds for the sake of some arbitrary speed metric. I care because when your website moves at the speed of your business, people trust you more. They don’t bounce. They don’t assume you’re out of business. They actually stick around long enough to learn who you are and what you do.
In my experience, the women I work with are usually dealing with one of two situations. Either their website genuinely is slow, or they think it’s slow because they’re accessing it on a particular device or a particular internet connection. Both are fixable. Both are worth investigating.
Here’s why I bring this up: I don’t want you to panic and think you need to rebuild your entire website from scratch. Sometimes a slow website is just a slow website. Sometimes it’s a slow internet connection. Sometimes it’s outdated images that weigh a ton. The diagnosis comes first. Then the solution.
That’s the opportunity here. Once you know what’s actually happening, you can make a real decision about what to do next.
The 60-Second Test (It’s Actually Simple)
Okay, here’s what you’re going to do. This takes about a minute, I promise.
Go to Google PageSpeed Insights. You can find it by searching for those exact words, or you can go straight to pagespeed.web.dev. Bookmark it while you’re at it, you might come back.
Once you’re there, you’ll see a big search box. Paste your website URL into that box and hit enter. That’s it. You’re done with the setup.
Now Google is going to analyze your website for you. It’ll take about 30 seconds. And then you’re going to get a report that looks like this:
A score for mobile (usually the one that matters most), a score for desktop, and a breakdown of what’s slowing things down. The scores run from 0 to 100. If you’re getting green (90 or higher), you’re in good shape. Yellow (50-89) means there’s room for improvement, but you’re not in crisis. Red (anything below 50) means your website has some real opportunities for a performance upgrade.
Here’s what matters though: don’t freak out about the number. The number is interesting, but it’s not the whole story. What actually matters is the breakdown below that number. That’s where you find out what’s actually going on.
What You’re Actually Looking At
When you get your report, scroll down past the big score and you’ll see a section called “Opportunities.” This is the good stuff. This is where Google tells you, in plain English, what’s slowing things down.
A lot of what you’ll see falls into a few categories:
Images that are too big. This is super common, especially if you uploaded photos directly from your phone or camera without resizing them first. A photo that’s 4MB when it could be 400KB is like bringing a whole suitcase to the grocery store. It works, but it’s inefficient.
Code that isn’t being used. If you’ve had your website for a few years and added widgets or tools or plugins along the way, sometimes pieces of old code stick around even after you stop using them. That’s like keeping all your old tax returns in your desk drawer, taking up space for nothing.
Server response time. This one is about your hosting. If your hosting is slow, that’s a different kind of fix than optimizing images. This is something worth talking to your web host about, or worth considering whether a better host might be in your future.
Render-blocking resources. This sounds scary but it basically means certain things have to load before the rest of your page can show up, which creates a traffic jam. There are ways to fix this, but it’s more technical than the image thing.
The good news: Google’s report actually tells you which of these things is making the biggest impact. Look for the ones at the top of the list. Those are your biggest opportunities.
The Difference Between “Slow” and “Actually Slow”
Now here’s something I want you to know, because it matters.
When you run that Google PageSpeed test, you need to check both mobile and desktop. A lot of business owners get a good score on desktop and think everything’s fine, then don’t look at mobile. But here’s the thing, most of your visitors are probably on mobile. So if mobile is slow and desktop is fine, that’s the opportunity you need to focus on.
Also, context matters. A coaching website with mostly text and a few photos has different needs than a photography portfolio with hundreds of high-resolution images. A website for a consultant who does video calls might have embedded video that takes a bit longer to load. None of that is a failure, it’s just the nature of what your business is.
What I want you to do is run the test, look at the number, then look at the breakdown and ask yourself, “Does this match what I’m experiencing?” If your score is 75 but when you visit your site it feels instant, that’s worth noting. If your score is 60 and it genuinely does feel sluggish, that’s a different situation.
The test is a starting point, not a verdict.
What To Do With Your Report
Once you have your information, you have a few paths forward.
If your site scored well and it feels fast to you, you might just need to let this go and stop worrying about it. Seriously. Sometimes the best use of your time is accepting that your website is fine and moving on to something else that actually needs your attention.
If your site scored lower but feels fine to you, that’s also okay. It might be a lower priority. You can note it and circle back when you have time.
If your site genuinely feels slow and you want to fix it, this is where it gets interesting. Some of these fixes are things you can tackle yourself. Resizing images and uploading them again, for example. Disabling plugins you’re not using. Some of these fixes benefit from a person who knows how to do this work.
Either way, having the information puts you in control of the decision. You’re not guessing anymore. You’re not just accepting that your website feels slow and there’s nothing you can do about it. You know what’s happening and you can decide what to do next.
That’s the opportunity. Visit the Fairy Godmother of Tech if you want to explore what’s possible for your website, or if you’re thinking about a bigger refresh that includes speed optimization.
What You Don’t Need To Worry About
Before you go running off to make a thousand changes, let me tell you what doesn’t actually matter.
You don’t need to stress about being “number one” for speed. There’s no prize for the fastest website. You need your website to be responsive and pleasant to use. There’s a big difference between “takes 3 seconds to load” and “takes 0.5 seconds to load.” The first one is fine. The second one is not meaningfully better for your business.
You also don’t need to hire someone immediately. I know that’s tempting. I also know it’s not always necessary. Run the test. See what it says. Then decide if this is something you want to tackle or if it’s something you want to hand off.
And please don’t obsess over mobile vs. desktop scores. Focus on the one that matters for your business. For most solopreneurs, that’s mobile. But you know your clients better than anyone.
The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is making it easy for people to see what you do and reach you. Everything else is just optimization.
One More Thing About Website Speed
Here’s something I want you to carry with you: your website should work as hard as you do. If your website is slow, that’s not a reflection on you. It’s not a commentary on your business or your worth. It’s a technical thing. It’s fixable. It’s an opportunity.
And you’re not stupid for not knowing how to fix it. Tech is a language, just like any other language. You weren’t born speaking it. You didn’t have to study it unless you wanted to. So if you read that Google PageSpeed report and feel lost, that’s completely normal.
What matters is that you now know how to find out what’s going on in 60 seconds. Everything else is just choices.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a “good” score actually mean on PageSpeed Insights?
Green (90+) is great, yellow (50-89) is workable, red (below 50) means you have real opportunities. But honestly, the score matters less than how your website actually feels when you visit it and whether real people are having trouble. Use the score as information, not as judgment.
Will fixing these speed issues cost me a lot of money?
Depends. Some fixes are free (resizing images, removing unused plugins). Some need professional help (server optimization, code changes). Start with what you can identify in the report and see if it’s something you want to handle yourself or hand off.
How often should I run this test?
Once when you’re curious, then maybe once a year if your website is stable. If you’ve made big changes, run it again to see if anything shifted. You don’t need to obsess over it.
Can a slow website actually hurt my business?
Yes, but not usually in the dramatic way people think. It’s more like a slow website makes people slightly less likely to stick around. It’s a friction point. That said, most small business websites don’t need to be lightning fast, they just need to work smoothly and feel responsive.
If your website no longer feels like you, let’s talk about it – Book a Free Website Clarity Call with Beth →
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