A slow page rarely announces itself as a problem. People just leave. They don't file a complaint; they close the tab, and the site never learns what it lost.

Performance is usually a pile of small decisions: oversized images, scripts nobody remembers adding, fonts loaded three times. None of them feels important alone, which is exactly why they accumulate.

Where to look first

  • Images — right size, right format, loaded only when needed
  • Third-party scripts — every one has a cost
  • Fonts — fewer files, loaded once

Treat speed as part of the design, not a final pass. A fast site feels more trustworthy before a single word is read.