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Technical SEO

Website Speed Optimization Checklist

By Brian K Clayton·Updated June 5, 2026
Quick answer: How do I make my website load faster?

Make your website faster by compressing and lazy-loading images, enabling caching and a CDN, minifying and deferring code, reducing plugins and third-party scripts, and improving hosting. These steps directly improve Core Web Vitals, which affect both rankings and conversions.

Why speed matters

Slow sites lose rankings and visitors — speed is both an SEO and a conversion factor.

The checklist

Compress and lazy-load images, enable caching and a CDN, minify and defer JS/CSS, cut unused plugins and scripts, and upgrade hosting if needed.

Measuring it

Test Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP), fix the biggest offenders first, and re-test.

Common mistakes

Huge unoptimized images, too many plugins, and render-blocking scripts.

When to call a professional

If you've tried the basics and it's still slow, a deeper audit finds the bottleneck.

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Brian K Clayton
AI · SEO · Web Development · Los Angeles

Brian helps businesses get found on Google and in AI search, fix technical problems, and automate lead generation. Founder of Clayton Enterprises.

Frequently asked questions

Usually large images, too many scripts/plugins, no caching, or slow hosting.

Google's metrics for loading (LCP), stability (CLS), and responsiveness (INP).

Yes — Core Web Vitals are a ranking factor and affect conversions.

Yes — speed optimization is part of every build and a standalone service.

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