Updated 18 September 2026. Originally published in 2017; revised to replace outdated advice and links.
Hosting can affect website speed, but moving servers is not the answer to every slow page. Measure where the time goes before deciding what to change.
Start with a representative page
Test an important service page, an article and an enquiry journey on mobile as well as desktop. Use repeat measurements, since one run can be affected by network conditions or a cold cache.
Separate the possible causes
- Server response: application work, database queries, available resources and caching.
- Page delivery: image sizes, fonts, scripts and styles.
- Third-party tools: embeds, analytics and consent services.
- Interactions: what happens when a visitor opens the menu, types or submits a form.
A better server will not automatically shrink an oversized photograph or remove a slow external dependency.
Use the right measures
Core Web Vitals cover loading, responsiveness and visual stability. Their good-experience thresholds are LCP at or below 2.5 seconds, INP at or below 200 milliseconds and CLS at or below 0.1, assessed at the 75th percentile of real visits. A laboratory score is a diagnostic aid, not proof that all visitors meet those thresholds.
Improve and compare
Agree the likely bottleneck, make a controlled change and repeat the same checks. Test forms and other important interactions afterwards. Fast pages help visitors, but speed alone does not guarantee a search position.
The timing story and unsourced attention-span statistics in our original 2017 article are not current benchmarks. Explore our hosting and support options or ask us to investigate your site.
