The way a webpage is built and the content it contains can have a major impact on its speed. A slow website can frustrate visitors, lower engagement, and even hurt search rankings.

Thankfully, there are steps you can take to improve loading times and provide a smoother experience for your users.

Here's our rundown of the 6 ways you can improve the speed of your events website:

• Optimise images before uploading (compress and resize where possible)
• Compress or reconsider videos—they can significantly slow down pages
• Use the YouTube-nocookie.com embed code to reduce third-party tracking requests
• Limit tracking scripts (e.g., Google Analytics, HotJar) to only what is necessary
• Remove draft sections to prevent unnecessary background loading
• Use fewer widgets and carousels—limit entries and avoid excessive animations

Understanding Website Speed

To help understand why some websites are slow, here's a couple of analogies:

• Website vs. Computer: Even a high-performance computer can slow down if it has too many programs running in the background. Similarly, a website may be sluggish if it's overloaded with images, videos, scripts, and widgets.
   
• Website vs. Car: A fast car will struggle if it's carrying too much weight—imagine having a sofa strapped to the roof! Websites can also be weighed down by unnecessary elements that slow them down.

1. Optimise Your Images

Large images are one of the most common causes of slow websites. By taking control of your image optimisation, you can make an immediate impact on your site's performance.

• Always compress images before uploading them. Use formats like JPEG for better compression.
• Ensure images are no larger than needed for their display size.
• Consider the necessity of each image - sometimes fewer, well-chosen images create a better user experience than galleries packed with content.

2. Compress and Minimise Videos

Videos require significant resources to load and can dramatically impact your page speed.

• Before uploading, compress videos to reduce file size.
• Ask yourself: Is this video necessary? If not, consider replacing it with an image or animation.
• If embedding YouTube videos, use youtube-nocookie.com to minimise resource usage and reduce tracking requests.
• Consider whether videos could be moved to separate dedicated pages rather than embedded directly in your main content.

3. Reduce the Impact of Third-Party Scripts

Every tracking script and third-party tool you add creates additional requests that can slow down your site.

• Tags such as Google Analytics, HotJar, and tracking pixels can slow down your site—only keep essential tracking codes active.
• Avoid duplicate Google Analytics tags (some sites mistakenly install multiple tags, significantly impacting speed).
• Regularly audit your tracking tools and remove any that aren't providing valuable insights.
• Consider whether you really need real-time tracking on every page or if some analytics could be applied selectively.

4. Remove Unpublished Draft Sections

Even content that isn't visible to visitors can impact your site's performance.

• Even if sections of a page are unpublished, they may still load in the background.
• Instead of keeping unused sections live, move them to a separate draft page.
• Regularly clean up your content management system by removing outdated drafts and unused media files from the Media Manager

5. Optimise Widgets and Carousels

Widgets and carousels can improve page functionality but can also slow down performance significantly. Here's how to manage them effectively:

• Limit the number of items in carousels - fewer slides often create a better user experience anyway.
• Use fewer widgets on critical pages like the homepage where speed is most important.
• Avoid widgets that make external API calls (e.g., live social media feeds) as these create dependencies on third-party services.
• Consider whether static content might be more effective than dynamic widgets for your specific use case.

6. Be Strategic About Page Content

The overall content strategy for each page plays a crucial role in loading speed.

• Prioritise above-the-fold content—ensure your most important information loads first.
• Consider breaking content-heavy pages into multiple pages rather than creating single pages that try to cover everything.
• Use progressive loading techniques where appropriate - not everything needs to load immediately.
• Regularly review your pages and remove content that isn't serving your visitors' needs.

In Summary...

Website speed is largely within your control through thoughtful content management. By following these six strategies, you can significantly reduce loading times and create a smoother user experience.

The key is to be intentional about every element you add to your website. Each image, video, widget, and script should serve a clear purpose and justify its impact on your site's performance. By implementing these simple steps, you can create a faster, more user-friendly website that keeps visitors engaged and improves search rankings.
 

---

If your event website is not working hard enough to support your paid media spend, we can help.

We offer fast, tailored SEO support for events of all sizes, from quick wins like fixing heading tags and page titles, to full content optimisation and year-round traffic strategies.

Whether you are planning your next campaign or trying to reduce PPC waste, SEO can help you:

• Improve Google rankings for the right keywords
• Build pages that convert better from paid and organic traffic
• Increase newsletter sign-ups, speaker exposure, and exhibitor leads
• Make your site more discoverable in AI search results
• Reduce your reliance on paid ads in the long run

Get in touch for an SEO review, or ask us about our Event SEO Essentials package.

Request a free SEO & UX Review