The State of WordPress in Derby
Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at WordPress sites here in Derby and the wider region, and it's pretty depressing. 35% of sites are too slow for Google to index, drastically affecting how often they are shown to users.
Speed and stability are not just about first impressions. Google measures how quickly a page loads, how soon it responds and how much it moves around, and uses that page experience as part of how it decides what to show in search. A slow or unstable site has to work much harder to be found, and when it is found, visitors are far less patient than they used to be.
The good news is that none of the problems below are unusual, and most can be fixed without rebuilding your site. Here are the five issues we found most often, what Google itself says about each one, and why they matter to the people trying to use your site.
What we discovered
20% of sites load slower than 4s
Google considers 2.5s a target, and only 67% of sites in Derby/Derbyshire achieve this, but a staggering 20% take more than 4s to load. By best estimates, if a site takes 2s to load, 9% of users just give up; at 4s, it's 24%. Lots of factors can affect this, from slow servers to an overuse of plugins, or just a site that is due for a refresh. A little time and effort spent getting this right makes a huge difference to a user's experience and their conversion to a repeat customer.
“To provide a good user experience, sites should strive to have Largest Contentful Paint of 2.5 seconds or less.”
90% unused CSS
Every time you add another plugin to your site, it adds more files that need to be loaded; the more you add, the more code is loaded. Now that the internet is increasingly filled with bots and agents, serving up dead code is becoming a problem. On average, 90% of the CSS loaded on pages of sites in the local area is not used.
“By default, a browser must download, parse, and process all external stylesheets that it encounters before it can display, or render, any content to a user's screen. Unused CSS also slows down a browser's construction of the render tree.”
Over half of sites have errors
When your website loads on a user's phone or computer, the server creates the page, then, as it loads, other scripts are activated. These scripts can make content load in or sliders slide through images. From time to time, errors occur; this can be due to issues in a plugin or conflicts when plugins try to control the same thing. When we checked, 54% of sites in Derby/Derbyshire showed multiple errors. These are often harmless, but sometimes they stop contact forms or add to cart buttons from working. We found that 12% of sites have more than 5, which is worrying. If you would like us to give your site a quick review, please let us know.
“An Error message means there's a problem on your page that you need to resolve.”
1 in 5 servers are too slow
I've spent many years working with very large and complex WooCommerce sites, and the biggest issue is always making sure the server generates the content as fast as possible. With the rise of AI agents loading sites, this has become more important than ever, as slow server times combined with bots hitting the site fast can leave users waiting or seeing the dreaded 429 (too busy) message. Google suggests a target of less than 0.8s, and sadly 21% of sites fall well short of this. If your site is loading slowly, reach out. We would love to help you get this right down.
“As a rough guide, most sites should strive to have a TTFB of 0.8 seconds or less.”
18% jumping around
We have all been there: you are loading a webpage and ready to hit the “Add to cart” button, but something else loads, the page moves and you are now looking at a terms and conditions page. You are not alone in this frustration. It badly affects users with mobility issues and disabilities, and as a result, Google will penalise your site if it jumps around while loading. We found this on 18% of sites in Derbyshire, whereas in Leicestershire it was less than 13%. If you would like to firmly plant your site's content, drop us a line; we would love to help.
“Unexpected layout shifts can disrupt the user experience in many ways, from causing them to lose their place while reading if the text moves suddenly, to making them click the wrong link or button.”
We are here to work with you, or alongside your existing web team, to improve your site. And for anything else web related, from automation to AI integrations, please contact us.
How I have helped Derby-based Protrade
I worked with Glynn for around six years, when he provided freelance development support across two ecommerce websites and a stock management app.
Glynn was an exceptionally capable developer, particularly when it came to complex problems where the solution wasn't immediately obvious. He had a real ability to understand the wider business requirement, take a brief with minimal input, and work through the technical challenges to find a practical solution. He was also very good at anticipating unintended consequences and building with those in mind.
A significant part of his work involved integrating our WooCommerce websites with complex legacy back-office systems for stock control, finance and order processing: systems that in many cases dated back decades and had little or no API capability. Glynn was excellent at finding ways to make these systems work together, including working directly with third-party providers when necessary to resolve particularly difficult problems.
His work supported the growth of our online operation, with monthly online revenue increasing by around 300% thanks to his skills and knowledge. Operational efficiency was also improved immeasurably.
Just as importantly, Glynn was a pleasure to work with. He was friendly, approachable and flexible, and exceptionally reliable. He consistently delivered work on time and, where a delay looked likely, communicated it early and explained the reasons clearly. When something genuinely urgent went wrong, he was the sort of developer who would drop everything and focus on finding a solution.
If you would like us to take a look at your current site, get in touch for a free consultation.
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