In today's digital landscape, visitors have very little patience. Studies show that most people leave a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load. At the same time, cyber threats increase every year and an insecure website risks losing visitor trust and suffering breaches. Speed and security are therefore no longer optional features but fundamental to a successful web presence.

Loading time affects everything from user experience to your placement in search results. Google has long used page speed as a ranking factor, and with their Core Web Vitals this has become even more important. A slow page leads to higher bounce rates, fewer conversions and worse visibility in search engines.

For e-commerce the effect is even clearer. Amazon has shown that every hundredth of a second delay costs them millions in lost sales. Even if your business is not the same size, the same principle applies, faster pages mean more business.

A website that is not secure can suffer everything from malicious code and defacements to theft of customer data. For visitors, insecure sites are immediately visible in the browser through warnings, causing them to leave before they have even seen your content. Search engines also penalize insecure websites through worse rankings.

SSL certificates are now an absolute minimum, but security is about so much more. It includes updates, strong passwords, protection against brute force attacks, secure hosting and regular backups. Read more about cybersecurity and how to protect your business in our guide to WF SecurityCloud.

WordPress powers a large part of the web but can become heavy and slow if not handled properly. Here are some concrete actions you can take to improve performance.

Hosting is the foundation for everything. Cheap shared hosting often means slow response times and unreliable operation. Invest in quality hosting with fast servers, SSD storage and good support. We offer secure and fast hosting optimized for WordPress.

Images often account for the largest part of page size. Use modern image formats like WebP, compress images before uploading and implement lazy loading so images only load when the visitor scrolls down to them.

A good cache plugin means pages do not need to be regenerated for each visitor. Instead, finished versions are saved that can be delivered lightning fast. W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache are popular options.

Each plugin adds code that must be loaded and executed. Go through your installed plugins and remove those you do not actively use. Choose quality plugins from reliable developers and avoid those known to be heavy.

Updates often contain performance improvements in addition to security fixes. Make sure WordPress, the theme and all plugins are always updated. This is also crucial for security as vulnerabilities in plugins are a common attack vector.

Compression reduces the size of files sent between server and browser. Most modern servers support this and it can easily be enabled via htaccess or a plugin.

WordPress is fantastic for many purposes, but it does not suit everyone. If you run a website that is not updated very often, perhaps a company with fixed information about services and contact details, a custom coded solution can be significantly better.

A custom coded site contains only the code that is actually needed. There is no overhead from a CMS, no unnecessary database connections and no heavy frameworks loading in the background. The result is often pages that load in a fraction of the time compared to WordPress.

WordPress is the world's most used CMS which also makes it the most attacked. Hackers constantly look for vulnerabilities in the core, themes and plugins. A custom coded site has a much smaller attack surface and is significantly harder to compromise. There are simply fewer entry points for attackers to exploit.

With WordPress you need to regularly update the core, plugins and themes. Sometimes updates conflict with each other and create problems. A custom coded site requires minimal maintenance, it simply works year after year without you having to worry about compatibility issues.

Everything can be optimized and customized exactly to your needs. There are no limitations from themes or plugins, and you can implement exactly the features needed without compromise.

Custom coded websites are excellent for companies that want a professional digital presence but do not need to update the content themselves every week. Typical examples are consulting firms, lawyers, dentists, restaurants and smaller service companies. Even larger companies that prioritize performance and security often choose this path.

If on the other hand you run a blog with daily posts, a news site or an e-commerce with thousands of products, WordPress or similar CMS systems are more suitable. Read more about the benefits of modern web design and which solution suits your company.

At Webbfabriken we have over 20 years of experience building websites that both perform and stay secure. We offer both WordPress solutions with focus on performance and completely custom coded websites for those who prioritize maximum speed and minimum maintenance.

In addition to web development, we offer secure hosting on Swedish servers, advanced cyber protection with WF SecurityCloud and ongoing web maintenance for those who want a complete package.

Contact us for a review of your current website. We analyze performance and security and provide concrete suggestions for improvements, whether you want to optimize your existing site or build something completely new.

Phone: 08-446 00 88

Email: info@webbfabriken.com

Read more: Our web services