Why we aspire to perfect website performance scores and others don’t.

(Want the TL;DR – skip to the real world performance scores at the bottom of this post.) Scoring 100% on website performance at GTmetrix or Google PageSpeed is difficult because it requires a perfect optimization of your website. Even minor issues like large images, unoptimized code, or third-party scripts can impact your website’s performance score. Additionally, some factors that affect the score may not be in your control, such as server response time and internet connectivity. However, it’s important to note that a perfect score means your website’s speed is optimal for search engine rankings AND human visits PLUS, it makes designing and creative flow faster.

The entirety of the internet favors speed – server and website performance is the root measure of success. Helping visitors find the right information quickly is what page ranking and user experience is all about.  There are more subjective factors to consider once optimal performance is achieved such as accessibility, but performance is a (if not the) key factor. The only thing more important than your sites performance is your content or message. If really good quality content is King then ultra-high speed hosting is Queen. So why are most websites barely above or below average? As Google says; “A website performance score of 100% is extremely challenging to achieve and not to be expected”. We suggest letting Jicama tackle the technical performance score so you can concentrate on the King – your message, your craft. 

Why we created jicama and who it’s for.

We’re passionate about local business, small business, start ups, and entrepreneurs. We saw the web as the way for “the little guy” to reach a global audience – ourselves included – we started as a marketing & design agency. But when we reached 300 clients we hit a wall.

We couldn’t move fast enough to scale any larger. Speed was only the tip of the iceberg, there were other issues lurking under the surface like reliability and security – all the very important things that we as a creative company found monotonous, boring, difficult, or time consuming.

 

What looked like a stumbling block was actually an opportunity.

We were tempted to take the easy way out, compromise our principles and create the minimum viable product. Instead, we decided to double down and create the best website performance solution possible without compromising integrity or creativity.

We experimented and tested and compared everything. As unexciting as that sounds – I won’t bore you with the details – learning what not to do turned out to be our breakthrough. Here’s what not to do; don’t listen to the hype. Nearly everyone claims to be THE authority, they’re not. We tried everyone, $25/mo hosting to $250/mo hosting – all of them said they were the best, yet all had similar (mediocre) website performance results. Don’t beleive the “experts”!

 

It was like running a race, once we started we had to finish – first.

Once we realized all the hosting companies claimed to have the best hosting but none of them had perfect website performance scores, that became our goal. We started asking why and every one (even google) told us not to even try… it just wasn’t possible, or feasible, or it was too expensive. None of that turned out to be fact. 

 

Real World WordPress & Divi Users

Our landing page scores are great but how do real world websites score with hundreds of pages, videos, woocommerce, membership, and more?

Divi Themed Sites With Jicama as Scored by GTMetrix

Faith Heights Church

https://faightheights.org

4 dozen pages of well trafficked content plus posts, modern tribe events calendar (free version), gravity forms, and other custom post types – hundreds of posts. 17 active plugins and 50+ third party modules for Divi.

• Numerous social media links/integrations
• Newsletter integration – mailchimp
• Videos all over the site – 7 on the home page
• Josefin Divi child theme from besuperfly
• 48 print ready PDFs gallery of “Hope Notes”
• Optimized for mobile, tablet, and desktop

Downtown Vineyard Church

https://dtvchurch.org

Mozaic platform designer Kami Fanning created this website. One of the primary functions of the website is LMS courses & membership for online church participation and learning.

• Social media integration
• Learning Management System
• 68 Published pages
• 16 Active plugins
• 3rd party Divi Modules
• Optimized for mobile, tablet, and desktop

Colorado Custom Elevator & Lift

https://coloradocustomlift.com

Client built website using the Divi theme, transferred to Jicama from another (big name) hosting provider. Fully loaded page time of less than one second.

• 25 pages & 20 posts
• Full width Divi image slider above the fold

Robert Stone Inc.

https://robertstoneinc.com

Robert Stone Inc. was our very first web client 8 years ago. We migrated them to jicama, rasing there performance score from an 87% (B) to 100% (A)

• 14 pages & 12 plugins
• Full width Divi image slider above the fold

 

Ellipsis Mining

https://ellipsismining.com

Ellipsis mining built their first website usng squarespace and a lovely design. They moved to WordPress for more functionality but wanted to keep the design so it was rebuilt from scratch using the Divi Theme.

• Custom built to match clients squarespace design

Anything Is Pawsible

https://anythingispawsible.net

Anything is Pawsible was rebuilt from scratch using the Divi theme after it was discovered their existing vendor had built the site entirely using custom – proprietary – code.

• Matched original site design
• Changes & posting now controlled by client

GTMetrix Optimization

While designing a website can be fun and rewarding, optimizing server and website performance can be a significant drain on your time when creating it. The repetitive technical processes can be frustrating and arduous. With Jicama, you won’t have to worry about optimization, backups, maintenance, updates, or other technical server concerns ever again – we do it for you.

We created Jicama to solve the “designers dilemma.” By automating time-consuming technical tasks like backups and optimization and ensuring high security, high reliability, and ultra speed, we enable you to focus on what truly matters.

Now imagine being twice as productive, spending more time on design without sacrificing time or money. Imagine attracting double the number of customers without putting in extra hours. Jicama has allowed us to create more inspiring design posts for creatives. What will you create with the extra time you’ll save?