A slow website doesn’t always look broken.
In fact, many WordPress sites appear fine on the surface but quietly lose enquiries, sales, and leads due to performance issues happening behind the scenes.
If your website is underperforming, chances are the warning signs are already there.
Below are seven common signs that your website’s performance may be costing you conversions.
1. Mobile Users Leave Almost Immediately
If mobile visitors don’t stick around, performance is often the reason.
Mobile connections are less forgiving than desktop, and even small delays can cause users to abandon a page before it fully loads. If your analytics show high mobile bounce rates, speed is one of the first things worth investigating.
2. Your Website Loads “Eventually”
A page that loads in five or six seconds isn’t technically broken, but most users won’t wait that long.
Visitors expect pages to load almost instantly. If your site feels like it’s “getting there eventually”, that delay can be enough to lose attention and trust.
3. Forms Are Started but Rarely Completed
If users begin filling in forms but don’t submit them, performance may be a factor.
Slow-loading scripts, delayed validation, or pages freezing briefly during submission can cause users to abandon forms without realising why.
From the user’s perspective, the site just feels unreliable.
4. Performance Feels Inconsistent
Some days your site feels fast. Other days it doesn’t.
Inconsistent performance is often a sign of:
- Overloaded hosting
- Poor caching setup
- Traffic spikes your site isn’t prepared for
This unpredictability can be worse than a consistently slow site, because users don’t know what to expect.
5. You’ve Installed Multiple “Speed” Plugins
Many WordPress sites end up with several performance plugins installed over time, with each added to fix a specific issue.
Unfortunately, overlapping plugins often:
- Conflict with each other
- Increase page weight
- Make troubleshooting harder
- Mask deeper issues
If performance depends on a stack of plugins, it’s usually a sign the foundation needs attention.
6. Your Bounce Rate Is High
High bounce rates are often blamed on content or design, but performance plays a major role.
If visitors leave before the page becomes usable, they never even see the content. Without looking at real loading behaviour, it’s easy to misdiagnose the problem.
7. You Avoid Running Speed Tests Because the Results Are Confusing
If performance tools feel overwhelming or contradictory, you’re not alone.
Many businesses see long lists of warnings without clear guidance on:
- What actually matters
- What can be safely ignored
- What will make a real difference
This often leads to inaction and ongoing performance loss.
Why These Signs Matter
Each of these issues chips away at your website’s effectiveness.
Individually, they may seem minor. Together, they can significantly reduce:
- Enquiries
- Sales
- Engagement
- Return on marketing spend
Performance issues are often invisible, and they can persist for years without being addressed properly.
How BBI Helps
At BBI we focus on understanding why a site behaves the way it does.
Our WordPress Performance Assessment helps you:
- Identify which issues are affecting real users
- Separate genuine problems from low-impact warnings
- Understand where performance improvements will have the biggest return
From there, we provide clear, practical recommendations tailored to your site.
Do Any of These Sound Familiar?
If you recognise two or more of these signs, your website performance is likely holding you back.
A professional review can quickly clarify what’s happening and what’s worth fixing.
Contact BBI to discuss a WordPress performance assessment and start turning performance into conversions.