What Should I Ask About Website Speed and Performance? (Reddit Checklist + Expert Tips)
The exact website speed and performance questions to ask any web designer or agency — Reddit-tested checklist plus expert tips from a Vancouver, BC web design team.
Ask any designer these five: what's your average Lighthouse mobile score, what hosting do you use, how do you handle images, do you use a CDN, and what's your Largest Contentful Paint on similar builds. If the answers are vague, that's your answer
Quick answer: the questions that actually matter
Ask any designer these five: what's your average Lighthouse mobile score, what hosting do you use, how do you handle images, do you use a CDN, and what's your Largest Contentful Paint on similar builds. If the answers are vague, that's your answer. Reddit's r/webdev and r/wordpress consistently agree these separate serious agencies from hobbyists.
Question 1 — What's your typical mobile Lighthouse score?
A competent modern web designer should be shipping sites with a Lighthouse mobile Performance score of 85 or higher on a real business page (homepage, not a blank template). If they've never heard of Lighthouse, or say 'oh scores don't matter,' you have your answer. Speed is not optional in 2026 — Google's Core Web Vitals directly affect search rankings, and slow sites cost you real revenue on mobile in Vancouver, Toronto, and everywhere else.
Question 2 — What hosting do you use and why?
Cheap $3/month shared hosting is where most speed problems start. Serious agencies host on Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, DigitalOcean, or well-tuned managed WordPress hosts like Kinsta or WP Engine. Ask specifically. If the answer is 'we use whatever the client wants' or 'our reseller hosting,' expect trouble. Every Cloud Peak Solutions package includes managed hosting we've tuned specifically for Canadian small business traffic.
Question 3 — How do you handle images?
Images are the #1 cause of slow sites. Ask: do you convert images to WebP or AVIF automatically? Do you serve responsive image sizes based on screen? Do you lazy-load below-the-fold images? Do you compress before upload? A designer who says 'the client uploads whatever they want to WordPress' is telling you their sites will be slow. A designer who runs images through Squoosh, ImageOptim, or an automated pipeline is telling you they care.
Question 4 — Do you use a CDN?
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) serves your site from a data centre near the visitor, dramatically speeding up load times globally. Cloudflare is free and takes 20 minutes to set up. If a designer isn't using one on client sites in 2026, they're either lazy or unaware — neither is great. Ask specifically which CDN and how they configure caching rules.
Question 5 — What's your Core Web Vitals track record?
Core Web Vitals are Google's three key performance metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) under 2.5s, Interaction to Next Paint (INP) under 200ms, and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) under 0.1. Ask what percentage of the designer's launched sites pass all three in the field, measured via Google Search Console. Anyone serious knows this number for their portfolio. Anyone who doesn't is guessing.
Bonus questions Reddit brings up constantly
How many plugins do you install on WordPress sites (fewer is better)? Do you defer non-critical JavaScript? Do you preload custom fonts? Do you run PageSpeed after every launch and before every handoff? Do you monitor performance monthly after launch? A yes to all of those is what separates a professional operation from a template-flipper.
How to verify their answers
Ask for three live URLs of recently launched client sites. Run each through pagespeed.web.dev on mobile. Anything under 70 on mobile is a red flag. Anything under 50 is disqualifying. Cross-reference with the portfolio or ask for URLs directly. If you want a free performance audit of your current site benchmarked against Canadian industry averages, get in touch — we'll send you a plain-English report within 48 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a professional small business website cost in Canada?
Most small business websites in Canada cost between $1,500 and $8,000 for a one-time build, or $23–$95 per month on a managed plan. See our current packages for exact pricing.
How long does it take to build a new website?
A typical small business website takes 2–4 weeks from kickoff to launch. Larger custom builds with e-commerce or booking systems usually take 4–8 weeks.
Do you handle hosting and ongoing maintenance?
Yes. Every Cloud Peak Solutions plan includes hosting, SSL, backups, security updates, and monthly content edits so your site stays fast and secure.
About the Author
This article was written by the team at Cloud Peak Solutions, a Vancouver-based web design and digital marketing agency helping small businesses across Canada and the US get more customers online through professional web design, local SEO, and Google Business Profile management. Learn more at cloudpeak.solutions.
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