Anatomy of a website Speed Sprint: how I ship a week of performance work
I sell a fixed week of performance work. On my pricing page the offer is four lines: Speed Sprint, $1,500 to $3,500, 5 to 7 days, for existing sites that feel slow, clunky on mobile, or weak at turning visits into calls. This post is the anatomy of that week, written for a different reader than my last two: freelancers and agencies who might run the same engagement. Every phase, in order,…
This report outlines the process of a week-long performance optimization project, known as a "Speed Sprint." The project aims to improve website speed, performance, and user experience. The sprint is structured as a fixed time frame of 5 to 7 days, which forces the team to prioritize tasks and stop when the time is up. The scope of the work is defined and includes tasks such as audit, cleanup, mobile layout fixes, and on-page optimization.
The sprint begins with a scaffold phase, where a client template is copied into a per-client workspace with specific directories and a scope file. This setup allows for a consistent and organized approach to the project. The first five days of the sprint are dedicated to reconnaissance tasks, which include a cache stack analysis, sitemap enumeration, baseline burst, LCP discovery, and a carry-over scan.
This fan-out approach enables the team to gather crucial information about the website before any optimization work begins.
Once the reconnaissance tasks are complete, the team transitions to the optimization phase, following a triage order based on the importance of each task for the website's performance. This order includes optimizing scripts and the render path, media optimization, and fixing on-page and technical issues. The team focuses on improving the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which have the most significant impact on user experience.
The team also replaces heavy plugins with lighter alternatives, optimizes media files, and improves mobile layout and call-to-action (CTA) elements.
Throughout the sprint, the team follows a consistent methodology, ensuring that each optimization is measured and reported. The deliverable is a before-and-after report, which provides a clear visualization of the improvements made to the website. By following this structured approach, the team can deliver a high-performing website within a week, ensuring that the client receives the promised performance improvements.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
