The Performance Gap Is Real
Google's PageSpeed Insights tool scores websites from 0 to 100. Under 50 is poor. 50–89 needs improvement. 90 and above is good. The average WordPress site scores somewhere in the 50s to low 70s. The average Squarespace or Wix site is in a similar range. A professionally built static site — built with tools like Nuxt, Next.js, or Gatsby and deployed to a CDN — routinely scores 95 or higher.
That's not a small gap. That's the difference between Google seeing your site as a strong result or a mediocre one. And since 2021, that difference has directly affected your rankings.
Why WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix Are Slow
The performance problems aren't really about which platform you chose. They're about how these platforms work at a fundamental level.
WordPress uses PHP and a database on every request
When a visitor lands on your WordPress site, here's what actually happens: a server receives the request, PHP code executes, it queries a MySQL database to pull your content, assembles the HTML page, and only then sends a response. Every single page load. Every single visitor.
On top of that, every plugin you've installed adds its own JavaScript, CSS, and server-side code to that process. Your SEO plugin, your contact form, your image gallery, your booking widget, your analytics tool — they all run on every request. The average WordPress site has 20 or more plugins installed. By the time the page reaches a visitor's browser, it's carrying the weight of every decision you've made in the WordPress dashboard over the years.
Squarespace and Wix ship heavy JavaScript bundles
The website builders take a different approach — they rely heavily on JavaScript running in the browser to render the page. This means visitors are downloading megabytes of code before they can see your content. These platforms also embed their own analytics, marketing tools, and template systems, all of which add to the page weight. Neither model is designed with raw speed as the priority.
Both approaches result in the same outcome: slow load times, poor Core Web Vitals scores, and lower Google rankings than a purpose-built static site would achieve.
How Static Sites Are Different
A static site doesn't work the way a WordPress site does. It works the way a CDN is designed to work — by delivering pre-built files from a server physically close to the visitor.
The entire site is built in advance. A tool like Nuxt generates every page as pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. This build process happens once at deploy time, not on every visitor request. Those files are then uploaded to a Content Delivery Network with servers distributed globally.
When someone visits your site, their browser fetches a file from the nearest CDN node. Someone in Denver gets served from Denver. Someone in Miami gets served from Miami. There's no database query, no PHP execution, no server computation of any kind. Just a direct file transfer from a server a few miles away.
Time to First Byte (TTFB) is the measure of how quickly a server starts responding. It's one of the earliest signals in the loading process, and it sets the ceiling for everything that follows. A slow TTFB cannot be fixed with image optimization or clever caching — it's a structural problem baked into how the site works.
Every site I build uses this model: static files generated at build time, deployed to a CDN, and paired with Decap CMS so you can update your own content without touching code. You get the architecture of a high-performance site without giving up the ability to manage it yourself.
"But I Need to Update My Content" — That's What Decap CMS Is For
The most common objection to static sites is a reasonable one: "If everything is pre-built, how do I update my content? Do I have to hire a developer every time I want to change my hours or add a new service?"
No — and this is why I include Decap CMS on every site I build, without exception.
Decap CMS is an open-source content management system that connects directly to your site's Git repository — the place where your code and content live, usually on GitHub. It provides a clean, browser-based editing interface that works much like a simplified version of WordPress. You get a real CMS on day one, built into the project, at no extra cost.
You log in at your own domain (e.g., yoursite.com/admin), navigate to the page or post you want to change, make your edits in a familiar visual editor, and click publish. Behind the scenes, Decap commits those changes to Git, which triggers an automated build and deploy pipeline. Your site is updated and live within about 30–60 seconds.
What you actually get with Decap CMS:
- A familiar browser-based editor — no code required
- Login with your GitHub account — no new passwords to manage
- Publish changes that go live in under a minute
- Every edit tracked in Git — full history and easy rollback
- Zero ongoing hosting cost for the CMS itself
You get the editing experience of a CMS. Your visitors get the performance of a static site. The only thing you lose is the database, the PHP server, and the performance penalty that comes with them.
The SEO Connection
Performance and SEO are not separate concerns — they're the same concern. In May 2021, Google formally incorporated Core Web Vitals into its ranking algorithm. These are three specific performance metrics that Google measures for every page it indexes.
How long it takes for the main content of a page to appear. Should be under 2.5 seconds. Static sites commonly hit this in under 1 second. Many WordPress sites struggle to get there at all.
Measures visual stability — does the page "jump" as images and fonts load in? A score under 0.1 is passing. A well-built static site with properly sized images achieves close to 0.
How quickly the page responds to user interaction. Lighter, purpose-built JavaScript scores better here. Static sites ship only what they need — not whatever the plugins require.
These aren't optional signals. Google uses them to decide which pages deserve to rank. A site that fails Core Web Vitals is a site Google is less likely to surface on page one — regardless of how good the content is.
There's also a more direct effect: bounce rate. When a page loads in under a second, visitors stay. When it takes three or four seconds, a large percentage click away before they've read a single word. Google tracks that behavior. A site with a high bounce rate signals to Google that visitors aren't finding what they need — and rankings drop accordingly.
Security: The Bonus You Don't Have to Think About
WordPress is the most targeted CMS in the world. It powers a huge share of all websites on the internet, which makes it an attractive target. The typical attack vectors are brute-forcing the admin login page, exploiting known plugin vulnerabilities, and SQL injection attacks that manipulate the database.
A static site has none of these attack surfaces. There's no database to inject into. There's no admin login panel to brute-force. There's no PHP executing server-side code that can be manipulated. There are no plugins with CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) that need patching.
Your site is files on a CDN. Serving static files is one of the most secure computing operations that exists. For small businesses, this means: no emergency calls because your site was defaced. No scramble to update plugins after a vulnerability is disclosed. No money spent on WordPress security plugins or managed security hosting.
The Bottom Line
WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix are fine tools for getting a site up quickly without help. If that's how you started, it served its purpose.
But if you want a site that ranks well on Google, loads fast enough that visitors stay, and doesn't require ongoing security maintenance — a professionally built static site with Decap CMS is the right answer. It's the stack I use on every project I take on, because it's the only approach that solves the performance, CMS, and security problems simultaneously.
What you get with a professionally built static site:
- PageSpeed scores in the 90s — consistently
- Core Web Vitals that meet Google's good thresholds
- Sub-second load times on any device, anywhere in the world
- Decap CMS included on every build — update content yourself, no developer needed
- No database, no plugin vulnerabilities, no security babysitting
- A site that costs less to host and less to maintain over time
The performance gap is real, it's measurable, and it directly affects your Google ranking. If you're on WordPress or a website builder right now, a free audit will show you exactly where you stand — and what closing that gap would actually take.
If you run a law firm, home service business, or guiding or outfitter operation in the Vail Valley, the same principles apply — and a faster site means more clients finding you before they find your competitors.