A beautiful website means nothing if it’s slow. When your pages take too long to load, users leave, and Google notices. Site speed isn’t just a technical detail anymore; it directly affects your SEO, conversions, and user trust.
At Rise Marketing, our team of Philadelphia web developers recently optimized several client websites built on React and Next.js. The results? Up to 50% improvement in Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), one of Google’s key Core Web Vitals metrics.
In this blog, we’ll share what we learned from real projects, including specific fixes, performance insights, and a clear action plan you can use to speed up your own site, without breaking your design or functionality.
Why Do Core Web Vitals Matter?
Google introduced Core Web Vitals to measure how users actually experience your website. The three key metrics are:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): how fast the main content loads.
- FID (First Input Delay): how quickly a site responds to a click or action.
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): how stable your layout is while loading.
A low LCP (under 2.5 seconds) signals a fast, user-friendly site. When we analyzed client data, we found that slow LCP scores were often linked to React components loading inefficiently, something we knew we could fix.
Our Philadelphia web developers took on the challenge to improve speed without sacrificing visuals.
Real Fix #1: Optimize Images for Modern Browsers
One of the biggest causes of poor LCP is oversized images. On several client sites, the hero banner or product images were large PNGs or JPEGs being rendered before compression.
Here’s what we did:
- Switched to Next.js Image Optimization using the <Image /> component.
- Converted all large assets to WebP and AVIF formats.
- Used priority tags on the first image in view to preload it faster.
- Added responsive image sizes (sizes attribute) for mobile users.
After applying these optimizations, the main client’s homepage LCP dropped from 4.2s to 2.1s, cutting load time nearly in half.
Our Philadelphia web developers also trained the client’s in-house content team on how to upload optimized images moving forward.
Real Fix #2: Reduce JavaScript Bloat
React and Next.js are powerful frameworks, but they can easily become heavy when too many components load at once. We noticed multiple client sites using large libraries globally, even for pages that didn’t need them.
Our fixes included:
- Code-splitting and lazy loading non-essential components.
- Using dynamic imports for third-party widgets.
- Removing unused dependencies from package.json.
- Turning off client-side rendering where static pages would suffice.
These steps instantly reduced bundle size by 35–40%, improving both loading and interaction times.
At Rise Marketing, our Philadelphia web developers apply these same performance principles to every new React and Next.js build, ensuring scalability without compromising speed.
Real Fix #3: Caching and CDN Setup
We often find that caching is either misconfigured or missing altogether. One client site relied solely on server-side caching, which meant each page request was fetching fresh data, even for unchanged content.
We fixed this by:
- Enabling Next.js Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR) to rebuild only when content changes.
- Using CDNs (like Cloudflare and Vercel Edge) to deliver static files from nearby servers.
- Setting smart cache-control headers for fonts, scripts, and images.
After setup, repeat visitors saw load times improve by another 30–40%. This also helped our Philadelphia web developers optimize cost efficiency by reducing unnecessary server hits.
Real Fix #4: Prioritize Critical CSS and Fonts
One often-overlooked performance factor is how CSS and fonts load. Many sites use Google Fonts or third-party stylesheets that block rendering.
Here’s how we fixed it:
- Used Next.js built-in font optimization to self-host fonts.
- Extracted critical CSS for above-the-fold content.
- Deferred non-critical CSS and scripts to load after first render.
In one redesign project for a Philadelphia-based interior design brand, this single change brought the site’s LCP down from 3.8s to 1.9s, a massive improvement in perceived speed.
Real Fix #5: Monitor, Measure, Repeat
Optimization isn’t a one-time task, it’s a continuous process. Our developers monitor live performance using tools like:
- Google PageSpeed Insights
- Lighthouse
- WebPageTest
- Vercel Analytics
Each tool provides unique insights, helping us fine-tune issues like render-blocking scripts or layout shifts over time.
Our Philadelphia web developers also build custom dashboards that pull real-time Core Web Vitals data so clients can track improvements easily.
Lessons from Local Client Projects
Over the past year, we’ve optimized websites for several Philadelphia-based businesses, from SaaS startups to eCommerce brands.
A few standout results:
- Local SaaS client: 52% faster homepage LCP, leading to 23% lower bounce rate.
- Retail chain: Reduced JavaScript size by 40%, improving mobile usability scores.
- Creative agency: Switched to Next.js and achieved an “A” on GTmetrix for all pages.
What these projects taught us is simple, speed doesn’t have to come at the expense of design or interactivity. With careful auditing and smart fixes, you can have both performance and polish.
How to Start Your Optimization Journey
If you’re managing a React or Next.js site and want to improve Core Web Vitals, here’s a simple roadmap:
- Audit your site using Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights.
- Identify LCP elements, typically the hero image, headline, or main banner.
- Optimize images, scripts, and fonts.
- Implement lazy loading and caching.
- Test after every change to see what makes the biggest difference.
If it feels overwhelming, that’s okay. Many of these fixes require development experience, and that’s where partnering with a skilled team helps.
At Rise Marketing, our Philadelphia web developers specialize in building and optimizing high-performance websites using React, Next.js, and other modern frameworks. We combine real-world experience, smart tooling, and proven results to ensure your site not only looks great but loads fast.
Conclusion
A faster website doesn’t just mean better scores, it means happier users, higher rankings, and stronger conversions. Every second counts, and every optimization adds up.
By applying the same techniques our Philadelphia web developers used to improve client sites, you can cut your LCP by up to 50%, improve SEO, and deliver a smoother experience across all devices.
At Rise Marketing, we’re committed to helping brands in Philadelphia and beyond reach their full web performance potential, one line of code at a time.
If you’re ready to speed up your React or Next.js site, let’s start your optimization audit today.