Speed isn't a feature you add at the end. It's a series of small defaults that, taken together, keep a site fast for years. Here are five we never skip.
1. Render on the server
We ship server-rendered HTML so the first paint is content, not a loading spinner. The browser gets something useful immediately.
2. Treat images as a budget
Every image has explicit dimensions, modern formats, and the right size for the screen. No layout shift, no megabyte hero photos.
3. Self-host fonts
Fonts load from our own domain with no extra network round-trips, so text appears instantly and never blocks the page.
4. Ship less JavaScript
Most of a page should be static. We only send interactive code where it's actually needed, and we lazy-load the heavy parts below the fold.
5. Measure in CI
Performance budgets run on every change, so a regression is caught before it ships not after a customer complains.
None of this is exotic. It's discipline. And it's why accessibility, SEO, and Core Web Vitals come for free instead of as an expensive afterthought.
