Website Loading Speed: Why Enrollment Teams Obsess Over It
Dennis Powers reveals why most business websites quietly lose ground every year — and the continuous-improvement model that outperforms expensive redesigns.
Hosts: Percy Barr, Wayne Pratt and Bernie Franzgrote
Dennis Powers reveals the hidden taxes draining your website — and the continuous-improvement model that beats redesign every time. CGN Power Hour.
GROWTH CATEGORY: Marketing & Branding
Brought to you by Canada Growth Network, WebIndexer, and East Trade Winds.
Most business websites lose ground quietly. Traffic dips. Engagement slips. Conversions leak. And the usual answer — another six-figure redesign — rarely solves the real problem. Dennis Powers has a better way.
Watch the full conversation here:
Who this is for
SMB owners, solopreneurs, corporate escapees, and nonprofit leaders building real systems.
Key Lessons
1. Websites pay hidden taxes every day.
Speed tax. Accessibility tax. SEO tax. Security tax. They pile up while you are focused on running the business. None of them show up in your dashboard until traffic starts sliding. A site that ran fine three years ago can quietly become a drag — slower load times, aging plugins, weaker accessibility — and Google sees all of it.
2. The 2.5-second rule has real teeth.
Google measures the right mobile load time at 2.5 seconds. Every extra second past that costs roughly 7% in conversions. A site that took ten seconds to load was fine in the dial-up era. Today it loses customers in real time — and the bar keeps moving lower.
3. Continuous improvement beats redesign.
Dennis has clients running 15+ years on the same continuous-improvement model. The site looks different now than at launch. But there was never a single redesign project. Just steady iteration tied to marketing — and a 1x to 100x return on every dollar invested.
Practical Steps
- Run a 30-second health check. Go to pagespeed.web.dev, paste your URL, hit run. You'll see your core web vitals plus a clear list of fixes — no technical translation needed.
- Pick one tax to clear this month. Pick speed, accessibility, SEO, or security. Do not try to fix all four. One steady move every month compounds faster than one redesign every five years.
- Tie every site improvement to marketing. A faster site with no marketing is just a faster site. Pair every improvement with a marketing layer — that is where the 1x to 100x return lives.
About the Guest
Dennis Powers is the Growth Gorilla at Cheeky Monkey Media. He spent 30 years in B2B sales — starting in music, moving into video production and his own studio in Vancouver, and now living in BC's Okanagan Valley. He helps nonprofits, higher-ed institutions, and mission-driven businesses get more out of the websites they already have. Connect with Dennis on LinkedIn.
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Partners on this episode
- Canada Growth Network — Business connections + GoHighLevel CRM for $47 CAD/month.
- WebIndexer — Turn your website into a 24/7 client-facing assistant.
- East Trade Winds — Free weekly networking, Tuesdays 8–9 AM EST.
FAQ
Q: Do I need to redesign my website to improve performance?
No. In most cases continuous improvement — speed, accessibility, SEO, and content updates — outperforms redesign. Redesigns are expensive, stressful, and often deliver worse results.
Q: How do I know if my website is slow?
Use pagespeed.web.dev. Paste your URL, hit run, get a free 30-second report with core web vitals and a list of fixes.
Q: What is the 2.5-second rule?
Google measures the right mobile load time at 2.5 seconds. Every extra second past that costs about 7% in conversions.
