This October, we rebuilt https://www.Pioneer.Media from a WordPress site into a fast, hand-built website. Here is what changed, measured with Google’s own testing tool, and what the same approach can do for your business.
Google PageSpeed scores, before and after
| Google PageSpeed score (out of 100) | Old WordPress site | New site |
|---|---|---|
| Speed on a phone | 51 | 85 |
| Speed on a computer | 70 | 99 |
| Accessibility | 84 | 97 |
On a computer, the new site’s full PageSpeed report card reads 99 Performance, 97 Accessibility, 100 Best Practices and 100 SEO. It also passes 2 of 2 Agentic Browsing checks, Google’s newest test of whether AI assistants that browse the web for people can read and use a page. The old site passed none.
How fast it loads, and what a visitor’s browser downloads
| Homepage | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Load time (Pingdom) | 2.19 s | 0.66 s | 3.3× faster |
| Performance grade (Pingdom) | 83 | 90 | 7 points higher |
| Requests (files fetched) | 96 | 31 | 68% fewer |
| JavaScript files | 43 | 16* | 63% fewer |
| CSS files | 9 | 1 | 89% fewer |
| Page size | 2,522 KB | 489 KB | 81% smaller |
* Only 1 of the 16 is the site’s own code. The other 15 belong to the privacy consent banner and Cloudflare’s visitor statistics.
1. It loads about three times faster
On a typical phone connection, the old homepage took over 10 seconds to show its main content. The new one does it in 3.7 seconds, and on a computer it appears in under a second. Pingdom’s speed test clocks the full page load at 0.66 seconds, down from 2.19. Visitors who wait leave, so speed means more calls and messages.
Nothing jumps around while the page loads, either. Google’s “layout shift” measure went from 0.95 to 0.001 (under 0.1 is good).
2. It’s easier for everyone to use
The CDC reports that up to one in four U.S. adults has a disability. The new site is built so people using screen readers, keyboards or larger text can find their way around, which also makes it simpler for everyone else. Its accessibility score went from 84 to 97: all 1,653 images have a written description for screen readers, and every page has clear headings, readable color contrast and a “you are here” trail.
3. It’s much harder to hack
When a WordPress site is hacked, the way in is usually an outdated plugin or a weak password. The new site has no WordPress, no plugins, no database and no login page, so those doors don’t exist. Pages are delivered from Cloudflare’s worldwide network with five security protections switched on (the old site had none), the contact form blocks spam bots, and a privacy banner handles visitor consent.
4. It’s ready for Google and AI search
Every page tells Google exactly what it is about. Each of the 169 pages has its own title, description and the business details that search engines read, and most pages open with a short, plain answer that AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews can quote (see AI optimization). The site scores 100 for SEO and passes both Agentic Browsing checks.
All 240 pages Google had listed for the old site still work: each one now leads to its new page, so search rankings carry over.
5. Less upkeep, fewer surprises
WordPress sites need constant updates to the core, theme and plugins, and an update can break a page. The new site has nothing to update, so it keeps working while we spend your maintenance time on real improvements. Changes go live in about a minute, and every version is saved, so any change can be undone in one step.
How we measured
We tested the homepage on October 26, 2026 with Google PageSpeed Insights (Lighthouse 13.5) and the Pingdom Website Speed Test (from Washington, D.C.). Page size is Google’s figure for a phone, and file counts come from the browser on a fresh load, before scrolling. The old site was tested at its archived address, old.pioneer.media. Its SEO score isn’t compared, because it is now deliberately hidden from search engines while it is retired.
Want the same results for your website?
We’ll show you what a faster, safer and easier-to-find website could look like for your business. Call (865) 308-2887 or send us a message.
About the author
Leighton Smith is Pioneer Media’s website designer, web developer and webmaster, based in East Tennessee. As a solopreneur, he is each client’s one point of contact and has built hundreds of websites since learning to code in 2006.
