AgilePress

Tag: Core Web Vitals

  • The Consent Nightmare: Compliance Without the Performance Tax

    It is the most hated element of the modern web. The Cookie Banner.

    It blocks your content. It annoys your users. And if implemented poorly, it destroys your Google PageSpeed score.

    But since GDPR and Google Consent Mode v2, it is not optional. You must have it.

    The market is flooded with solutions, from expensive “Cloud Platforms” to heavy plugins. At AgilePress, we have tested them all. Our goal is simple: Compliance must not cost speed.

    Here is our honest breakdown of the Cookie Consent landscape.

    The “SaaS” Trap (CookieYes, Cookiebot, OneTrust)

    These are external platforms. You install a snippet of code, and they inject the banner from their servers.

    • The Pitch: “We scan your site automatically and handle everything in the cloud.”
    • The Reality: You are renting a banner.
      • The “Page View” Limit: This is the biggest hidden trap. Many free or starter plans (like CookieYes) limit you to 25,000 page views. If a blog post goes viral, your banner disappears, or they force you to upgrade instantly.
      • Performance: You are adding an external DNS lookup. If their server is slow, your website hangs before loading.
      • Cost: You pay a monthly fee forever just to show a popup.

    AgilePress Verdict: Avoid. Why pay monthly rent for a script that slows you down?

    The “Heavy” WordPress Plugin

    There are thousands of free plugins in the repository. Most are terrible. They load heavy CSS files, depend on jQuery, and often fail to actually block the cookies (they just show the banner but let Google Analytics run anyway, which is illegal).

    AgilePress Verdict: Risky. Unless configured perfectly, they offer false security and high bloat.

    The AgilePress Standard: The “Native” Solutions

    We prefer solutions that live on your server (no monthly fees) and run with minimal code (no speed penalty).

    Option A: Complianz (The Robust Choice)

    When we need a full wizard, region detection (showing different banners for USA vs. Europe), and legal document generation.

    • Why we use it: It is the most complete plugin. It handles the dreaded “Google Consent Mode v2” correctly.
    • The downside: It can be a bit heavy if you enable all the features. It requires careful configuration to avoid layout shifts (CLS).

    Option B: Pressidium / Orest Bida (The Performance King)

    This is our secret weapon for high-performance sites. It is based on the legendary open-source library by developer Orest Bida.

    • What is it? It is a pure, vanilla JavaScript solution. No heavy libraries. No external calls.
    • The Stats: It weighs less than 5kb. It loads instantly.
    • Why we love it:
      • Zero Layout Shift: It doesn’t push your content down.
      • Zero Cost: It is free/open-source software.
      • Developer Friendly: We have total control over the CSS. We can make it match your brand perfectly, not just a generic “Accept” button.

    This year, the rules changed. It is no longer enough to just show a banner. You must signal to Google before any tag fires whether the user has consented. If you don’t do this correctly:

    1. Google Analytics will stop tracking data.
    2. Google Ads remarketing will stop working.

    Both Complianz and Pressidium handle this signal correctly. Many cheap SaaS tools or old plugins do not.

    Conclusion: Compliance is a Feature, Not a Tax

    Don’t let a cookie banner hold your site hostage with monthly fees or slow loading times.

    • If you want automation and legal wizards: We deploy Complianz.
    • If you want pure speed and zero bloat: We deploy Pressidium (Orest Bida).

    But we never, ever rent a banner from a third-party platform. Your traffic belongs to you.

  • The Slider Myth: Why Carousels Kill Conversions (And Speed)

    It is the most common request in web design: “Can we put a slider on the homepage with 5 moving images and text that flies in from the left?”

    Clients love sliders. They feel dynamic. They solve internal politics (“Let’s put the CEO’s message on Slide 1 and the new product on Slide 2”).

    But there is a problem: Users hate them.

    At AgilePress, we have a strict policy: Friends don’t let friends use sliders. Here is why we almost never use Carousels on a homepage, and why you shouldn’t either.

    The 1% Click Rate (The Usability Problem)

    The data is brutal. Study after study (from Nielsen Norman Group to Notre Dame University) shows the same thing:

    • 1% of users click on a slider.
    • 89% of those clicks are on the first slide.
    • Nobody sees Slide 2.

    If you hide your most important offer on the second slide, you are effectively hiding it from 99% of your visitors. Users have developed “Banner Blindness.” When they see a moving box at the top of a page, their brain identifies it as an “Advertisement” and automatically ignores it to look for the actual content below.

    The Performance Killer (The Technical Problem)

    To make an image slide, fade, and fly, you need code. A lot of it.

    The Villain: Slider Revolution

    The most popular plugin for this, Revolution Slider, is a technical monster.

    • It loads massive JavaScript libraries (GreenSock, jQuery, etc.).
    • It forces the browser to recalculate the layout constantly during the animation.
    • It destroys your LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) score in Google Core Web Vitals.

    Using a slider is like putting a backpack full of rocks on your runner before a race. Your site will be slow, and Google will penalize you.

    The Mobile Nightmare

    Have you ever tried to read a slider on a phone?

    • The text becomes tiny.
    • The buttons are impossible to tap.
    • The slide changes just as you are trying to read it.

    70% of traffic is mobile. A horizontal slider on a vertical screen is a terrible use of space.

    The AgilePress Solution: The Static Hero

    If we kill the slider, what do we replace it with?

    The Hero Section. A single, powerful, high-quality image (or video background) with a clear headline and a single Call to Action (CTA).

    • Focus: The user knows exactly what you do in 3 seconds.
    • Speed: We load one optimized image. We use CSS Grid for layout. No heavy JavaScript.
    • Conversion: You force yourself to choose your #1 Value Proposition. You stop diluting your message.

    Less movement = More attention.

    Are all sliders evil? No. Carousels are useful when the user wants to browse content, not when you force it on them.

    Acceptable Use Cases:

    • Product Galleries: On a WooCommerce product page, the user expects to swipe through photos.
    • Testimonials: A small slider showing reviews is fine.
    • Logo Carousels: Displaying client logos.

    How we build them: We never use Revolution Slider. We use lightweight, code-only libraries like Splide.js or Swiper.js.

    • They weigh 10kb (vs 500kb).
    • They are touch-friendly.
    • They don’t block the rendering of the page.

    Conclusion: Stop Moving, Start Selling

    Your website is not a PowerPoint presentation. It is a sales tool.

    Every time you ask for a slider, you are prioritizing “looking cool” over “working well.” At AgilePress, we choose performance. We choose clarity.

    Kill the slider. Save the speed.