92.4% of general contractors fail Core Web Vitals
Slow sites lose project inquiries to faster competitors.
Based on analysis of 258,136 general contractors websites
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National Benchmark Statistics
Average Mobile Score
45.3
/100Method: 75th percentile of LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), INP (Interaction to Next Paint), and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
Passing Core Web Vitals
7.6
%95% CI: 7.5–7.7%
Method: Percentage of sites passing all three Core Web Vitals metrics at the 75th percentile
Sample Size
258136
sitesMethod: Identified via public business directories, search results, and local listings
Key Findings
Project leads research contractors on mobile during site inspections—slow loading loses inquiries
Google Local Services Ads charge more for slow landing pages, reducing profit margin per lead
Most contractor WordPress sites are portfolio-heavy with unoptimized before/after galleries
Methodology
This analysis measures website performance across general contractors nationwide using Google PageSpeed Insights. Each site is evaluated on three Core Web Vitals metrics:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): Measures loading speed—target is 2.5 seconds or less
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint): Measures responsiveness—target is 200 milliseconds or less
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Measures visual stability—target is 0.1 or less
Sites passing all three metrics at the 75th percentile are counted as "passing" Core Web Vitals. Mobile scores are prioritized as they drive search rankings and ad quality scores.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do contractor websites load slowly?
General contractor WordPress sites average 8-12 plugins plus heavy image galleries. A typical site has 50-100 before/after project photos, often unoptimized and uncompressed. Average load time: 7.1 seconds. High-performance sites: 1.9 seconds. Homeowners abandon slow portfolio sites within 2 seconds.
How does website speed affect contractor lead generation?
Homeowners researching contractors on mobile expect instant portfolio access. Slow sites lose 35-50% of leads. A contractor spending $2,500/month on Google Ads with a slow site could increase lead capture by 40-60% just by rebuilding for speed.
Can I optimize my WordPress portfolio site?
Portfolio optimization has limits. Most WordPress portfolio sites plateau at 50-60 PageSpeed score. Custom-coded contractor sites achieve 94-98 scores while maintaining rich galleries. For contractors with significant ad spend, the rebuild typically pays back within 3-4 months through improved lead conversion.
How do I keep my project portfolio fast?
Use modern image formats (WebP), lazy loading, CDN delivery, and API-based gallery loading instead of inline image blocks. A custom-built site can showcase 200+ projects and maintain 94+ PageSpeed. WordPress struggles with this tradeoff.
How do general contractors compare nationally?
Our analysis of 258,000+ general contractors shows: Only 12% pass Core Web Vitals on mobile. Average mobile score: 35. Custom-coded sites average 92 mobile score. The performance gap directly correlates with project volume—fast contractors capture 3-5x more inbound inquiries.
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