Why Your Website Might Be Slower Than It Should Be
If you’ve ever wondered why your business website takes a few seconds too long to load, Node.js bloat could be the culprit. And if you’re a Western Sydney business owner thinking “what even is Node.js?”, don’t worry - I’ll explain everything in plain English.
Node.js is the engine that powers many modern websites. Think of it like the engine in your car. When it’s running smoothly, everything works great. But when it’s carrying too much weight - unnecessary code, outdated packages, redundant files - it slows down. That’s bloat.
For businesses in Parramatta, Blacktown, Penrith and across Western Sydney, a slow website isn’t just annoying. It costs you money. Research from Google shows that 53% of mobile visitors leave a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. That’s potential customers walking out the door before they even see what you offer.
What Causes Node.js Bloat?
Before we fix the problem, let’s understand what causes it. There are usually four main culprits:
Unused Dependencies: Over time, developers add packages (pre-built code libraries) to websites. Some get used once and forgotten. Others become outdated but stay installed. It’s like keeping boxes in your garage that you haven’t opened in five years.
Duplicate Code: When multiple packages do similar things, you end up with the same functionality loaded multiple times. Your website is essentially carrying three toolboxes when it only needs one.
Development Tools in Production: Testing tools, debugging helpers, and development aids are essential when building a website. But leaving them in the live version is like driving to work with your entire workshop in the boot.
Outdated Packages: Old versions of packages are often larger and slower than newer ones. Keeping everything updated isn’t just about security - it’s about performance too.
How to Check If Your Website Has Bloat
You don’t need to be a developer to spot the signs. Here are some practical ways to check:
Use Google PageSpeed Insights: Visit pagespeed.web.dev, enter your website address, and look at the performance score. Anything below 50 on mobile suggests room for improvement.
Check Your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This measures how long it takes for the main content to appear. For a good user experience, aim for under 2.5 seconds.
Look at Your Bundle Size: If you have access to your website’s technical setup, check the JavaScript bundle size. For most business websites, anything over 500KB of JavaScript is worth investigating.
Seven Practical Ways to Reduce Node.js Bloat
Now for the practical stuff. These are the techniques that can genuinely cut your website’s bloat by 70% or more.
1. Audit Your Dependencies
Start by reviewing every package your website uses. Ask: “Do we actually need this?”
A typical business website might have 200+ packages installed. After a proper audit, that number often drops to 50-80. The rest were either unused, duplicated, or replaceable with simpler solutions.
For your developer, the command is straightforward:
npm ls --depth=0This lists all top-level packages. Go through each one and ask what it does. If nobody can answer, it’s probably safe to remove.
2. Switch to Lighter Alternatives
Many popular packages have lighter alternatives that do the same job with less code. Some common swaps:
- Moment.js to Day.js: Date handling with 97% less code
- Lodash to native JavaScript: Modern browsers don’t need many helper functions anymore
- Request to fetch: Built-in browser functionality instead of an external package
These swaps alone can reduce bundle size by 100KB or more - that’s noticeable on mobile connections.
3. Use Tree Shaking
Tree shaking is a technique where your build tool removes unused code automatically. Think of it like a gardener pruning dead branches.
If you’re using a modern framework like Next.js, Astro, or Nuxt, tree shaking is usually built-in. But it needs to be configured correctly. Many websites have it turned off without realising.
Ask your developer: “Is tree shaking enabled and working properly?“
4. Implement Code Splitting
Instead of loading all your website’s code at once, code splitting breaks it into smaller pieces that load only when needed.
Imagine your website is a restaurant. Code splitting means you don’t cook every item on the menu when a customer walks in - you cook what they order. The kitchen (server) works less, and the customer gets their food faster.
For a typical business website with a homepage, about page, services, and contact form, code splitting can reduce initial load by 40-60%.
5. Update Your Packages Regularly
Older packages aren’t just security risks - they’re often bloated. Package maintainers spend a lot of time making their code smaller and faster.
Set a monthly reminder to update packages. For your developer, this is the process:
npm outdated
npm updateOne of our clients in Parramatta saw a 15% performance improvement just from updating packages that hadn’t been touched in two years.
6. Remove Development Dependencies from Production
Development dependencies are tools that help build and test your website. They shouldn’t be included in the version your customers see.
Check your package.json file (the manifest that lists all your packages). Make sure testing tools, linting tools, and development servers are listed under “devDependencies” not “dependencies”.
A proper production build should exclude these entirely.
7. Enable Compression
Your web server can compress files before sending them to visitors’ browsers. This is like vacuum-sealing clothes before packing a suitcase - same contents, much smaller package.
Two common compression methods:
- Gzip: Supported everywhere, reduces file sizes by 60-70%
- Brotli: Newer, better compression (15-20% smaller than Gzip), supported by all modern browsers
Most hosting providers offer this, but it’s often not enabled by default. Check with your host or developer.
Real Results: What to Expect
When we apply these techniques for clients across Western Sydney, we typically see:
- 60-70% reduction in JavaScript bundle size
- 40-50% improvement in page load times
- 20-30% better Google PageSpeed scores
- Lower bounce rates as visitors stay longer
For one tradesperson in Blacktown, reducing bloat took their mobile PageSpeed score from 38 to 72. Their enquiry form submissions increased by 25% the following month. Faster pages mean more customers.
How to Talk to Your Developer About This
If you’re not managing your website yourself, here’s how to approach the conversation with your developer or agency:
- “Can you run a bundle analysis and show me what’s taking up the most space?”
- “Are there any packages we installed but aren’t using anymore?”
- “Is our production build optimised, or does it include development tools?”
- “When were our packages last updated?”
- “Is compression enabled on our server?”
A good developer will appreciate these questions. They show you understand the importance of performance without telling them how to do their job.
The Business Case for Performance
For Australian businesses, website speed directly affects your bottom line:
- Search Rankings: Google uses page speed as a ranking factor. Faster sites appear higher in search results.
- Conversion Rates: Amazon found that every 100ms of latency cost them 1% in sales. While you’re not Amazon, the principle applies to every business.
- Mobile Users: In Australia, 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. Mobile connections are often slower, making optimisation even more important.
- Advertising Costs: If you run Google Ads, faster landing pages mean higher Quality Scores, which means lower cost per click.
Getting Started
If your website feels slow, don’t ignore it. Here’s a simple action plan:
- This week: Run your site through Google PageSpeed Insights and note your score
- Ask your developer: Request a dependency audit and bundle analysis
- Set priorities: Focus on the biggest wins first - usually unused packages and missing compression
- Measure again: After changes, re-test to confirm improvements
- Maintain: Set up monthly reviews to prevent bloat from creeping back
Need Help?
At Cosmos Web Tech, we help Western Sydney businesses get their websites running at peak performance. If your site is slower than it should be, we can audit it, identify the problems, and fix them.
Whether you built your site yourself, had another agency do it, or just inherited it when you bought the business - we can help speed things up.
A faster website means happier customers, better search rankings, and more enquiries. That’s what every business wants.
Get in touch for a free performance audit. We’ll show you exactly what’s slowing your site down and what it would take to fix it.
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Cosmos Web Tech is the web development division of Ganda Tech Services, specialising in website design, SEO, and e-commerce for Australian businesses.