Why Funeral Homes Need Fast-Loading Websites (and How to Get There)

By Welton Hong, founder and CEO of Ring Ring Marketing

When a family is grieving, patience is thin, and needs are urgent. If your website hesitates, they won’t: They’ll leave your website and choose the next funeral home in the search results.

Multiple studies show the cost of a slow site. For instance:

• 53% of the time, someone will abandon pages that take longer than three seconds to load, according to Google.
• The chance a visitor bounces jumps 32% as load time grows from 1 to 3 seconds, and 123% from 1 to 10 seconds on mobile, according to Google.
• Conversion-focused research conducted by HubSpot finds the best conversion rates happen between 0 to two seconds, with sharp declines as seconds pile on.

If your pages routinely exceed a few seconds to load, the implications are clear: People feel that slowness, and during an emotional time when they want to speak to a person as soon as possible, they’ll leave for a faster website.

What Does ‘Fast’ Mean for a Funeral Home Website?

Talking about website speed is a bit like driving a car … what “fast” or “slow” is often depends on who you’re asking.

If you have a slow website but grew up with a dial-up connection and an outdated computer, you may be like a senior citizen driving 25 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per hour zone: It’s slow, but it may not seem slow to you.

It’s important to realize that website speed doesn’t revolve around what you’re comfortable with or feel is adequate. You’re catering to potential customers, and these days, most customers have a high-speed internet connection and want everything now.

When your website loads, it’s not as though it’s a commercial break during a family’s favorite TV show – a bridge in time that they’ll resign themselves to wait through for a payoff.

These families aren’t watching a sitcom … they usually feel as though they are stuck in a horror movie, because they never imagined life without their loved one. They simply are not in the mood to wait to get answers. They want information as quickly as possible, so they can do right by their loved one.

 

Keeping the above in mind, your homepage, obituary pages and service pages should visually load in 1 to 2 seconds on typical mobile connections. Being able to perform critical tasks, such as finding an obituary, viewing service times and calling your firm, should be instantaneous.

Common Reasons a Funeral Home Website Is Too Slow

Below are frequent mistakes we see on funeral home and cemetery sites, with practical actions to fix them.

1. Huge obituary photos and gallery images. Symptoms include 3–10 MB images and slow scrolling times on obituary pages.

Here is how to fix this problem, which you can do yourself or handoff as tasks for your website manager:

• Resize images before they’re sent to visitors. On your server, shrink the images, so they’re no bigger than the largest size someone would see on a screen (for example, 1600 pixels wide). Then compress them, so the file size is smaller but still looks good (about 60–80% quality). Save them in modern formats like WebP or AVIF, so they load faster.
• Make images “smart” for different devices. Use a setting called responsive images, so that phones automatically get smaller versions of the images, instead of downloading the big desktop versions they don’t need.
• Load images only when needed. For pictures that are lower down the page (where you can’t see them right away), turn on lazy loading, so they load only when someone scrolls down to them. This way, the page appears faster.

2. Automatically playing memorial videos on the homepage.

This problem is often the result of a video at the top of your homepage, which can make the page load slowly. Moreover, the sound might start playing unexpectedly, which can be jarring for visitors.

Instead of playing the video automatically, show a still picture with a play button. Store the video on a service that loads it quickly – and only load the video player after someone clicks play.

Another alternative, of course, is to rethink having the video in such a prominent position altogether.

 

By taking the steps above, your page will open faster, and visitors won’t be startled by unexpected sound.

3. Large image files.

When oversized images take a long time to load, especially on phones or slower internet connections, it can be a real problem.

Resize images before putting them on the site (no wider than 1600 pixels), compress them so they’re smaller but still clear, and use modern formats like WebP or AVIF.

Smaller files load faster, which means more visitors will stay on your website.

4. Images that are too big for small screens.

Phones sometimes download the same huge images made for desktop computers, which wastes time and data.

Set up “responsive images,” so smaller devices automatically get smaller pictures.

Why this helps: Visitors on phones get the right size images, so your site loads faster.

5. Images loading too soon.

If pictures lower down the page load right away, even before someone scrolls to see them, this can also be a problem. This slows down the first view of your site.

Turn on “lazy loading,” so images only load when visitors are about to see them. Your pages will load faster because the browser won’t load items that people can’t see yet.

6. Too many fonts or fancy font files.

Using lots of different fonts or font styles can slow down your site because each one is another file that must be downloaded. It’s important to use only the fonts you really need and keep the number of styles small. Fewer font files mean less waiting for your page to appear.

7. Old or unused website code.

Extra scripts, plugins, or code that’s no longer used can also slow things down.

Review your site regularly, remove anything not needed and keep software and plugins updated. Less code means faster load times and fewer problems.

8. Slow hosting.

If your website hosting is slow, even a well-optimized site can load poorly.

Choose a hosting provider that offers fast servers and good uptime – better hosting means your site responds quickly for all visitors.

How to Evaluate Your Website Page Loading Time

If you’re unsure if your website is hitting the mark when it comes to the time it takes for pages to load, there are several tools you can consult listed below.

1. Google PageSpeed Insights

• What it does: Analyzes your site’s speed on both desktop and mobile. Gives a performance score and suggestions for improvements.
• How it works: You enter your website address, and it runs tests from Google’s servers, simulating different devices and network speeds.
• Link: https://pagespeed.web.dev

2. GTmetrix

• What it does: Checks your site speed and breaks down what’s slowing it down. Offers waterfall charts to show which parts of your site load first or last.
• How it works: You enter your site’s URL, and GTmetrix tests it from various locations around the world, giving grades and recommendations.
• Link: https://gtmetrix.com

3. Pingdom Website Speed Test

• What it does: Tests your website’s loading time from different locations and shows how each element (images, scripts, etc.) affects speed.
• How it works: Choose a testing location, enter your site, and see a detailed breakdown of load time and performance grades.
• Link: https://tools.pingdom.com

4. Webpage Test

• What it does: Provides advanced speed testing, including “first byte time,” visual load progress and filmstrip views of how your page loads.
• How it works: Lets you choose device type, browser, and location, then runs multiple tests to give accurate real-world results.
• Link: https://www.webpagetest.org

5. Lighthouse (via Chrome DevTools)

• What it does: A built-in Chrome tool for testing performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices.
• How it works: Open Chrome, right-click anywhere on your page, choose “Inspect,” go to the “Lighthouse” tab, and run a test.
• Link: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/lighthouse

Bottom line

A fast site is not just a technical nicety — it’s compassionate service. Meet families where they are (especially on mobile, when they tend to be in a hurry) with pages that appear in a second or two, and you’ll reduce abandonment, earn more calls and deliver the professional first impression your community deserves.

The data is clear: seconds matter — especially in moments that matter most.

Welton Hong is the founder & CEO of Ring Ring Marketing, which has helped over 600 small businesses grow their revenue through online marketing strategies. He is also the author of “Making Your Phone Ring with Internet Marketing for Funeral Homes.” Visit RingRingmarketing.com and follow the company on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and X.