03 · Performance
Mobile performance is the headline gap
Google Lighthouse lab scores, run 21 August 2026. Core Web Vitals: 1 of 5 passing.
35/100
Mobile — Lighthouse
Poor. First-time visitor, cold cache, throttled connection.
60/100
Desktop — Lighthouse
Needs work. Closest metric to crossing a passing band.
2.8s
LCP — real users (CrUX)
28-day field data. INP 150 ms, CLS 0.14. Overall: average.
LCP19.6sLargest Contentful PaintFAIL
FCP5.6sFirst Contentful PaintFAIL
TBT710msTotal Blocking TimeFAIL
CLS0.117Cumulative Layout ShiftNEEDS WORK
INP150msInteraction to Next PaintPASS
Read this carefully — the two datasets disagree
The lab test simulates a first-time visitor on a cold cache and throttled mobile connection — that is where the 35/100 comes from. Real Chrome users score materially better because repeat visits are cached. Both are true. The lab number matters because it describes the exact session in which a new prospect decides whether to stay, and new-visitor sessions are where acquisition spend lands. INP is the one metric passing comfortably: the site responds quickly once it has loaded. The problem is getting it loaded — a 19.6-second largest-paint and 710 ms of blocked main thread point at the third-party script load rather than at the theme itself.