Optimizing SportsSurfaces WordPress Website
Budget: $250 – $750 USD
Job Description
About Us SportSurfaces.com is a multi-million-dollar sports-construction brand (tennis, pickleball, padel, basketball, track). We run a high-traffic WordPress website hosted on SiteGround with Cloudflare CDN, integrated with Buildertrend, Salesforce, and Mailchimp. Our site looks great—but it’s slow. GTmetrix shows a 5s LCP, 6 MB payload, 150+ requests, and bloated JavaScript. We need a professional who can deliver Core Web Vitals green scores without breaking design or tracking. Mission Reduce homepage LCP from 5 s → < 1.8 s, TBT < 150 ms, total payload < 1.5 MB, and requests ≤ 80—within one week—while maintaining full site functionality and analytics accuracy. Scope of Work Audit & Plan Identify all render-blocking and unused scripts/CSS. Inventory all GTM tags and third-party calls; flag what can be delayed or removed. Front-End Optimization Replace/optimize hero video (WebM < 800 KB or image poster). Convert images to WebP/AVIF; correct dimensions and preload LCP image. Self-host fonts; preload minimal weights; add font-display:swap. Generate and inline Critical CSS (< 14 KB). JavaScript Optimization Defer or delay non-critical JS (FB Pixel, GA4, MCFX, reCAPTCHA, sliders). Code-split or unload unused theme bundles. Document all changes for rollback. Caching / CDN Configure SiteGround Optimizer (Dynamic Cache, Memcached, Brotli, HTTP/3). Ensure Cloudflare edge caching + Page Rules for long-term static assets. Fix redirect chain to a single canonical (https + www or non-www). Measurement & Reporting Provide before/after Lighthouse + GTmetrix + WebPageTest results. Deliver a short Performance Playbook listing ongoing best practices. Requirements Proven record delivering Core Web Vitals green for WordPress on SiteGround or similar managed hosts. Deep knowledge of JS optimization, GTM governance, image compression, and Critical CSS generation. Fluent English and ability to coordinate with our COO and marketing lead. Bonus: Experience with Cloudflare Workers / Edge Cache Rules. Deliverables / Success Metrics Metric Target Verified By LCP ≤ 1.8 s Lighthouse desktop + mobile TBT ≤ 150 ms GTmetrix Total Requests ≤ 80 GTmetrix Waterfall Page Weight ≤ 1.5 MB Network tab Functionality 100% intact Manual QA Documentation Perf Playbook + Tag List Final handoff Milestones: Audit → Implementation → Validation → Sign-off Acceptance Checklist (for Paul / COO to verify completion) Item Expected Result Verified By Pass/Fail 1. GTmetrix “Performance ≥ 90” Page loads ≤ 2 s, LCP ≤ 1.8 s COO 2. Lighthouse Mobile ≥ 80 Field data consistent across runs COO 3. Network Payload ≤ 1.5 MB Chrome DevTools → Network Summary Developer + QA 4. Requests ≤ 80 GTmetrix Waterfall QA 5. Redirect chain ≤ 1 hop curl -I sportsurfaces.com QA 6. Video optimized or replaced WebM ≤ 800 KB or click-to-play poster COO 7. Fonts self-hosted & preloaded No gstatic fonts in waterfall QA 8. Critical CSS inlined < 14 KB PageSource inspection QA 9. GTM tags documented Spreadsheet of active/deferred tags Marketing 10. Functionality check Forms, menus, videos, analytics intact Team 11. Performance Playbook delivered PDF or .md file with best practice
About Us SportSurfaces.com is a multi-million-dollar sports-construction brand (tennis, pickleball, padel, basketball, track). We run a high-traffic WordPress website hosted on SiteGround with Cloudflare CDN, integrated with Buildertrend, Salesforce, and Mailchimp. Our site looks great—but it’s slow. GTmetrix shows a 5s LCP, 6 MB payload, 150+ requests, and bloated JavaScript. We need a professional who can deliver Core Web Vitals green scores without breaking design or tracking. Mission Reduce homepage LCP from 5 s → < 1.8 s, TBT < 150 ms, total payload < 1.5 MB, and requests ≤ 80—within one week—while maintaining full site functionality and analytics accuracy. Scope of Work Audit & Plan Identify all render-blocking and unused scripts/CSS. Inventory all GTM tags and third-party calls; flag what can be delayed or removed. Front-End Optimization Replace/optimize hero video (WebM < 800 KB or image poster). Convert images to WebP/AVIF; correct dimensions and preload LCP image. Self-host fonts; preload minimal weights; add font-display:swap. Generate and inline Critical CSS (< 14 KB). JavaScript Optimization Defer or delay non-critical JS (FB Pixel, GA4, MCFX, reCAPTCHA, sliders). Code-split or unload unused theme bundles. Document all changes for rollback. Caching / CDN Configure SiteGround Optimizer (Dynamic Cache, Memcached, Brotli, HTTP/3). Ensure Cloudflare edge caching + Page Rules for long-term static assets. Fix redirect chain to a single canonical (https + www or non-www). Measurement & Reporting Provide before/after Lighthouse + GTmetrix + WebPageTest results. Deliver a short Performance Playbook listing ongoing best practices. Requirements Proven record delivering Core Web Vitals green for WordPress on SiteGround or similar managed hosts. Deep knowledge of JS optimization, GTM governance, image compression, and Critical CSS generation. Fluent English and ability to coordinate with our COO and marketing lead. Bonus: Experience with Cloudflare Workers / Edge Cache Rules. Deliverables / Success Metrics Metric Target Verified By LCP ≤ 1.8 s Lighthouse desktop + mobile TBT ≤ 150 ms GTmetrix Total Requests ≤ 80 GTmetrix Waterfall Page Weight ≤ 1.5 MB Network tab Functionality 100% intact Manual QA Documentation Perf Playbook + Tag List Final handoff Milestones: Audit → Implementation → Validation → Sign-off Acceptance Checklist (for Paul / COO to verify completion) Item Expected Result Verified By Pass/Fail 1. GTmetrix “Performance ≥ 90” Page loads ≤ 2 s, LCP ≤ 1.8 s COO 2. Lighthouse Mobile ≥ 80 Field data consistent across runs COO 3. Network Payload ≤ 1.5 MB Chrome DevTools → Network Summary Developer + QA 4. Requests ≤ 80 GTmetrix Waterfall QA 5. Redirect chain ≤ 1 hop curl -I sportsurfaces.com QA 6. Video optimized or replaced WebM ≤ 800 KB or click-to-play poster COO 7. Fonts self-hosted & preloaded No gstatic fonts in waterfall QA 8. Critical CSS inlined < 14 KB PageSource inspection QA 9. GTM tags documented Spreadsheet of active/deferred tags Marketing 10. Functionality check Forms, menus, videos, analytics intact Team 11. Performance Playbook delivered PDF or .md file with best practice