For years, we did what everyone else does.

Google Analytics.
Google Tag Manager.
Cookie banners.
Tracking scripts.
Heatmaps.

All the “must-have” stuff.

Then one day for Smithers, we got fed up and ripped the lot out.

And honestly?

The website went like a speeding bullet.

Desktop felt faster.

But mobile?

That’s where we really noticed it.

Pages loaded quicker. Less lag. Less waiting around for scripts to wake up and start talking to Google.

Does Google Analytics Actually Slow a Website Down?

Short answer?

Yes—anything you add to a website adds weight.

Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, Meta Pixel—they all add extra requests and JavaScript.

One script?

Not the end of the world.

Five, ten, fifteen tracking tools?

That’s when sites start feeling bloated.

Especially on mobile connections.

A fast desktop broadband connection hides a lot of sins.

Mobile doesn’t.

Do You Really Need Hotjar?

For most businesses?

Probably not.

Hotjar can be useful if you’re obsessively testing layouts or spending serious money on conversion optimisation.

But for most websites, it’s heavy stuff.

Do you really need to watch someone wiggle their mouse around your homepage?

Or do you already know:

• Your images are too big
• Your site is too slow
• Your buttons are in the wrong place
• Your content needs work

At Smithers, removing the clutter made more difference than staring at heatmaps.

Speed Matters More Than Data

People don’t wait around anymore.

Especially on mobile.

If your website feels sluggish, they leave.

Simple as that.

Google talks about Core Web Vitals for a reason.

Fast sites generally keep people around longer.

What We Kept Instead

Instead of drowning in dashboards, we focused on:

• Faster loading pages
• Better content
• Cleaner product pages
• Stronger internal linking
• Less junk running in the background

Sometimes less really is more.

At Orbitix, stripping out the heavy tracking felt like taking bricks out of a backpack.

And no—we don’t miss Hotjar. It’s heavy shit.