I love to keep tabs on what other marketing companies are doing so that I can keep my own company's competitive advantages up-to-date. I collect a lot of data (mostly out of curiosity) and since it's so interesting I decided to share it here.
For this research, I looked at Pingdom load times (testing from Washington DC), GTMetrix load times, Google PageSpeed scores (for desktop and mobile), and what technology was used to create each marketing company's website.
First, I'm going to give some background information on the tools (scroll on past if you're already familiar). Next I'll give some overview on the data as a whole. And then, finally, what everyone has been waiting for: the ordered list of the fastest loading Syracuse marketing company websites. :)
Pingdom & GTMetrix
Pingdom and GTMetrix are both tools for analyzing website load times and figuring out how you can speed up your website.
Personally, I prefer GTMetrix over Pingdom because I find their data more useful for working on speeding up websites. I did choose to order the companies based on Pingdom load times because those times feel more realistic since Pingdom measures "Onload Times" (timer stops when the browser triggers window.onload after resources have downloaded) whereas GTMetrix measures "Fully Loaded Time" (timer stops when the browser triggers window.onload and network activity stops) by default. In other words, Pingdom "feels more realistic" because the timer stops once you can start interacting with the website (even though other elements may still be loading). This is why there can be such a big discrepancy between Pingdom load times and GTMetrix load times.
Google PageSpeed Insights (PSI) Scores
Google Page Speed Insights is defined by the Big G themselves as "PageSpeed Insights (PSI) reports on the performance of a page on both mobile and desktop devices, and provides suggestions on how that page may be improved." Personally, I think that GTMetrix is a more useful tool, but the "grade" from Google is good to know, especially since website load times are an important ranking factor for onsite search engine optimization (SEO).
The score is between 1 and 100, 100 being the best score.
Enough nerdy stuff.... let's look at an overview of the data. Actually... this is still really nerdy stuff. Sorry.
What Platforms do Syracuse Marketing Companies Build Their Websites On?
The most popular platform is no surprise: WordPress.
Here's a graph showing all of the results. Duda was an interesting find because I had never heard of it before and those sites were pretty fast with great PageSpeed scores.
How Fast do Syracuse Marketing Company Websites Load?
It varied. A lot. I was super confident that mine would be the fastest but I found a few that beat me. I was a little salty, not gunna lie. But it would have been shady if I left those companies out of the list. They deserve credit for doing a good job at making the internet a faster place for all of us.
Pingdom Stats
Website load speeds ranged from 0.34 seconds to 12.03 seconds.
Average (Mean) Pingdom Load Time: 1.86 seconds
Average (Median) Pingdom Load Time: 1.19 seconds
Average (Mode) Pingdom Load Time: 1.03 seconds
For reference, a 2018 Pingdom study found that the top 100 eCommerce websites loaded in an average of 2.67 seconds. So good for us for being faster (on average) than the top 100 ecomm websites!
Here's the Syracuse marketing websites data in the same format.
GTMetrix Stats
Website load speeds ranged from 0.9 seconds to 19 seconds.
Average (Mean) GTMetrix Load Time: 5.44 seconds
Average (Median) GTMetrix Load Time: 4.55 seconds
Average (Mode) GTMetrix Load Time: 2.60 seconds
In 2014, a GTMetrix study showed that the average website load time was 5.1 seconds. Ouch. Granted, over the past 6 years we've seen a lot of new web design trends (and bloat, like video backgrounds) that have inflated the file size of websites.
PSI Stats (for Desktop)
Average (Mean) PSI Score: 75/100
Average (Median) PSI Score: 79/100
Average (Mode) PSI Score: 98/100
PSI Stats (for Mobile)
Average (Mean) PSI Score: 42/100
Average (Median) PSI Score: 32/100
Average (Mode) PSI Score: 79/100
Top 58 Fastest Loading Syracuse Marketing Company Websites
Finally! Here's the list:
1. Carter Co.
Pingdom load time: 0.337 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 1.5 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 100 // 99
Technology Used: Webflow
Paul's $0.02: A nice, clean, minimalist landing page while they finish their full site. I really like their use of the Pangram typeface.
2. Warne-McKenna Advertising
Pingdom load time: 0.413 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 0.9 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 100 // 100
Technology Used: Adobe Dreamweaver
Paul's $0.02: It's an old website from 2014 but it's fast. Unfortunately it isn't responsive. It's one of the few websites I've ever seen with a perfect 100/100 PSI score for both mobile and desktop. Kudos.
3. BentleyHoke
Pingdom load time: 0.481 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 2 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 99 // 79
Technology Used: WordPress (custom theme)
Paul's $0.02: It's incredibly difficult to get a WordPress website to load this fast. Very impressive!
4. Paul Carl Digital
Pingdom load time: 0.519 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 1.9 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 98 // 79
Technology Used: Versoly
Paul's $0.02: I recently switched from WordPress and coded my old site "by hand" but ended up hating it. A friend started up this platform, Versoly, and it was a dream come true for the way I work. They, like me, are obsessed with speed. Definitely give Versoly a try sometime! Also, I gotta web optimize some of my images... oops!
5. ACS Web Design & SEO
Pingdom load time: 0.54 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3.5 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 95 // 59
Technology Used: Bootstrap (No detectable CMS)
Paul's $0.02: You guys almost beat me! I saw ACS the most in my SERPs when I was looking for companies for this list. Nice work on your local SEO!
6. Otto Media
Pingdom load time: 0.57 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 1.7 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 100 // 99
Technology Used: Adobe Dreamweaver
Paul's $0.02: These Dreamweaver sites that made the list have been really fast but it seems like Dreamweaver doesn't have support for responsive sites? I dunno. Regardless, their videos are really good!
7. The Digital Hyve
Pingdom load time: 0.657 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 12.7 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 78 // 27
Technology Used: WordPress (custom theme)
Paul's $0.02: Having a video background and hitting this fast of a load time on Pingdom is super nice.
8. Switchstance Marketing
Pingdom load time: 0.692 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 93 // 64
Technology Used: WordPress (Divi theme by Elegant Themes)
Paul's $0.02: I really like the purple/blue color scheme and the typography. Great job at making Divi your own! Usually it's pretty easy to spot it at a glance but not in this case.
9. Brand Experience
Pingdom load time: 0.723 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 99 // 74
Technology Used: Duda
Paul's $0.02: I gotta try out Duda sometime. This is nice and clean.
10. Mindshare LLC
Pingdom load time: 0.758 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3.8 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 90 // 49
Technology Used: WordPress (Reverie Theme)
11. Breakthrough Design Group
Pingdom load time: 0.793 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 2.1 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 96 // 80
Technology Used: WordPress (custom theme)
Paul's $0.02: Really awesome PSI score and great load time for WordPress.
12. ATS Design Group
Pingdom load time: 0.845 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 91 // 28
Technology Used: WordPress (Avada theme)
13. ABC Creative
Pingdom load time: 0.858 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 4.6 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 99 // 86
Technology Used: WordPress (custom theme)
Paul's $0.02: I really admire ABC Creative's work. Their videos are funny and their Twenty Four Hour Brand Bash is one of the coolest ways I've seen a marketing company give back to the community. Their PSI score is really nice too.
14. Stress Design
Pingdom load time: 0.875 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 2.4 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 95 // 70
Technology Used: Concrete5
15. Gaber Marketing
Pingdom load time: 0.949 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 2.7 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 99 // 85
Technology Used: WordPress (custom theme)
16. ACC Technial Services
Pingdom load time: 0.973 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 5.2 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 92 // 29
Technology Used: Microsoft ASP.NET
Paul's $0.02: Of course the IT guys are using .NET ;)
17. The Lab Creative, LLC
Pingdom load time: 1.01 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3.3 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 99 // 92
Technology Used: WordPress (Custom theme)
Paul's $0.02: I love the design of this site and it's really well made. Based on the reports, virtually all of the load time comes from the 5 MB video background. Without it this site would probably be in the top 5 easily. Still super impressive speed considering the filesize of the site.
18. Congruent
Pingdom load time: 1.01 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 4.7 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 65 // 42
Technology Used: Webflow
19. MarketDesign
Pingdom load time: 1.02 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 6 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 98 // 65
Technology Used: HubSpot
20. Digital Orbit
Pingdom load time: 1.03 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 2.6 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 65 // 80
Technology Used: Duda
Paul's $0.02: Interesting to see the mobile PSI score higher than the desktop.... you don't see that every day. For some reason the Max Potential First Input Delay is 4 times higher on desktop.
21. RANK Foundry
Pingdom load time: 1.03 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 4.6 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 89 // 41
Technology Used: WordPress (Divi theme by Elegant Themes)
Paul's $0.02: I really like this rebrand from Pink Tie.
22. Epoch Advertising Agency
Pingdom load time: 1.06 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3.7 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 94 // 47
Technology Used: WordPress (Avada theme)
23. Terakeet
Pingdom load time: 1.08 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 4.2 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 95 // 67
Technology Used: WordPress (custom theme)
24. LP&M
Pingdom load time: 1.08 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 1.5 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 27 // 1
Technology Used: WordPress (OceanWP theme)
25. Type Partners, Inc.
Pingdom load time: 1.09 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 1.1 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 98 // 76
Technology Used: Weebly
26. Syracuse Design Group
Pingdom load time: 1.14 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 2.6 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 92 // 45
Technology Used: SilverStripe
Paul's $0.02: SilverStripe is another CMS I was unfamiliar with before now. Looks pretty cool.
27. Digital Joe
Pingdom load time: 1.15 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 6.7 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 89 // 37
Technology Used: WordPress (Genesis Framework)
29. Face First Creative
Pingdom load time: 1.17 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3.1 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 97 // 44
Technology Used: WordPress (Infinite theme)
Paul's $0.02: I really like their illustration on the homepage.
28. Elite Venture Media
Pingdom load time: 1.17 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 5.1 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 67 // 20
Technology Used: WordPress (WPExplorer theme)
30. Bentley-Hall, Inc.
Pingdom load time: 1.2 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 2.4 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 97 // 58
Technology Used: WordPress (Divi theme)
31. Mower
Pingdom load time: 1.2 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3.2 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 82 // 31
Technology Used: WordPress (Custom theme)
32. The Good Monster
Pingdom load time: 1.23 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 4.2 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 56 // 19
Technology Used: WordPress (Custom theme)
Paul's $0.02: Now this is a homepage! I love it, haha. In all seriousness, "How big of a company do you want to be?" is really nice copywriting.
33. Alchemy Seven Marketing
Pingdom load time: 1.27 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 4.2 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 66 // 42
Technology Used: WordPress (Divi theme)
34. Perigord Life Science Solutions
Pingdom load time: 1.42 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 4.9 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 78 // 59
Technology Used: Duda
35. Advance Media New York
Pingdom load time: 1.43 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 6.3 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 46 // 14
Technology Used: WordPress (Avada theme)
36. Sunstone Digital Tech
Pingdom load time: 1.62 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 9 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 56 // 15
Technology Used: WordPress
37. Kowala Creative
Pingdom load time: 1.68 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 5.2 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 67 // 13
Technology Used: Squarespace
38. Cowley Associates
Pingdom load time: 1.7 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 5.2 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 55 // 30
Technology Used: Drupal (Fusion theme)
39. Team V Technology
Pingdom load time: 1.84 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 5.9 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 31 // 4
Technology Used: WordPress (Elevator theme)
40. Amidon Marketing
Pingdom load time: 1.85 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 5.1 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 56 // 8
Technology Used: Squarespace
41. Charm Digital Media
Pingdom load time: 1.9 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 7.5 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 34 // 7
Technology Used: WordPress (Pitch theme)
42. Mooney Marketing Group
Pingdom load time: 2.02 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 2.6 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 79 // 20
Technology Used: WordPress (Hazel theme)
43. Ipsum Solutions, Inc.
Pingdom load time: 2.06 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 7.7 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 83 // 29
Technology Used: Wix
44. Total Advertising, Inc.
Pingdom load time: 2.28 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3.5 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 74 // 30
Technology Used: WordPress (Custom theme)
45. Web Pros
Pingdom load time: 2.29 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 5.1 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 74 // 33
Technology Used: No CMS or CSS framework detected.
Paul's $0.02: This Syracuse marketing company actually became Team V Technology (#39 on this list) but I didn't notice until right now... oops! I would have omitted this website from the data if I caught it earlier.
46. Twin Oaks Agency Group
Pingdom load time: 2.37 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 5 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 75 // 32
Technology Used: WordPress (X Theme)
Paul's $0.02: I used to use X Theme for my website too!
47. 325 Productions
Pingdom load time: 2.42 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 11 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 61 // 26
Technology Used: Wix
48. Intuitive Edge Design
Pingdom load time: 2.63 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 2.9 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 66 // 29
Technology Used: WordPress (Divi theme)
49. Lerentech
Pingdom load time: 2.79 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 3.7 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 50 // 13
Technology Used: WordPress (Pitch theme)
50. Solon Quinn Studios
Pingdom load time: 2.85 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 18.8 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 15 // 1
Technology Used: WordPress (Cesis theme)
Paul's $0.02: This is a really beautiful site. Definitely one of my favorite designs and their background video does an amazing job showcasing their work.
51. Red Tulip Marketing
Pingdom load time: 3.12 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 11.2 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 71 // 14
Technology Used: Wix
52. Zoey Advertising
Pingdom load time: 3.55 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 4.5 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 80 // 24
Technology Used: WordPress (Custom theme)
Paul's $0.02: Zoey Advertising is another local marketing company that I admire. I was privileged to get to attend a seminar that the owner, Steve Roberts, led and it was amazing.
53. Arboxy
Pingdom load time: 3.62 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 19.4 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 24 // 7
Technology Used: WordPress (OptimizeWP theme)
54. Pickney Hugo Group
Pingdom load time: 4.02 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 19.4 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 60 // 24
Technology Used: WordPress (Nebula theme by Pickney Hugo Group)
55. Gilded Social
Pingdom load time: 4.9 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 6.4 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 70 // 20
Technology Used: WordPress (Jupiter theme)
56. Assante Design
Pingdom load time: 5 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 6 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 53 // 23
Technology Used: WordPress (Brooklyn by United Themes. I would link the theme creator's website but it just returns an error)
Paul's $0.02: There was a really long wait (4 seconds!) to connect to the site (as you can see in the Pingdom report). Upgrading the web hosting would probably speed this up tremendously. According to their whois record, there are 1,036 other websites on this server so I'm guessing it's shared hosting.
57. Amped Media Group
Pingdom load time: 6.43 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 6.7 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 72 // 27
Technology Used: WordPress (Custom theme)
Paul's $0.02: Shared hosting may also be an issue for this site. The biggest improvement that could be made to this site's speed is optimizing images (in terms of file size using a tool like TinyPNG and reducing image dimensions so they don't have to be scaled down).
58. André Ivanchuk
Pingdom load time: 12.03 seconds (Report)
GTMetrix load time: 11.6 seconds (Report)
PSI Score (Desktop // Mobile): 54 // 18
Technology Used: WordPress (Divi theme)
Hero image of Syracuse, NY from Wikimedia Commons.
