{"id":644,"slug":"research-brief-performance-revenue-evidence","title":"Research brief: Website Performance & Revenue — defensible evidence for KW small-business owners (piece 17)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["core-web-vitals","measurement","citation-practices","conversion-rate"],"reference_body":"**Status:** Research material — not a finished article. Compiled May 22, 2026.\n\n## TL;DR\n\n- Faster pages move money, but the size of the effect is sector- and severity-dependent. See [[deloitte-google-milliseconds-millions-2020]], [[vodafone-31pct-lcp-8pct-sales-2021]], [[rakuten24-cwv-conversion-33pct-2022]], [[redbus-inp-7pct-sales-2023]].\n- Core Web Vitals are a real but small Google ranking factor and a much bigger user-behaviour factor — see [[cwv-tiebreaker-not-major-ranking-factor]].\n- For a $5K WordPress refresh vs $20K custom build, performance alone does not justify the custom build. See [[smb-5k-vs-20k-build-decision-framework]].\n\nCritically, this brief also catalogues **what the evidence does NOT support** — see [[stats-not-supported-by-evidence]] — so client conversations stop on solid ground.","rationale_body":"Piece 17 of the roadmap. Codifies the defensible numbers Candid will quote in sales conversations, distinguishes A/B-test evidence from correlational, and explicitly catalogues myths to avoid.","metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"vodafone-31pct-lcp-8pct-sales-2021","title":"Vodafone A/B test (2021): 31% LCP improvement → 8% more sales, 15% better lead-rate, 11% better cart-rate","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"deloitte-google-milliseconds-millions-2020","title":"Deloitte/Google \"Milliseconds Make Millions\" (2020): 0.1s improvement → 8.4% retail conversion lift, 10.1% travel","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"cwv-tiebreaker-not-major-ranking-factor","title":"Core Web Vitals is a tiebreaker-class Google ranking factor, not a heavy lever — independent studies (Perficient, AWR, Backlinko) corroborate","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rakuten24-cwv-conversion-33pct-2022","title":"Rakuten 24 (2022 A/B test): CWV optimization → +33.13% conversion rate, +53.37% revenue per visitor, -35.12% exit rate","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"redbus-inp-7pct-sales-2023","title":"redBus (2023): INP improved ~72% on search page → +7% sales (6-7.2% CR uplift across operating countries)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"stats-not-supported-by-evidence","title":"Speed/conversion stats commonly cited but NOT supported by primary evidence in 2026 — Candid will not quote these","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"smb-5k-vs-20k-build-decision-framework","title":"$5K WordPress refresh vs $20K custom build — performance alone does not justify the $15K delta","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T21:24:18.247Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T21:24:18.247Z"}