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highwest.com website review
Visit site (opens in a new tab)Reviewed 4 November 202635 issues · 85 checks
This review found 35 issues worth fixing on highwest.com, 13 of them high impact, across 85 checks. The most urgent: reduce unused JavaScript. Your full playbook turns these into prioritised fixes alongside reviews, competitors and channels.
- Homepage
- Phone render
- Links and pages
- Google PageSpeed
Google PageSpeed Insights (opens in a new tab), mobile
Site score
79C- #39,936 of 89,224 reviewed websitesbeats 50%
- #24,514 of 46,543 online storesbeats 42%
- #23,333 of 41,792 Shopify storesbeats 38%
Closest competitors among Shopify stores
Compare side by sideShow as table
| Date | Real-visitor load time (LCP) |
|---|---|
| May 16, 2026 | 1.8 s |
| May 23, 2026 | 1.8 s |
| May 30, 2026 | 1.8 s |
| Jun 6, 2026 | 1.9 s |
| Jun 13, 2026 | 1.9 s |
| Jun 20, 2026 | 1.8 s |
| Jun 27, 2026 | 1.8 s |
| Jul 4, 2026 | 1.7 s |
| Jul 11, 2026 | 1.7 s |
| Jul 18, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Jul 25, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Aug 1, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Aug 8, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Aug 15, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Aug 22, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Aug 29, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Sep 5, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Sep 12, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Sep 19, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Sep 26, 2026 | 1.6 s |
| Oct 3, 2026 | 1.7 s |
| Oct 10, 2026 | 1.7 s |
| Oct 17, 2026 | 1.7 s |
| Oct 24, 2026 | 1.7 s |
| Oct 31, 2026 | 1.6 s |
Show as table
| Date | Real-visitor tap response (INP) |
|---|---|
| May 16, 2026 | 101 ms |
| May 23, 2026 | 101 ms |
| May 30, 2026 | 102 ms |
| Jun 6, 2026 | 103 ms |
| Jun 13, 2026 | 104 ms |
| Jun 20, 2026 | 103 ms |
| Jun 27, 2026 | 103 ms |
| Jul 4, 2026 | 100 ms |
| Jul 11, 2026 | 97 ms |
| Jul 18, 2026 | 100 ms |
| Jul 25, 2026 | 100 ms |
| Aug 1, 2026 | 100 ms |
| Aug 8, 2026 | 101 ms |
| Aug 15, 2026 | 102 ms |
| Aug 22, 2026 | 100 ms |
| Aug 29, 2026 | 102 ms |
| Sep 5, 2026 | 103 ms |
| Sep 12, 2026 | 101 ms |
| Sep 19, 2026 | 102 ms |
| Sep 26, 2026 | 102 ms |
| Oct 3, 2026 | 101 ms |
| Oct 10, 2026 | 103 ms |
| Oct 17, 2026 | 104 ms |
| Oct 24, 2026 | 104 ms |
| Oct 31, 2026 | 104 ms |
Chrome UX Report (opens in a new tab): real Chrome visitors over rolling 28-day periods.
One score from every part of this review. How it works
Speed
Reduce unused JavaScript
3.6 s · 960 KiBAbout 960 KiB of JavaScript is downloaded but never used on this page. Google estimates it would make the page about 3.6 s faster on a phone.
Render-blocking requests
4.0 s20 files block the first paint until they finish downloading. Deferring or inlining them could save about 4.0 s.
Use efficient cache lifetimes
3.3 s · 703 KiB23 files are served with short cache lifetimes, so returning visitors download them again (703 KiB).
Mobile performance score: 39
39/100Your mobile performance score is 39. Under 50 is Google's “poor” band: many phone visitors leave before the page is usable.
8 third-party services on the page
8 third-party services load with your homepage (Google Tag Manager, Optanon and Stripe and others), adding 1.6 MB and 1.3 s of main-thread time.
Reduce unused CSS
750 ms · 238 KiBAbout 238 KiB of CSS is downloaded but never applied on this page. Google estimates it would make the page about 750 ms faster on a phone.
Google Tag Manager adds 560 ms
560 msGoogle Tag Manager costs a phone 560 ms of main-thread work and 449 KiB of downloads while your page loads. Loading it after the page is usable, or only on the pages that need it, takes that off the critical path.
Main-thread work: 3.4 s
A phone's processor spends 3.4 s on main-thread work while loading, 1.9 s of it running JavaScript. Above 2 s, taps and scrolls feel sluggish.
9 long tasks on the main thread
9 long tasks block the main thread while loading, the longest for 310 ms. During a long task the page ignores taps.
Optanon adds 256 ms
256 msOptanon costs a phone 256 ms of main-thread work and 301 KiB of downloads while your page loads. Loading it after the page is usable, or only on the pages that need it, takes that off the critical path.
Legacy JavaScript
150 ms · 55 KiBPolyfills for old browsers add 55 KiB JavaScript that modern phones do not need. Google estimates it would make the page about 150 ms faster on a phone.
Font display
50 msWeb fonts hide text while they load. Setting font-display: swap shows text immediately (about 50 ms).
Minify JavaScript
10 KiB10 KiB could be saved by minifying JavaScript.
Minify CSS
7 KiB7 KiB could be saved by minifying CSS.
Chained critical requests
Critical files load one after another instead of in parallel (3 chains). Preconnecting to key origins and preloading the hero image shortens the chain.
Forced reflow
Scripts make the browser recalculate the layout repeatedly while the page loads, which wastes processor time on phones.
1 checks passed
Server response: 11 ms
11 msYour server sent the HTML in 11 ms, well inside Google's 600 ms guideline.
Core Web Vitals
Largest Contentful Paint: 15.3 s
15.3 sYour largest element takes 15.3 s to render on a phone. Google's threshold for “good” is 2.5 s. The largest element is the text “We support the fight against underage drinking and drunk dr…”.
Time to Interactive: 18.8 s
18.8 sThe page becomes fully interactive after 18.8 s. Good is under 3.8 s.
First Contentful Paint: 5.0 s
5.0 sThe first text or image appears after 5.0 s on a phone. Good is under 1.8 s.
Speed Index: 8.0 s
8.0 sVisually, the page fills in at 8.0 s (Speed Index). Good is under 3.4 s.
Total Blocking Time: 749 ms
749 msScripts block taps and scrolling for 749 ms in total while the page loads. Good is under 200 ms.
1 image without width and height
1 image have no width and height attributes, so the layout jumps as each one loads.
Tap response (INP) held steady for real visitors
+3%Over the last 25 four-week periods to 2026-10-31, real Chrome visitors' tap response (inp) went from 101 ms to 104 ms at the 75th percentile (Chrome UX Report (opens in a new tab) history).
Largest content (LCP) held steady for real visitors
-9%Over the last 25 four-week periods to 2026-10-31, real Chrome visitors' largest content (lcp) went from 1.8 s to 1.6 s at the 75th percentile (Chrome UX Report (opens in a new tab) history).
7 checks passed
Passes Core Web Vitals for real visitors
Real Chrome users on phones pass Google's Core Web Vitals on this page (28-day field data from the Chrome UX Report (opens in a new tab)).
Real-user LCP: 2.2 s
2.2 sReal visitors wait 2.2 s for the largest content to appear (75th percentile). Good is under 2.5 s.
Real-user INP: 105 ms
105 msReal visitors wait 105 ms for the page to respond to a tap (75th percentile). Good is under 200 ms.
Real-user CLS: 0.09
0.09For real visitors the layout shifts by 0.09 (75th percentile). Good is under 0.1.
Real-user FCP: 1.3 s
1.3 sReal visitors see the first content after 1.3 s (75th percentile). Good is under 1.8 s.
Real-user TTFB: 383 ms
383 msReal visitors wait 383 ms for your server to start answering (75th percentile). Good is under 800 ms.
Cumulative Layout Shift: 0.07
0.07The layout barely moves while loading (CLS 0.07, good is under 0.1).
Images and page weight
Page weight: 4.2 MB in 250 requests
4.2 MBYour homepage downloads 4.2 MB in 250 requests on a phone: scripts 1.8 MB (84), other files 870 KiB (119) and images 755 KiB (9). Under 2 MB keeps phones on slow connections fast.
About 1.2 g of CO₂ per visit
1.18 gBy the Sustainable Web Design model, a visit to your homepage emits about 1.18 g of CO₂e: 141.9 kg a year at 10,000 visits a month. It scales with page weight, so every byte cut lowers it.
3 checks passed
Images use modern formats
Every sizeable image is WebP, AVIF or SVG.
Images load when needed
Images below the first screen wait until the visitor scrolls to them.
Images are sized for phones
No image is downloaded at more than three times the size it is drawn on a phone.
Accessibility
3 form fields without a label
3 form fields have no label, so screen readers announce an empty box and autofill guesses.
2 checks passed
Every image has alt text
All 8 images in the HTML carry an alt attribute.
36 automated accessibility rules passed
axe-core 4.13.0, the open-source engine behind most accessibility testing tools, ran 36 WCAG 2.2 A/AA and best-practice rules on the phone render: 36 passed and 0 failed. 1 more need a person to judge. Automated rules catch about a third of accessibility problems; the rest need manual testing.
SEO
No structured data
No structured data (JSON-LD), so Google can't show rich results such as your logo, ratings or FAQs.
Meta description is long (207 characters)
Your meta description is 207 characters; Google truncates after about 160, so the end of your pitch is cut.
5 links with vague text
5 links use generic text like “click here” or “learn more”, which tells Google nothing about the page behind them.
3 links crawlers can't follow
3 links have no real href, so search engines can't follow them.
Open Graph partly set
Open Graph is missing og:title and og:description, so shared links fall back to guesses.
No X (Twitter) card tag
No twitter:card tag. X falls back to Open Graph, which is incomplete here.
59 internal links, 25 external
The homepage links to 59 pages on highwest.com and 25 external pages.
5 checks passed
One H1 headline
Your main headline reads: “THE NELSON COTTAGE”.
Title: 37 characters
Your title is a healthy 37 characters: “High West Whiskey | High West Whiskey”.
Canonical URL set
The canonical URL is https://highwest.com/.
robots.txt in place
robots.txt is in place and points crawlers to your sitemap.
XML sitemap found
Your XML sitemap is reachable at https://highwest.com/sitemap.xml.
AI search readiness
No Organization structured data
There is no Organization (or LocalBusiness) JSON-LD, so search engines and AI assistants have no machine-readable facts about who runs the site: its name, logo, profiles and contact details.
3 checks passed
AI answer engines may read the site
Your robots.txt lets the crawlers behind ChatGPT search, Claude and Perplexity read the site and cite it in answers.
Text is in the HTML
Your server sends the page's text in the HTML (653 words), so crawlers that don't run JavaScript still read it.
llms.txt published
The site publishes /llms.txt (6 KiB, 8 links), a plain-text guide to the site for AI tools.
Other pages
1 linked page is broken
Your homepage links to /pages/whiskey-club-old, which answers with an error. Visitors hit a dead end and search engines drop it.
3 pages without a meta description
/pages/why-we-blend, /pages/limited-releases and /pages/member-portal have no meta description, so Google writes the search snippet from whatever text it finds.
14 pages without an H1
/pages/about-us, /pages/protect-the-west, /pages/why-we-blend, /pages/limited-releases, /pages/experience and /pages/distillery and 8 others have no <h1> headline, so visitors and search engines get no clear main topic.
14 pages with very little text
/pages/about-us, /pages/protect-the-west, /pages/why-we-blend, /pages/limited-releases, /pages/experience and /pages/distillery and 8 others have under 150 words in the HTML. Thin pages rarely rank; if the text loads with JavaScript, crawlers that don't run it see even less.
15 internal pages checked
We fetched 15 pages linked from your homepage (of 21 found) and read each the way a search engine does.
4 checks passed
Canonical URLs point to themselves
No page we checked hands its ranking to a different URL.
Titles are unique
Every page we checked has its own title.
No linked page is hidden from search
None of the pages we checked carries a noindex tag.
Every page has a title
All 14 pages that loaded have a <title>.
Best practices
2 small tap targets
2 of 8 tappable elements near the top of the page are smaller than 24 px, hard to hit with a thumb.
6 JavaScript errors while loading
6 errors were logged to the browser console while the page loaded, for example “Refused to apply style from 'https://highwest.com/cdn/shop/t/36/assets/the-prisoner.css?v=28949' because its MIME type …”.
1 distorted image
1 image is displayed at the wrong aspect ratio, so it looks stretched or squashed.
1 checks passed
Mobile viewport set
The page declares a mobile viewport.
Content and conversion
No call to action on the first screen
On a phone, there is no call to action on the first screen: visitors have to scroll to find out what to do next.
No social proof
No testimonials, customer logos, ratings or customer counts on the homepage: nothing tells a new visitor that others already trust you.
Local business without LocalBusiness data
Your homepage shows a street address but no LocalBusiness JSON-LD, so Google and AI assistants have to guess your address, hours and phone from the page text.
No phone number on the homepage
A local customer looking to call finds no phone number on the homepage. Add one, ideally as a tap-to-call link.
No direct contact details
No phone number or email link on the homepage, so ready-to-buy visitors have one fewer way to reach you.
Only about 243 words
The homepage has only about 243 words of visible text; thin pages give Google and first-time buyers little to go on.
No map or directions link
There is no link to Google or Apple Maps. A directions link is one tap for a phone visitor.
No risk reducer
No guarantee or risk reducer (money-back, free trial, no credit card) is mentioned, which is often what tips a hesitant visitor.
4 checks passed
25 calls to action
The homepage has 25 calls to action, for example “SHOP”, “SHOP WHISKEY” and “SHOP MERCHANDISE”.
1 short form
A short form (1 field at most) is right on the homepage.
Analytics in place
Analytics detected: Google Tag Manager.
Opening hours shown
Your opening hours are on the homepage.
Privacy and tracking
5 trackers load before any consent
5Before a visitor clicks anything, the page loads Google Ads, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Klaviyo and Meta Pixel (measured from a US location before any click). A consent tool (OneTrust) is installed; check it blocks these until visitors agree where the law requires it.
20 cookies set on arrival
20Opening the homepage sets 20 cookies (measured from a US location before any click).
42 other companies contacted
Loading the homepage contacts 42 hosts run by other companies (fonts, scripts, analytics, ads), each of which sees the visitor's IP address.
1 checks passed
Consent tool: OneTrust
A consent management tool (OneTrust) loads with the page.
Security, domain, email and software versions
The security, domain and email checks, software and plugin versions, and any app with a known security problem are visible only to people at highwest.com, because details like these could help someone attack a site. Every review keeps them private, whatever they found.
Apps on your store
Your storefront loads 5 apps. Each one is code from another company running for your shoppers.
Apps your storefront loads
Klaviyo Email Marketing Sms · Shoppinggives · Powerful Form Builder · Change Commerce · nfcube.com
Apps found in the homepage's code. Apps that only run in checkout or the admin aren't seen, and a headless storefront shows none. App data from programmable.info
Upkeep, stack and company
Stack
- Framework
- Tailwind CSS
- E-commerce
- Shopify
- Analytics
- Google Tag Manager
- Hosting
- Shopify
Company
- Founded
- 2007
- Headquarters
- Park City
Upkeep, stack, hiring and company data from programmable.info
Go beyond the website
What your $25 Growth Playbook adds
This review found 35 issues on highwest.com, including 16 speed issues, 4 SEO issues and 6 conversion gaps. That is the website alone. The full Growth Playbook pairs these findings with what your customers say in public reviews and communities and what your closest competitors do better, then turns everything into at least 20 prioritised ideas, each with the evidence behind it, a step-by-step playbook, a metric and an owner.
- 28 research agents read your site, reviews, competitors, communities and public filings
- Customer review mining (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot and more) and voice-of-pain analysis in your buyers’ own words
- Competitor intelligence with battlecards for your closest rivals
- Ideal customer profile, buyer segments and buying-stage funnel
- Ranked channels, outreach sequences and content angles
- Live Reddit threads where buyers ask for what you sell, with draft replies
- Earned media and PR openings
- At least 20 ideas with evidence, a step-by-step playbook, metric, owner, effort and impact, grouped into this week, this quarter, big bets and wildcards, plus a 30/60/90-day roadmap
- PDF, Markdown, CSV, Notion and Linear exports, and a shareable page your team can track progress on
- Refresh the playbook later to see what changed
14-day money-back guarantee: not happy for any reason, email us within 14 days and we refund in full.