An essential aspect of the user experience in the modern internet environment is how quickly a website loads. So, of course, there are many things you can do to increase the SEO and overall relevancy of your website. And to find any problems that might be impairing the speed of your website, Google PageSpeed Insights is a fantastic tool. This is due to the fact that both page speed and mobile performance are essential for your online environment’s success. Let’s go over how to use Google PageSpeed Insights in this blog to increase your site’s excellent performance constantly.
What is Google PageSpeed Insights?
A website performance assessment tool called PageSpeed Insights examines a webpage’s load time, responsiveness, and visual stability on both mobile and desktop. It is used for free speed audits that provide an estimated performance overview and recommendations for improvement (based on both lab and field data).
Lab data: It is also known as synthetic data, demonstrating how hypothetical consumers might interact with your website. It is collected in a controlled environment and helps track down performance problems. The open-source programme Lighthouse is to gather and evaluates lab data.
Field data: It is sometimes referred to as real-world or Real User Monitoring (RUM) data and demonstrates how actual people have interacted with your website. Field information is taken from the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX).
Additionally, a total score is derived from the submitted data. This score summarises the performance of a page. Here is a breakdown of the scoring to help you understand where you stand when you receive a score.
PageSpeed Insight Scoring (PSI)
- 90 and above means fast
- 50 to 89 means the average
- 49 and below means slow
Google Light House
Google Lighthouse has been used to generate Google PageSpeed Insights since 2018. Google developed this open-source, automated programme to raise the calibre of websites. Lighthouse can inspect a wide range of items, including functionality, accessibility, progressive web apps, and more.
Several methods can be used to operate Lighthouse. In essence, you assign Google Lighthouse a URL to examine. Then, it uses the given URL to perform several audits on the page. The performance of the page is then used to generate a report. You can then use the information’s shortcomings to enhance your website.
Additionally, Google Lighthouse provides a Chrome extension that you can instal immediately to use the tool. This makes it simpler than executing command-line code, and it also makes the mobile-friendly test simpler.
How does Google PageSpeed Insights Help you?
According to Google’s research, conversion rates and website load times are directly correlated. Additionally, according to their study, a post-click landing page that could be more active and responsive may cost you up to half of your prospects.
Some believed that the most important conversion factors were the product title, CTA button colour, and design. However, such things are still crucial. Running mobile-friendly tests ensures your website renders correctly on mobile devices.
Google PageSpeed Insights can help with this. First, it is used by you to test your website. Then, using that information, you make the necessary modifications to ensure you receive the best possible grade.
So what can you do to prepare your website before running a Google test? The following suggestion will be helpful to you.
Perform compression activity
Web browsers are typically designed to offer customers a more compact version of your website. Therefore, you must take all reasonable steps to reduce the web page size and enable faster serving.
Compression and optimisation of the photos on your website are two of the finest ways to do this. They can now be rendered more quickly and effectively thanks to this. This shortens the time it takes for pages to load and keeps visitors on your site for longer.
Minifying the Codes
The term “minifying” means deleting unused or extraneous data from a web page without altering how the browser interprets it. Poor code is typically the root cause of this issue. However, a variety of tools can be used to solve it.
If you are competent, you can perform the task manually. For WordPress websites, there are useful plugins to instal that can make this procedure simple. Alternatively, you can use these Google-recommended resources:
- HTML is compressed using an HTML minifier.
- To minify CSS, use CSSNano and csso.
- Use the Closure Compiler and UglifyJS2 to minify JavaScript.
Whatever method you use, minifying HTML, JavaScript, and CSS will significantly speed up your website.
Proper Caching
Frequently, a page will fully load for a user once several requests have been made between a server and browser. That can build up quickly when you consider it in the context of time.
It is possible for a browser to “remember” specific elements of a web page that have already been loaded by using caching. Items like:
- Navigator
- Header
- Logo
- Specific Content
Therefore, a browser may load a web page more quickly the more elements of a web page it can cache because those elements are already memorised. The loading time is sped up with fewer elements.
You can choose your caching schedule, although Google suggests that the best plan is once per week. No matter what browser you use, you can do this.
Proper SEO
An essential component of any website is Search Engine Optimisation. It also contributes to PageSpeed Insights’ scoring system. The idea is to optimise your content so that Google crawlers can read it and properly index it.
You may begin the process more quickly if you comprehend SEO and how it applies to your company. Keep in mind that SEO best practices are also essential.
Prevent more redirects
URL redirection is the process of using one URL to lead to another URL. They are typically used when one moves or deletes a webpage on a website.
When you use too many URL page redirects, your website’s performance will suffer from the increased loading time. Ensuring you employ fewer URL redirects or only employ them when necessary will be the only remedy for this issue.
Conclusion
Google offers this tool because they want your website to load quickly and be compatible with mobile devices. These things are essential for success in their eyes. However, most people won’t wait for a webpage to load for more than a few seconds. With a slower load time, you are more likely to lose visitors than retain them. To test your web pages and determine where you stand, utilise Google Lighthouse and the Google PageSpeed Insights tool. After receiving the findings, Google offers some suggested corrections and ideas that will benefit your website in the long term.
