PageSpeed is an increasingly important factor in website performance, with users expecting fast page loading times and search engine algorithms incorporating loading speed into their ranking factors. A slow website can have a major negative impact on your search engine visibility, user experience and conversion rate. In this article, we’ll discuss why PageSpeed matters, why webpages might be loading slowly, and some simple steps you can take to improve your website performance. We’ll also look at some more advanced methods for squeezing out maximum website speed for the most demanding applications.
What is PageSpeed?
PageSpeed is a free performance analysis tool built into Google Search Console that analyzes your website to find and suggest ways to speed up your site. Google’s PageSpeed service also provides additional metrics and insights that are often helpful in identifying the causes of slow loading websites. PageSpeed’s metric is the “Time to First Byte” (TTFB) – the amount of time it takes from the user visiting your page until the server sends the first bit of data. If it takes too long for the server to respond, the user will see a blank page or a “spinning wheel of death” while the server catches up. The sooner the server responds, the sooner the user sees your page.
Why does PageSpeed matter?
The difference between a page loading in under 1 second or after 10 seconds is significant. You lose 80% of your potential visitors if the page takes 10 seconds to load. You lose 93% of your potential visitors if the page takes 20 seconds to load. The average website visitor will abandon your page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. This means that a slow website has a significantly lower conversion rate than one that loads quickly. Poorly optimized websites are also more likely to rank lower in search engine results, which could mean losing customers to your competitors.
How do I know if my website is slow?
One of the simplest ways to get a quick sense of how fast your website loads is to use a “web speed test” tool. There are many of these online, and many websites also use these tools to measure their own performance. For example, here’s a screenshot of the results from Google’s PageSpeed tool, showing a breakdown of how my site performs on each metric. The “Performance” column shows how closely my page matches the desired target values, while the “Score” column shows my page’s actual score against each metric (higher is better).
Common causes of slow loading websites
As with many aspects of the digital world, there are many potential causes of slow loading websites – and a lot of them can be fixed with a bit of effort. Some of the most common causes of slow loading websites are: – Choosing a slow hosting provider – Some hosting providers are better than others at optimizing server performance. If your hosting provider is not optimized for performance, your site’s performance may suffer. – Inefficient code – Website code (particularly code written in older languages like PHP and ASP) can often be made more efficient. Code that is not as efficient as it could be will require more processing power and take longer to complete. – Overuse of images – If a large portion of your website’s content is images, this can slow down your site. Poor image optimization can also reduce the quality of your images. – Too many third-party resources – If you embed an excessive number of third-party resources (such as Javascript libraries, CSS frameworks, and analytics trackers) on your site, this can slow down page loading time.
Simple steps to improve website performance
– Choose your hosting provider carefully – If your hosting provider is not optimized for performance, your site’s performance will suffer. Make sure the provider you choose has a proven track record, offers good support, and is suitable for your site’s traffic levels. – Make sure your code is efficient – Old code can often be made more efficient by reducing the number of server requests required to execute it and/or optimizing the way it is executed. Newer languages and frameworks like PHP, Node.js, and Go can often be more efficient than older languages. – Keep your image file sizes low – Use image optimization tools such as Photoshop’s “Save for Web” option or online tools like TinyPNG to reduce the file sizes of your images. Avoid using images that are unnecessarily large, and use them in the most efficient way possible. – Minimize third-party resources – Reduce the number of third-party resources (such as Javascript libraries, CSS frameworks, and analytics trackers) on your site by using Code Minification and/or host your own third-party resources in a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Advanced techniques for maximum website speed
– Make your website “Web-First” – Build your website’s design and architecture with speed in mind. This will often involve making changes to your website’s code, such as reducing the amount of server requests required to display your website or moving some elements to CSS. – Implement Server-Side Rendering – Server-Side Rendering (SSR) is a technique that makes your website’s first page load appear faster by rendering the page on the server side and then sending the fully-formed HTML to the browser. This can greatly improve first-page load speed for users. – Use a Content Delivery Network – A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of servers around the world that can serve your website’s static content (images, videos, CSS, and Javascript) from a server closest to the user. This can dramatically reduce the distance the request travels and can cut page load times in half.
Tools for analyzing and improving PageSpeed
– Google PageSpeed – The free PageSpeed service provides detailed performance metrics, suggestions for improving website speed, and a visual breakdown of how your site performs on each metric. – Google Search Console – Google Search Console’s “Website Speed” section provides a basic PageSpeed analysis and lists any issues found. Search Console also includes more advanced tools for assessing website performance, including “Mobile Speed” and “Reduce Blocking”. – GT Metrix – GT Metrix provides a more detailed performance analysis and includes a number of suggestions for improving your site’s speed. – Pingdom – Pingdom is another useful tool for assessing website performance. The free version provides a general overview of your site’s performance, including an “Excellent”, “Good”, or “Poor” rating. The paid version provides more detailed analysis, including suggestions for improving your site’s speed.
Conclusion
PageSpeed is increasingly important in the modern world of search engine optimization and user experience. A slow website can have a major negative impact on your search engine visibility, user experience, and conversion rate. There are a number of things you can do to improve the performance of your website. Choosing a hosting provider that is optimized for performance is critical, as is optimizing your website’s code to reduce the number of server requests required to render the page. It is also important to minimize the number of third-party resources on your site, as well as using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to host your static content.