The pagespeed of a website is one of the most important ranking factors for search engines. In order to improve your page speed, you need to understand what it is and how it works.
The Internet is a vast and ever-changing place. It’s more important than ever to ensure your website is performing at its best.
In this complete guide to Pagespeed SEO, we’ll show you how to improve your website’s speed and optimize it for search engines.
By following our simple tips, you can ensure that your website ranks well and reaches its full potential. what are you waiting for? Start improving your page speed today!
What is PageSpeed SEO?
Pagespeed SEO is an important factor in search engine optimization (SEO). It is a measure of how fast a web page loads and how long it takes for the content to become visible to the user.
>A faster page speed means a better user experience and thus a better placement in the search engines. In general, a page speed score of 85 or more is considered good, and a score of 95 or more is considered excellent.
To improve your pagespeed SEO, you can optimize your images, minify your HTML and CSS, and reduce the number of HTTP requests.
However, remember that page speed is only one factor in SEO, so don’t focus solely on that, but also on other important elements like keyword density and backlinks.
Why is page speed optimization important?
Google has made it clear that website speed is a ranking factor for desktop and mobile search. And while there are many factors that contribute to search engine optimization, one of the easiest things to improve on your own website is website speed.
The bounce rate increases when pages take too long to load, which in turn can lead to a drop in sales. A study by Portent showed that a 1 second delay in page load time can result in a 7% drop in sales. That’s a lot of lost revenue!
Slow pages also frustrate users and can lead to higher abandonment rates. In fact, 40% of users abandon a website that is too long.
Not only Google is interested in page speed. Studies have shown that page speed is also an important factor in conversion rate. At the end of the day, it’s all about providing users with a good experience.
There are a number of ways to improve a website’s speed, such as: B. optimizing images, mining code and using a content delivery network (CDN). And thanks to the many PageSpeed tools Google offers, it’s easier than ever to measure and improve your site’s speed.
So why shouldn’t you give it a try? Improve your website speed and watch your business grow!
How Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool works and how to use it
Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool gives you concrete suggestions on how to improve the performance of your website. It analyzes the site and gives you a rating based on the site’s performance.
The score ranges from 0 to 100, and the higher the score, the better the page’s performance. The tool also provides you with information about the site, e.g. how long it takes to load, what components are slowing down the page, and how to fix them.
To use PageSpeed Insights, simply enter the URL of the page you want to analyze and click the “Analyze” button. The tool then analyzes the page and gives you a rating based on its performance.
You can then click on each of the tabs at the top of the report for more information about that area. The Suggestions tab gives you specific suggestions on how to improve your page’s performance.
You can then implement these suggestions to improve your site’s speed. Keep in mind that not all of these suggestions will apply to your site. So, read them carefully and implement only the suggestions that will help improve your website speed.
PageSpeed vs Load Time
PageSpeed versus Load Time: Which is More Important?
When it comes to website speed, there is a lot of confusion about which is more important: PageSpeed score or load time. Many people think that if their PageSpeed score is high, their website automatically loads fast. But that’s not always the case.
The PageSpeed Score is a calculation that converts raw performance metrics into a number between 1 and 100. The report includes features and diagnostic reports, but these do not feed directly into the performance rating. This means that on its own, PageSpeed isn’t really an indicator of a website’s load time.
Load time, on the other hand, is the average time it takes a user to load a page. This is not a calculated value, but the actual loading time in seconds or milliseconds between the beginning and the end of the page view. Of course, load time alone doesn’t tell you what’s causing speed issues on your site – you’ll need to use a tool like PageSpeed Insights to diagnose them.
So what is more important? Ultimately, it depends on your website and your goals. If your PageSpeed score is low but your load time is still acceptable, you should focus on improving your score. However, if your load time is already fast but you want to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of your website, improving your PageSpeed score may not be worth it.
How does PageSpeed Insights work?
Google PageSpeed Insights can be helpful, but you can’t use it in isolation to evaluate your site’s performance or speed. You need to use multiple indicators to identify and solve problems to make your website run faster.
Powered by Lighthouse, the Google PagesSpeed Insights tool provides both “lab data” and “field data” for a page. “Lab data” is collected in a controlled environment as a page is scanned and is a great way to identify performance issues and find solutions to fix them. Because when the problems are identified, PageSpeed will show you the problem that is preventing your website from loading fast. This way you can make improvements in the future to make your page load faster.
“Field data”, on the other hand, is collected from real-world performance data as users load your page. Here are some of the issues and obvious bottlenecks that are making it difficult for your real visitors to buy anything on your page.
In short, the tool will show you a performance score of 100 at most. However, the performance metric results used to calculate this value are not weighted equally. Instead, things like “first satisfactory color” (the first time a user can see something) have a bigger impact.
- 3x – first satisfactory color.
- 1x – first meaningful color.
- 2x – first CPU idle.
- 5x – Time to interact.
- 4x – speed index.
- 0x – estimated input latency.
But you won’t see any of that. You’ll see a reported performance score and a color that depends on which score band it falls into. It is reported as:
- Red (poor rating): 0-49
- Orange (average): 50-89
- Green (good): 90-100
So if you know a little more about PageSpeed Insights, what it is and how its scores are calculated, where do you start?
How to use PageSpeed Insights
- Go to the PageSpeed Insights tool:
- Enter the URL of a web page. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the root domain/homepage. Note that you get mobile performance ratings by default. You can switch to desktop from the tab at the top left of the page.
To truly understand how to use PageSpeed Insights, you need to know what everything you see means and how to interpret it.
Speed Score
The Pagespeed Score is a metric developed by Google to measure how well a website is performing. It’s not the only metric to look at, but it’s a good indicator of how well your site is performing. The value ranges from 0-100, with 100 being the best value
A page speed value of 85 or higher is considered good. Anything below that can cause problems with your site’s performance. This is especially true for mobile devices, which more and more people use to surf the Internet. You might want to use a tool like Lighthouse to get a more accurate measurement of your site’s performance.
Field Data
The Chrome User Experience Report – CUER for short – is a pool of performance indicators collected from some users of the Google Chrome browser. The field data is one of the main sources of information for this report and shows how the site has compared to others over the last 30 days.
In essence, you can use the field data to compare a specific page to all pages of the origin. This can be a very useful tool to measure the effectiveness of your changes and tweaks.
However, it is important to note that field data is aggregated from actual users in Chrome. This means that the results may not be entirely accurate since not all users have the same browsing experience. Nonetheless, they can be a valuable resource for measuring general trends.
First Contentful Paint (FCP)
First Contentful Paint (FCP) is a key performance metric web developers should know. It measures the time it takes for the first meaningful content to appear on a page. This can be text, images or other media. FCP is a good indicator of how quickly a page starts to load and can help you figure out where to focus your efforts to improve load times.
FCP is especially important for mobile users, who often have slower connections than desktop users. If your website takes too long to load, you can lose mobile users altogether. FCP can help you avoid this by making sure your pages display at least some content as quickly as possible.
There are several factors that can affect loading time, such as: B. the configuration of your web server, the size of your files and the type of content you display.
However, there are some things you can do to improve FCP on your own site. Here are a few tips:
- Use a Content Delivery Network: A CDN can speed up the delivery of your files, reducing the overall load time of your pages.
- Optimize images: Make sure your images are the right size and compressed as much as possible without sacrificing quality.
- Use caching: Caching can help speed up repeat visits to your pages by storing copies of previously rendered pages on the user’s computer.
By following these tips, you can ensure that your site is displaying at least some of the content as quickly as possible, which will keep users engaged and improve overall site performance.
First Input Delay (FID)
First Input Delay (FID) is an important metric for measuring load responsiveness. It indicates how quickly the page responds to user input, such as B. a mouse click responds. Basically it means how long the time between the website fully loading and the user clicking on something on the website.
A low FID indicates that a page is usable faster. On the other hand, since FCP measures how quickly a page starts to load, it gives an indication of the first impression a user gets when actually interacting with a page.
Laboratory Data
Lab data is a valuable tool for understanding how a website performs. Lighthouse is a tool that analyzes a website and provides performance ratings based on laboratory data. This data can be useful in understanding how to improve a website’s performance. While field data is more representative of how a website is performing in the real world, lab data can be useful in understanding potential issues with a website.
First Drawn Content (FCP)
First Drawn Content (FCP) is a metric based on an emulated analysis by Lighthouse. This means that FCP is not based on real data and should be used with caution. Despite this limitation, FCP can be a useful metric to help you understand how users are interacting with your website. Specifically, the FCP can give you an idea of which pages users visit first and which pages are ignored.
First Meaningful Color (FID)
First Meaningful Color (FID) is a metric that web designers and developers use to measure how quickly content appears on a page. The lower the FID value, the faster the content will appear on the page. This metric is determined by measuring the point at which the first meaningful color appears on the screen.
The lower the FID value, the faster the page loads and the faster the user can consume the page’s content. This is an important metric to consider when designing and developing websites and web pages.
Speed Index
The speed index is a measure of how quickly the content of a page is displayed. Pages with lower values perform better because they render faster. This can be an important metric to consider when choosing a web hosting provider as it can affect the overall speed of your website.
First CPU Idle
First CPU Idle is a metric that indicates when most, but perhaps not all, elements of a page are interactive and when the page is able to respond to most user input without undue delay. First CPU Idle can be useful in determining when a page is ready for user interaction.
Time to Interactivity (TTI)
Time to Interactivity (TTI) is a key web performance metric that measures how quickly a page becomes interactive. Pages that prioritize visibility optimization over interactivity can often result in a frustrating user experience. Because of this, it’s important to understand and measure exactly when a page with useful content responds within 50 milliseconds.
Maximum potential first input delay
The “Laboratory Data” section of the field data report indicates the maximum potential delay in first entry and shows the duration of the longest post-FCP task that could be performed by the users. This information can be useful in understanding how long users may have to wait before engaging with your content.
Recommendations
The Opportunities section gives you an insight on what to focus on to improve your page load time and PageSpeed score, as well as an estimate of the apparent reduction in load time.
In particular, it is recommended to optimize images, consolidate scripts and minify HTML and CSS. Following these recommendations can shave up to 2 seconds off your page load time, which can make a big difference to your users.
Diagnosis
The diagnostic tool provides a comprehensive report on your website’s load time and the potential tweaks that can be made to improve load time. While some of the recommendations for improving load times are essential, others are more optional. However, it’s always a good idea to take all the diagnostic tool’s recommendations into account in order to improve your website’s performance.
What is a good PageSpeed score?
There is no definitive answer to this as it depends on the particular website and its content. However, as a general guide, you should aim for a score of 90 or more.
Keep in mind that PageSpeed score is not the only factor to consider when determining load time. There are many other factors such as the type of hosting you use and the size and complexity of your website.
Nevertheless, improving the PageSpeed score can be a good approach to optimize your website’s loading time.
Note that the true indicator of your website’s performance is the load time and not the Page Speed Insights score. Still, we see that Google itself breaks down that a bad score is between 0 and 49, an average is between 50 and 89, and a good score is 90+. By all means, aim for a high score, but don’t aim for 100 points.
It’s also important to understand how the sites you compete directly with in the SERPs perform in terms of load times. If you have a faster load time and a better PageSpeed score, but still only get a score of, say, 92/100, you should settle for that and invest your time elsewhere.
How to improve your PageSpeed Insights Score
Try the recommended actions (or best practices) and starting points below. They are the most common problems and have the greatest impact on improvements.
Optimize images
Images often make up the bulk of the bytes downloaded from a web page. Consequently, optimizing images can have the biggest impact on page speed.
Images should be compressed to reduce file size without significantly sacrificing quality. This can be done with an online tool like TinyPNG.
Images should also be provided in the correct format. For example, JPEG images are generally better for photographs, while PNG images are better for images with flat colors, such as logos.
Downloading images requires a lot of resources and they are often not properly optimized. The two main areas where you can make improvements through image optimization are:
- The disk size of an image
- The displayed size compared to the actual image size in pixels
- Moving the loading of images off-screen
- Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
- Use of next-generation images
Image size optimization
Downloading files or media like a 1MB image takes longer than downloading a 100KB image. To address the image size issue, work toward compressing images without loss of quality. You can use tools like TinyPNG to compress files and media that are too large, or take a look at Google and ImageMagick’s recommendation.
Size of the images in their display size
Another common problem is images that are unnecessarily much larger than they need to be. Imagine your page shows a 250 x 250 pixel image. If the original image is actually 1000×1000 pixels but was styled with CSS for a smaller display, you can speed up the loading time. As it stands, the browser would have to download the original (larger) image to display it in the smaller size.
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A CDN is a server system that delivers content from a distributed network of servers. This type of system can help speed up the delivery of your website’s content, including images, videos, and other files.
When you use a CDN, the server load is essentially spread across multiple locations. In order to be able to provide media as quickly as possible, the location closest to the user is used. The closer the data is to each other, the faster the loading time.
This is why using a CDN can be very helpful for speeding up your website. By using a CDN, you can take advantage of the many different servers spread around the world. This can help speed up your website’s loading time, which is especially important for mobile users.
Defer offscreen images
Offscreen images are images that are not in the user’s field of view but are still loading on the page. This can be a helpful technique to improve loading time as it delays the loading of these images until the user scrolls to that area of the page. There are a number of plugins to help you with this, or you can follow Google’s own advice on offscreen images. While there’s always a risk that some images won’t be visible when they’re needed, it’s a sensible trade-off to improve load time.
Use modern image formats
There are a number of newer image formats that can be used to improve loading time. These formats, like WebP and JPEG 2000, have smaller file sizes and load faster than older formats.
Although these formats are not yet supported by all browsers, they can still be used. If a browser doesn’t support a particular format, it will simply fall back to the next best option.
To use these formats, you must first convert your images to the new format.
There are a number of tools that can be used for this, e.g. ImageMagick.
Improvement of server response time
Most website owners are unfamiliar with the technical aspects of their website. Unfortunately, this also includes the server response time. Server response time is the time it takes for a server to return a response to a browser request.
The server response time of a website is important because it affects the overall user experience. Slow server response time can cause a website to load slowly, which can frustrate users and cause them to abandon the site. In order to improve server response time, it is important to first understand what is causing the delay.
There are several factors that can affect server response time, including the type of hosting plan, the size of your website, and the number of requests your website receives. If you use a shared hosting plan, the performance of your website will be affected by the performance of other websites on your server. The more requests your website receives, the longer it takes for your server to respond.
The size of your website also matters. A large website takes longer to load than a small website. You can reduce the size of your website by optimizing images and removing unnecessary files. You can also use a caching plugin to store static files on your server so they don’t have to be downloaded every time someone visits your website.
If you’re having trouble reducing the size of your website, consider switching to a VPS or dedicated server plan. A VPS or dedicated server gives you more resources and allows you to control how much bandwidth your website is using.
If you’re using a shared hosting plan and are experiencing slow server response times, consider upgrading to a VPS or dedicated server plan. VPS and dedicated servers offer more resources and allow you to control the bandwidth used by your website.
Code Minification
Shrinking the code can help reduce file size, so files download faster and use less bandwidth. This is especially useful for mobile devices or for websites visited by a large number of people. Reduced code is also more difficult to read, so it’s important to keep a copy of the original code in case changes are needed.
Clean up redirects
The longer you run your website, the more likely you will need to insert various redirects that result in slower page load speeds. Redirects force the browser to make additional HTTP requests, which increases the loading time. PageSpeed Insights will uncover these issues.
Browser caching
Browser caching allows pages to be stored locally on a user’s computer, so they don’t have to be re-downloaded each time you visit your site. This can improve loading times, especially for users who visit your site frequently.
How will page speed affect the search engine ranking of your website in the future?
Every website owner knows that page speed is important. Not only do users expect fast loading times, but search engines also take page speed into account when evaluating websites. In the past, page speed was not an important factor in search engine placement.
However, with the rise in popularity of mobile devices, page speed has become increasingly important. Google even announced that page speed will be an important ranking factor in its mobile search results. This change is likely to have a significant impact on the way website owners design and optimize their websites.
In the future, page speed will be an increasingly important factor for search engine rankings. Website owners who don’t take this into account could find their websites slipping in the rankings.
Pagespeed Optimization Tips for WordPress Users
here are a few simple things you can do to speed up your WordPress website, no matter what host you use. Here are a few tips:
- Use a caching plugin. A caching plugin creates a static copy of your pages and posts that is served to your users instead of the dynamic versions. This can significantly speed up your website.
- Optimize your images. Make sure they’re the right size and that you’re using the right compression format.
- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN). A CDN serves your static files from servers around the world, which can speed up load times for your users.
- Minimize the number of plugins you use. Each plugin increases the loading time of your website. If you don’t need a plugin, uninstall it.
- Optimize your database. Delete old posts and comments that are no longer needed and regularly compact your database tables.
- Use a good hoster. A good hoster has fast servers and takes care of optimizing their servers for WordPress.
Our tips for a better PageSpeed Rank
Website speed test using different tools
There are many different website speed testing tools out there on the internet. Some of them are more popular than others, and some are more accurate than others. In this section, we will discuss some of the most popular website speed test tools and their pros and cons.
The first tool we will discuss is Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. This tool is very popular and used by many people around the world. The main reason for its popularity is that it’s very easy to use: you just enter the URL of the website you want to test and the tool will give you a score based on how fast your website loads. The downside of this tool is that it is not always accurate and can sometimes give inaccurate results.
Another popular website speed testing tool is GTmetrix. You just enter the URL of the website you want to test and the tool will give you a result on how fast your website loads. The main advantage of this tool over PageSpeed Insights is that it gives you more information about what is causing your website to load slowly, which can help you troubleshoot the problem. However, like PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix can sometimes provide inaccurate results.
The last tool we will discuss in this section is WebPagetest. This tool is also very popular and used by many people around the world. The main reason for its popularity is that it provides a lot of information about your website’s performance, including information about page load time, page size, and number of requests. The downside of this tool is that it can be difficult to use if you are unfamiliar with web development terminology.
Comparisons with competitor websites
Once you’ve tested your site’s speed using one or more of the tools above, it’s time to compare your results to those of your competitors. This can be done with a tool like PageSpeed Insights. Just enter your competitor’s website URL and the tool will give you a score based on how fast their website loads. If their site loads faster than yours, you need to improve the speed of your own site.
You can also use a tool like GTmetrix to compare your website’s performance to that of your competitors. The main advantage of this tool is that it provides more information about the page load time, the size of the page and the number of requests.
The last tool we will discuss in this section is WebPagetest. This tool provides a lot of information about your website’s performance, including information about page load time, page size, and number of requests. The downside of this tool is that it can be difficult to use if you’ve never used web development terminology.
Improve your website speed
Once you’ve tested your site’s speed and compared it to your competitors, it’s time to improve your own site’s speed. Here are some tips on how to do this:
1. Use a content delivery network (CDN)
A CDN is a network of servers located around the world. When you use a CDN, your website’s static files (like images, CSS, and JavaScript) are stored on these servers. When a user visits your website, the static files are downloaded from the closest server, reducing the loading time of your pages.
2. Optimize your images
One of the most common reasons for slow loading pages is large images. To reduce the size of your images, you can use an image compression tool. There are many free tools on the internet such as TinyPNG and JPEGmini.
3. Minimize HTTP requests
Every time a user visits a page on your website, their browser sends an HTTP request to your server. This request is for each file on the page, such as Images, CSS and JavaScript. To reduce the number of HTTP requests, you can combine CSS and JavaScript into one file. You can also use a tool like Image Sprites to combine your images into one file.
4. Use caching
When you use caching, your pages are stored on the user’s computer so they don’t have to be downloaded from your server every time they visit your website. This shortens the loading time of your pages and helps to relieve your server.
5. Use a fast web host
The speed of your pages also depends on the speed of your web host. If you use a shared hosting plan, your pages will load slowly because your website shares a server with other websites. To improve the speed of your pages, consider using a dedicated server or VPS hosting plan.
6. Optimize your website for mobile devices
Mobile devices are now the most popular way to access the internet. Therefore, it is important to optimize your website for mobile devices. You can do this by using a responsive design or by creating a separate mobile version of your website.
7. Reduce the number of plugins used
If you use WordPress, you may be using too many plugins, which can slow down your pages. To reduce the number of plugins you use, you can disable and delete those that are not required.
8. Keep your website up to date
It’s important to keep your website up to date with the latest version of WordPress and all your plugins and themes. Outdated software can pose a security risk and also slow down your pages.
9. Reduce the number of ads you use
Ads can also slow down your pages. To reduce the number of ads used, you can disable them or use a plugin like AdSense Optimizer.
10. Use a content management system (CMS)
If you want to improve the speed of your pages, you should use a CMS. A CMS is software that helps you manage the content of your website. It can also help you optimize your pages for speed. There are many CMS options, e.g. WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. Choose the solution that is right for you and your website.
11. Hire a page speed optimization specialist
If you’re not sure how to optimize your pages for speed, you can hire a specialist. A specialist in page speed optimization can help you speed up your pages. Pagespeed optimization is a complex task, so it’s best to hire someone who is experienced and knows what they’re doing. Just like Creative Skyline.
By following these tips, you can improve your website’s page speed and make it more SEO friendly. Pagespeed is an important factor for SEO, so don’t neglect it.
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