Summary
Google has developed Page Speed Insight (PSI), a powerful tool that generates reports on a website’s performance on desktop and mobile.
From the user’s perspective, the faster the page speed, the better the experience. Websites with fast loading times decrease the bounce-off rate, thus ranking higher in Google’s organic search.
There are ways to brush up the Google PSI: image compression, HTML minification, device AMP, and cache utilization.
If you love reading blog posts and shopping online, there are tons of available websites to choose from. But, have you ever experienced putting up with a website that took its time to load the page?
If you have, so did I! I must say it wasn’t a good experience.
In my observation, some owners put tons of large pictures on their websites. Doing this will result in slow page speed.
In SEO, this is not ideal because you’re not retaining users on your website. To cater to this complication, Google now provides PageSpeed Insight which is a very useful tool.
In addition to this, there are 4 ways to score 100% on Google’s PSI. Keep reading to know more.
What is page speed?
Page speed is defined in two ways; first, it is the time to display content above the fold. The second is the amount of time a browser fully supplies the whole page.
Other factors to consider are the user’s internet connection, web browsing data, and domain hosting service.
While these are elements beyond your control as the website owner, you can optimize images, Javascript, and videos.
Why does page speed matter?
So, why does page speed matter? Page speed is very important to rank your website on Google’s organic search.
The page load time is the main reason you have to focus on page speed as it equates to success.
To further illustrate the importance of page speed, Google has a new Page Speed Benchmark. They found out as the page’s loading time increases, the higher chance the user will bounce off.
Image source: https://think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/mobile-page-speed-new-industry-benchmarks.pdf
The image above shows the probability of bouncing off per page load time. So, if your website’s load time is from 1-10s, the bounce rate is at 123%, which is extremely high.
Knowing all these, what tool can help you improve your page’s speed? The answer is right on the title: Google’s Page Speed Insights.
What are Google’s Page Speed Insights?
The Google Page Speed Insights (PSI) is a tool that analyses a webpage’s content and gives page speed for both desktop and mobile versions. It also sights points for improvement and optimization.
Image source: SEJ
Since you’re a website owner, you have to dig deeper into the cause of your page’s slow speed. By doing this, you’ll know what necessary changes to make before scoring 100% in your PSI.
How to Use PageSpeed Insights Tool
Sites take time to load due to images size and cache clearing, but not all the time. To get you started, go to your PageSpeed Insights Tool.
Then, “Analyze” and let Google do its test.
There are two things here: First, Google gathers your page’s field data stored in Chrome User Experience Report. Secondly, it’s checking your page’s performance using the LightHouse API.
The methods above help improve and remove factors that might affect your website’s load time. Also, PSI will bring about a comprehensive report that includes opportunities, diagnostics, passed audits, field and lab data.
For you to understand your PSI report, there’s a color coding for each indicator. Green means good, yellow means there are points for improvement, supplies, and red means poor.
Here’s a detailed guide on how to shed light on each field of the report.
Field Data
The first is field data which divides the webpage’s performance and speed into 4 criteria. Each with a specific load time and speed.
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Image source: SEJ
- First Contentful Paint (FCP) – The first criterion shows the time it takes for the first text or image to load.
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – Next is the LCP, which conveys the time to load the biggest text or image.
- First Input Delay (FID) – The third criterion is called first input delay. It reveals how much time the browser takes to reply to a user.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – Lastly, the CLSC measures any mobility within the page.
Lab Data
Here we have lab data that uses the LightHouse API. Under this type of report, there are three criteria:
- Speed index, which shows the time for the content to emerge during a page load.
- Time interactivity conveys the page time until it becomes fully interactive.
- The total blocking time indicates the sum of the first contentful paint and full interactivity.
Image source: SEJ
Opportunities and Diagnostics
The third report is called Opportunities and diagnostics, which gives a certain improvement for page speed. Also, the tool aims to provide action points in line with your management system.
Image source: SEJ
Passed Audits
The last type of report is passed audits which shows what the website has been doing right. Of course, the more audits passed, pass plugins in your website optimization with its best practices.
Image source: SEJ
Now that you’ve learned about these things, here are 4 ways to score 100% on Google PageSpeed Insight.
How to Score a Perfect 100%?
Achieving 100% on PSI is not an easy task, so you still have to burn the midnight oil. Nonetheless, if you want to gain traffic and reduce bounce-off rates, you’ll have to do these methods.
- Compress your images
Large images cause the page to load slowly. To optimize this, you have to compress the images using tools.
For example, in WordPress, you can use the Smush Image to resize your images. To use this feature, add the plugin it will scan your media library and detect images.
Not to mention, you can also compress or resize multiple images by uploading them directly into the plugin. Notably, Smush is a fast tool because it can handle 50 images at a time.
Another tool you can use to compress images is the Crush.pics. If you run an e-commerce site, you can resize your photos.
To add to the list, you can employ Optimizilla and Compress JPEG. These are free tools you can avail of if you can’t add a plugin.
- Utilize Browser Caching
The next method is to make use of your browser caching. How does browser caching work?
It stores data from pages loaded before, so you don’t have to reload once you visit the site again. A visitor lands on another page on your website, and the logos and footers won’t have to load again.
The result is faster page speed. Like the Smush, there’s a plugin for this.
Again, for WordPress, you can add W3 Total Cache. It’s one of the most popular cache plugins and claims to improve your overall site.
If you’re not a coder, you can begin with this cache since it’s easy to use.
- Minimize your HTML
Minification is the third method on the list. The process entails the removal of unnecessary and duplicated data that affects how a browser processes the HTML.
In addition, minimizing the HTML space is a huge factor when getting a perfect score in Google’s PSI.
On your plugin page, you can add HTML Minify. The tool will help in formatting, fixing, removing, and shortening code if necessary.
As a bonus, HTML Minify is free and can be downloaded in seconds.
After installing the Minify, go to the setting tab and enable all settings except for Support multi-byte UTF-8 encoding. The plugin will also recommend actions for each setting.
Google’s PSI suggests you minify HTML, CASS, and JavaScript. To activate this, enable the “Minify HTML” + “Inline JavaScript” in the settings.
Then, select yes and remove HTML, JavaScript, and CSS comments.
- Device AMP
Lastly, you can implement the Accelerated Mobile Pages. The AMP is a program by Google to help faster page loading for mobile devices.
Its format is aimed at disposing of any irrelevant information for a better mobile experience. Users can also have a more optimized experience by eliminating features that don’t work well on mobile devices.
The AMP looks like this:
Image source: WP Beginner
The AMP allows the user to experience a good format and lets the pages load quickly. In short, the page is a simplified version of its actual website.
For this reason, the user can load the page in less than 10 seconds and can view multiple pages without clicking the back button.
It’s fitting to say that AMP can significantly increase mobile speed, and in return, it will be an avenue to score high on Google’s PSI.
Page Speed Beneficial for Your Website
The page speed will help retain users on your website. The time your page loads affect your users’ experience.
In return, Google can use this as a factor to rank you in the organic search. By all means, the best page load time is 3 seconds.
Users rely mostly on search engines. If they often experience slow websites, they’ll stop using those. That’s why speed will boost your website.
What have you learned in this post? To help you understand more, here are some articles you’ll love:
- Content Quality Vs. Quantity: Should You Write One Long Blog Post Or 10 Shorter Ones?
- Top 10 Editorial Tools To Keep Your Content Organized
- 20 Best SEO Tools for 2021( Free and Paid)
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