Guide to optimize website speed – all what you need to know

Guide to optimize website speed – all what you need to know

By, Dec

• 30 Apr, 2024
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Unleash blazing-fast website performance with our comprehensive guide to website speed optimization. Discover proven techniques to improve SEO, user experience, and conversions (Guide to optimize website speed).

Guide to optimize website speed

Guide to optimize website speed

What is optimal website speed

There isn’t a single, definitive “optimal” website speed for SEO and client experience. However, there are some key benchmarks to consider:

• SEO: Google and other search engines prioritize user experience, and website speed is a factor. While there’s no confirmed minimum speed for SEO ranking, slower loading times can negatively impact your ranking.
• Client Experience: Studies show users expect websites to load in under 3 seconds. Anything above that can lead to frustration and a higher bounce rate (people leaving your site without taking action).

Here’s a breakdown to help you understand the impact of speed:

• Under 3 seconds: Ideal for SEO and user experience. Users are more likely to stay engaged and convert (buy, subscribe, etc.).
• 3-5 seconds: Still acceptable for most users, but SEO might be slightly affected. Consider optimizing images and code for faster loading.
• 5-10 seconds: Users may start to show signs of impatience. This can negatively impact SEO and conversions. Significant optimization is needed.
• 10+ seconds: Very slow loading times. Users are highly likely to abandon the website, hurting SEO and conversions. Prioritize speed optimization immediately.

Best website speed optimization tools free

Here are some of the best free website speed optimization tools you can use:

1. Google PageSpeed Insights:

• Offered by Google itself, this is a gold standard tool for website speed testing.
• It analyzes your website’s performance on both desktop and mobile devices, providing specific recommendations for improvement.
• It offers insights into Core Web Vitals, which are crucial metrics for SEO and user experience.
• While it might not be the most beginner-friendly tool, it’s incredibly valuable for its detailed analysis and connection to Google’s search algorithms.

2. GTmetrix:

• Another popular option, GTmetrix offers a freemium model with valuable features in the free tier.
• It provides a waterfall chart that visually shows how long each element on your page takes to load, helping pinpoint bottlenecks.
• It offers YSlow score and PageSpeed score, similar to Google PageSpeed Insights, along with specific optimization recommendations.
• The free plan allows testing from multiple locations, which can be helpful for geographically diverse audiences.

3. Pingdom Website Speed Test:

• This user-friendly tool offers a simple interface and clear results.
• It displays your website’s overall load time, page size, and a letter grade for performance.
• While it doesn’t provide the in-depth analysis of other tools, it’s great for a quick assessment and identifying major speed issues.
• The free plan allows for basic website testing and some historical data tracking.

4. WebPageTest:

• This free tool allows for advanced testing configurations, letting you choose browser versions, connection speeds, and geographic locations.
• It provides detailed waterfall charts and performance breakdowns, helping diagnose specific speed issues.
• While offering flexibility, this tool might require some technical knowledge to fully interpret the results.

5. Lighthouse (Chrome DevTools):

• Built into the Chrome browser’s developer tools, Lighthouse offers a comprehensive website auditing experience.
• It assesses performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO, providing valuable insights beyond just speed.
• While not a standalone tool, it’s readily available for quick checks and basic optimization suggestions.

Analyze website speed with google page speed insights

To analyze website speed using Google PageSpeed Insights, follow these steps:

1. Open your web browser and go to the Google PageSpeed Insights website (https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/).
2. Enter the URL of the website you want to analyze into the input field.
3. Click on the “Analyze” button.
4. Wait for Google PageSpeed Insights to analyze your website. This may take a few moments.
5. Once the analysis is complete, you will see a report with insights and recommendations for improving your website’s speed and performance.
6. Review the suggestions provided by Google PageSpeed Insights and take action to address any issues identified. This may involve optimizing images, minifying CSS and JavaScript, leveraging browser caching, and other performance optimization techniques.
7. After making changes to your website, you can re-run the analysis in Google PageSpeed Insights to see if there are any further improvements that can be made.

Optimize website speed

The sss company has extensive experience in developing optimized sites. From our experience, speed is mainly influenced by:

• How the site is developed, on which technology stack. If the site is made by a person without experience, for example, even on WordPress, then the site can be very slow.
• Hosting – if the hosting is powerful, then your site will load quickly and vice versa.

Tips for optimizing website speed:

• Optimize images: Reduce image file size without sacrificing quality.
• Minify code: Remove unnecessary characters and whitespace from your website’s code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript).
• Enable browser caching: This allows browsers to store frequently accessed files locally, reducing download times on return visits.
• Choose a reliable web hosting provider: A good hosting provider ensures your website has the resources it needs to load quickly.
• Consider a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN distributes your website’s content across geographically dispersed servers, reducing latency (loading time) for users in different locations.

How to improve website loading speed on mobile

Usually, in modern development, they do not make ouremo mobile, separate desktop version, but make an adaptive site. For SEO – the site on the PC version should be the same as for the mobile version. Therefore, all site optimization work should be the same for both versions of the sites. But there are rules specifically for mobile users, so, for example, the mobile version displays smaller images.