Why Google PageSpeed Is So Important and How to Score 100
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Your website's speed is a critical factor that directly impacts your bottom line.
For Aussie businesses where 74% of website visitors will be on a mobile device and expect the page to load in less than two seconds, a slow website means lower search engine rankings and lost customers.
This guide will explain why Google PageSpeed is so important and provide a practical, step-by-step approach to achieving a high score.
Why PageSpeed Matters
In 2021, Google rolled out the Page Experience ranking factor to its methodology.
Based on Core Web Vitals, a website’s performance no longer only focuses on speed, but also on user experience when using the site. These metrics are:
- LCP(Largest Contentful Paint): Measures the loading performance of a website.
- Interaction To Next Paint (INP): Measures the responsiveness of the webpage.
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Measures visual stability of the webpage.
Use PageSpeed here to get your results. We'll cover these more in detail later, but why does this even matter…
The Cost of a Slow Website
The impact of a slow look sign can hurt your business in four key areas.
- Higher Bounce Rates: When your website is slow, visitors don't wait around. A high bounce rate means that visitors are leaving your site after viewing only one page. Google's own research shows that as page load time goes from one second to three seconds, the probability of bounce increases by 32%. For Australian e-commerce businesses, this translates to thousands of dollars in lost revenue every month.
- Lower Search Engine Rankings: Google has confirmed that page speed is a direct ranking factor for both desktop and mobile searches. A faster website will generally rank higher than a slower one, all other things being equal. With Google's mobile-first indexing, the speed of your mobile site is more important than ever. In Australia's competitive digital landscape, where businesses are fighting for visibility on the first page of Google, every ranking factor matters.
- Reduced Conversion Rates: A slow website can have a significant impact on your conversion rates. If your site is slow, customers are less likely to make a purchase, fill out a contact form, or take any other desired action. A faster site leads to a smoother user journey and more conversions. Research by Akamai shows that a 100-millisecond delay in website load time can hurt conversion rates by 7%.
- Damaged Brand Reputation: In today's digital world, your website is often the first impression customers have of your business. A slow, clunky website sends the message that you don't care about the customer experience. This can damage your brand reputation and make it harder to build trust with potential customers.
Mobile Speed Matters
With nearly 60% of online searches in Australia now happening on mobile devices, the speed of your mobile site is critical. Google's mobile-first indexing means that Google primarily uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking. If your mobile site is slow, your rankings will suffer.
Google's Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are the key signals that Google uses to evaluate the performance of your website.
Understanding these metrics is the first step to improving your PageSpeed score.
| Metric | How It's Measured | Scoring Thresholds |
|---|---|---|
| LCP Largest Contentful Paint |
|
Scoring Thresholds
Good: 2.5 seconds or less
Needs Improvement: 2.5–4 seconds
Poor: 4 seconds or above
|
| INP Interaction to Next Paint |
|
Scoring Thresholds
Good: Below 200 milliseconds
Needs Improvement: 200–500 milliseconds
Poor: Above 500 milliseconds
|
| CLS Cumulative Layout Shift |
|
Scoring Thresholds
Good: 0.1 or less
Needs Improvement: 0.1–0.25
Poor: 0.25 or above
|
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
LCP measures how long it takes for the largest piece of content (usually an image or a large block of text) to load on the screen. This is important because it gives users a sense of when the page is actually usable.
What affects LCP: Server response time, slow-loading resources (like large images or videos), render-blocking JavaScript and CSS, and client-side rendering.
How to improve LCP: Optimise your images, improve your server response time, remove unnecessary third-party scripts, and use lazy loading for images below the fold.
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
INP assesses your page's overall responsiveness to user interactions.
It measures the time from when a user interacts with your page (like clicking a button) to the time the browser paints the next frame. This metric replaced First Input Delay (FID) because it provides a more complete picture of responsiveness.
What affects INP: Long-running JavaScript tasks, large DOM sizes, and inefficient event handlers.
How to improve INP: Break up long JavaScript tasks, optimise your JavaScript code, and reduce the size of your DOM.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
CLS measures the visual stability of your page. It looks at how much elements on your page move around as it loads.
Have you ever been about to click a button, only to have it move at the last second? That's a layout shift, and it's frustrating for users.
What affects CLS: Images without dimensions, ads and embeds without reserved space, dynamically injected content, and web fonts causing FOIT/FOUT.
How to improve CLS: Always include width and height attributes on your images and video elements, reserve space for ads and embeds, avoid inserting content above existing content, and use font-display: optional for web fonts.
How to Score 100 on Google PageSpeed Insights
Achieving a perfect score of 100 on Google PageSpeed Insights is not always easy.
It requires a combination of technical optimisation and good content practices. Here are the key steps you need to take:
1. Choose a Quality Hosting Provider
Your hosting provider has a significant impact on your website's speed. Choose a reliable Australian hosting provider that offers fast server response times and good support.
2. Optimise Your Images
Large, unoptimised images are one of the biggest culprits of slow page load times. Compress your images before uploading them to your website, and use the correct image format (e.g., JPEG for photos, PNG for graphics with transparency).
3. Minify Your Code
Minifying your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code removes unnecessary characters and reduces the file size, which can improve your page load times.
4. Leverage Browser Caching
Browser caching allows you to store parts of your website on a visitor's computer, so they don't have to download them every time they visit your site. This can significantly improve your page load times for returning visitors.
5. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A CDN is a network of servers that are located around the world. When a visitor comes to your site, the CDN delivers the content from the server that is closest to them, which can significantly improve your page load times.
6. Remove Unnecessary Plugins and Scripts
Every plugin and script you add to your website adds to the page load time. Regularly review your plugins and scripts and remove any that you are not using.
7. Optimise Your Fonts
Web fonts can add to your page load time. Use a limited number of fonts, and make sure they are optimised for the web.
8. Reduce Redirects
Every redirect adds to your page load time. Minimise the number of redirects on your website to improve your site's site speed.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
When optimising for PageSpeed, there are some common mistakes that can actually make things worse:
- Over-optimising: Don't sacrifice functionality for speed. If a plugin or script is essential for your business, keep it, even if it adds a bit to your load time.
- Ignoring Mobile: Many businesses focus on desktop speed and forget about mobile. Remember, Google uses mobile-first indexing, so your mobile speed is what matters most.
- Not Testing: Always test your changes to make sure they're actually improving your speed. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to track your progress.
- Forgetting About Content: Speed is important, but so is content. Don't remove valuable content just to improve your speed score.
When to Hire an Expert
Optimising PageSpeed can be complex and time-consuming. If you’re not seeing results or aren’t comfortable making changes, it may be time to bring in a web developer or SEO specialist.
Remember, PageSpeed isn’t a one-time fix—it requires ongoing monitoring and optimisation as your site evolves.
Start by using Google PageSpeed Insights to identify issues, then make incremental improvements. Even small changes can significantly boost user experience and your bottom line.
Talk to our team about a custom speed optimisation plan for your business.
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