Does Google PageSpeed Insights really improve website speed? I wanted to know for sure, so I tested it out. Here’s what I found!
For this experiment, I ran a low-performing website through Google PageSpeed Insights, took the recommendations, applied a few changes, and ran it again to see the difference.
What is Google PageSpeed Insights?
Google PageSpeed Insights (PSI) is a free tool that analyzes any website’s performance by just entering the URL. It checks how fast a page loads and offers detailed suggestions to make it faster.
PSI gives reports for both mobile and desktop. The tool shows your website’s speed score for each and provides tips to help you improve.
For instance, PSI suggests ways to optimize images, improve server response time, and enable browser caching.
By following these suggestions, you can speed up your website’s performance and improve user experience.
What is a Good Google PageSpeed Score?
Google suggests a score of 90 or higher, but that’s often difficult to reach, especially on mobile.
Aiming for a mobile score of 50-60 and a desktop score of 90 or above is more realistic.
Because Google ranks websites based on their mobile performance, having a higher mobile score is essential. Even though mobile scores are often lower, optimizing for mobile is key.
In my tests, getting a perfect score of 100 was nearly impossible, but reaching 99 on the desktop was achievable.
Using Google PageSpeed Insights to Improve Your Website Speed
Using PSI is easy. Just enter your website’s URL, and PSI will provide a full report in seconds.
Here’s how it worked on one of my blogs, which I hadn’t updated in a while. It clearly needed some speed improvements!
Step 1: Enter your website’s URL and click “Analyze.” PSI runs an analysis and gives a detailed report in just a few seconds.
Step 2: Review the report, which provides scores from 0 to 100 for mobile and desktop.
Google PageSpeed Insights uses metrics like:
- First Contentful Paint (FCP): Time to load the first visible part of the page.
- Speed Index: How fast most of the page displays.
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Time to show the largest text or image.
- Time to Interactive (TTI): How long before the page is fully usable.
- Total Blocking Time (TBT): Time the page is unresponsive to user actions.
Step 3: Follow PSI’s personalized suggestions for each metric.
One of my issues was server response time, so I focused on that first. PSI suggested enabling cloud caching, which sped up my site dramatically after a few simple tweaks.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Google PageSpeed Insights
If you’re new to PSI or need a refresher, here are some quick tips to maximize your results:
- Size Images Properly: Large images slow down load times. Compress images before uploading.
- Minify CSS/JavaScript: Compress these files to reduce page size.
- Use Browser Caching: Store web files locally so they load faster on repeat visits.
- Enable Compression: Compress page content to reduce data transfer times.
- Optimize for Mobile: Since mobile connections can be slower, optimizing for mobile is key.
Test Your Website Speed with Google PageSpeed Insights — But Keep Testing!
Using PSI, I improved an old blog’s speed significantly. Before applying its suggestions, my site took 2.76 seconds to load. After one fix, it was down to 650 milliseconds! Imagine if I applied all the recommendations.
Also Read: How to Speed Up the WordPress Admin Dashboard for a Faster, Smoother Workflow
Google PageSpeed Insights is a valuable tool to improve web performance, but it’s not the only option. Regularly testing and optimizing your website is key to maintaining good performance.
