How to Perform a Website Audit Using PageSpeed Insights

Inside Our Process: The Analytics Mates PageSpeed Insights Audit

Website performance directly impacts user experience, search engine rankings, and business success. At Analytics Mates, we specialize in providing our clients with actionable insights to improve their website's speed and performance. One of our key services is the PageSpeed Insights Audit, a comprehensive process designed to identify performance bottlenecks and optimize both mobile and desktop experiences.

In this post, we’ll walk you through our PageSpeed Insights Audit process and explain why it’s essential for businesses aiming to deliver fast, user-friendly websites that rank well in search engines.

Why a PageSpeed Insights Audit is Important

A fast-loading website not only enhances user experience but also improves SEO rankings, conversions, and overall engagement. A poorly optimized site can result in slow load times, high bounce rates, and lost revenue. That’s where our PageSpeed Insights Audit comes in — we identify key performance issues and provide specific recommendations for optimization.

At Analytics Mates, we ensure your website performs at its peak, giving your business a competitive edge online.

The Benefits of a PageSpeed Insights Audit

A thorough PageSpeed Insights Audit ensures:

• Faster Load Times: Optimized performance leads to quicker page loads and reduced bounce rates.
• Better SEO Rankings: Faster websites are favored by search engines, boosting your rankings.
• Improved User Experience: Your visitors enjoy a smooth, fast, and engaging browsing experience, increasing the likelihood of conversions.
• Actionable Insights: With clear recommendations, you can make targeted improvements that lead to tangible results.

Step-by-Step Overview of Our PageSpeed Insights Audit

1. Pre-Audit Preparations and Technical Overview

We start by reviewing the current hosting environment, server configuration, and the use of Content Delivery Networks (CDN). This is followed by an analysis of the technologies powering your website, such as the CMS, JavaScript frameworks, and any third-party integrations. Identifying all these would not be possible without using third-party websites such as BuiltWith and Ful.io.

2. Initial Speed Analysis

Next, we perform an initial analysis using PageSpeed Insights. This gives us baseline performance scores for both mobile and desktop, which serve as a benchmark for further optimizations. Here are the steps:

2.1. Access PageSpeed Insights

• Go to PageSpeed Insights.
• Enter the URL of the website you want to audit in the search bar.
• Click on the Analyze button to start the process.

2.2. Review the Performance Scores

After the analysis is complete, performance results will be presented. These performance Scores for both Mobile and Desktop versions of your website, graded from 0 to 100.

• 0-49 (Poor)
• 50-89 (Needs Improvement)
• 90-100 (Good)

3. Core Web Vitals Audit

The Core Web Vitals are key metrics provided by Google that help assess page speed, interactivity, and visual stability. To effectively address issues leading to Needs Improvement or Poor scores, it's important to understand the various metrics analyzed by PageSpeed Insights.

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): We measure how long it takes for the largest content element (like images or text blocks) to load. We then recommend optimizations such as reducing image sizes or deferring non-critical JavaScript. Learn more of what LCP is here. 
• First Input Delay (FID): This metric tracks how quickly your site responds to user interactions. We identify and address issues like long-running JavaScript that slow down interactivity. Learn more of what FID is here. 
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): This measures visual stability. We identify elements causing layout shifts and provide solutions to maintain predictable layouts. Check out what CLS is here. 

4. Additional Performance Metrics

We also focus on other important metrics, such as.  

• First Contentful Paint  (FCP): This metric is one of six metrics tracked in the Performance section of the Lighthouse report. Each metric captures some aspect of page load speed.
• Total Blocking Time (TBT): We evaluate how much time the page takes before users can interact with it, focusing on minimizing JavaScript execution time.
• Speed Index: We measure how quickly the content is visually displayed during page load and prioritize above-the-fold content to speed up load times.

Scroll down to review Diagnostics which provide more detailed suggestions for improvements. Key diagnostics to focus on include:

• Reduce Unused JavaScript (Guide)
• Eliminate Render-blocking Resources (Guide)
• Avoid Excessive DOM Size (Guide)
• Minimize Main-thread Work (Guide)
• Ensure text remains visible during webfont load (Guide)

In the Diagnostics section, additional results should be identified, along with steps on how to resolve them. Just click show all relevant audits per metric and there should be some information to guide you on how to fix it. That goal should be to optimize the site performance to score out of 100 for both mobile and desktop.

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Here are additional aspects to consider reviewing during the audit:

5. Image Optimization

A key aspect of any performance audit is image optimization:

• We review the image formats (e.g., JPEG, WebP) and suggest modern formats for faster load times.
• We analyze lazy loading implementation to ensure images are only loaded when needed, and we verify that all images have specified dimensions to avoid layout shifts.

6. JavaScript & CSS Optimization

We ensure that JavaScript and CSS are optimized for performance by:

• Recommending minification and compression of files.
• Reviewing the use of critical CSS to ensure the most important content loads quickly.
• Suggesting strategies to defer non-essential scripts and enhance page speed.

7. Server and Hosting Optimization

We analyze server response times, caching strategies, and the use of CDNs. This helps us recommend improvements that can significantly reduce load times and improve overall website performance.

8. Mobile Optimization

They Since mobile optimization is critical for modern websites, we:

• Ensure the site is responsive across all screen sizes.
• Identify mobile-specific issues like touch input delays or unnecessary large scripts and images.

9. Security and Privacy Considerations

We verify your website’s HTTPS implementation to ensure data security and evaluate your privacy policies to comply with regulations without compromising performance.

Upon completing the audit, we deliver a comprehensive report summarizing our findings and providing actionable recommendations. These are prioritized based on their potential impact on your website's speed and user experience. We then determine the appropriate approach and establish a timeline for addressing any identified issues based on the audit results.

In the meantime, we've created a comprehensive PageSpeed Insights Audit Checklist, which we're offering for free. We hope you find it helpful, and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out— we're just a form submission away.

Final Word

At Analytics Mates, we believe that a well-optimized website is a cornerstone of online success. With our PageSpeed Insights Audit, you’ll have the insights you need to deliver a fast, user-friendly website that ranks higher and converts better.

Thank you for reading!

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