When you improve your score on PageSpeed insights, you improve your user experience. Also, you ensure your page ranks better in Google search results. Well, this is why PageSpeed insights ranking is an essential aspect when it comes to SEO.
100/100 Points On Google Pagespeed Insights
To check on your PageSpeed insights score:
- Visit the PageSpeed insights website.
- Enter your site’s URL link in the space provided.
- Wait for the results to be generated.
Your PageSpeed insights results will show different issues about your website’s performance. The results are based on two parameters and also how to correct any errors found.
Parameter one: time to over-the-fold load. Well, this refers to the amount of time taken by your pages to load over-the-fold after a request.
Parameter two: full load page time. It refers to the measure of time your browser takes to display a page after a user request fully
If you notice a lot of yellow and red in your report, it is an indication of glaring issues in loading your webpage.
If you get a score of over 85, you are doing an excellent job on your website. Even so, there are ways to improve your score.
Here are ways to get a 100 score on PageSpeed Insights:
Reduce your server response time
The server response time is the time it takes for your server to send the initial HTML required for web page rendering. The ideal server response time is not more than 0.2 seconds. If your server response time is above 0.2, it is and of, among other causes:
- Inadequate or slow hardware.
- Slow database queries.
- Inefficient coding.
The soundest way to fix this issue is installing a Google cache plugin. Plugins you can consider using include:
- WP super cache – this is a super-fast and highly reliable plugin.
- W3 total cache – this is a comprehensive plugin that is used to improve performance issues.
- WP rocket – this is a pay to use plugin.
Enabling compression
Sending too much data between your server and browser can affect the speed of your website. It is better to make use of gzip compression to compress files and HTML. In case your server is not configured to make use of gzip compression, your PageSpeed insights report will show an error.
You can enable gzip by editing your Ht access file. While this is a simple method, Ht access is a delicate process and should be done with care. Most website hosting companies configure the servers they use to provide gzip compression. Several other plugins can be used to add gzip compression.
Image optimisation
Images take up a lot of bandwidth to be able to display in web pages. In some instances, images can take up to half the bandwidth. As much as having too many images is a problem for your site, you can optimize your images to ensure they do not use up as much bandwidth.
To do so, you can compress the images before upload. Furthermore, you can use a straightforward tool like the MS paint to resize your images. You only need to understand what dimensions your images need, open the image and resize it to desired dimensions. Re-upload your image.
You can consider using tinyPNG to compress your images. It is a free, simple to use and highly reliable online compression tool.
You can also consider using EWWW image optimizer. It will automatically optimise images on your website. You can choose between the free and paid versions of this optimising tool. The paid version is much more useful if you do not mind spending a few dollars.
Minifying JavaScript
Any JavaScript file comes with many tabs, spaces and line breaks. All these use up a lot of bandwidth which in essence goes to waste. Because of this issue, PageSpeed insights rate your website lower.
You can discard of this obstacle by installing a plugin to minify JavaScript.
W3 total cache – as mentioned above, this is an all-rounded performance solution. It will minify JavaScript on your site as it reduces your server response time.
Autoptimize – this is a commonly used plugin for minifying JavaScript and also CSS.
Leveraging browser caching
A webpage is made up of different assets like images, JS files and CSS files among others. In most websites, all web pages share these assets. For instance, your page’s log and style-sheet are usually the same throughout the website.
It is essential for your servers to communicate to the browser on the assets that are shared and thus can be reduced on your website. If your server cannot do this, your score on PageSpeed insights will go down.
To fix this error:
You can configure your browser caching through the htaccess file. Again, it is a simple process but a delicate one because of the sensitivity of the htaccess file. Alternatively, your hosting company can set up this feature for you.
Avoiding landing page redirecting
If you have a website that is not responsive enough, it can lead to a lot of redirects before the page loads. Every time your visitor is redirected, rendering of your web page is stopped. Well, this increases your load time which affects your Google PageSpeed Insights score.
To avoid redirects, you need to build your website to be completely responsive. Well, this ensures that your users enjoy fast, stable and high-quality browsing.
There are other recommendations on Google PageSpeed insight report. However, the ones named above are the most common and important. They are also easy to fix without the need of a web developer. Once you implement all these factors, you can be sure to enjoy a high score on Google PageSpeed Insights.
