PageSpeed is one of Google's most important ranking factors under which its algorithms evaluate web pages. Page speed is important in terms of the overall rating of your website and its position in search results. How do you check your page load time and optimise all the elements that affect it? Is this indicator relevant to SEO? Find out this and other important information about PageSpeed in this text.
PageSpeed - what is it?
PageSpeed is the total time it takes for a web page to load - one page, not the whole website. In marketing, PageSpeed is understood as the time from when a URL is clicked until the page loads completely. This parameter affects the number of impressions; according to Google, fast page loading has a positive impact on User Experience - building a positive user experience. Fast pages are scored better and thus have a better position in the SERPs.
Longer loading times are correlated with a higher bounce rate, i.e. when a user accesses a page and then immediately leaves it. The longer a user stays on a page, the higher the algorithm evaluates it, because it recognises that the page contains interesting content.
How fast should the site be?
Currently, PageSpeed should be no more than 3 seconds: exactly how long all files have to load. Slow pages attract fewer customers and are quickly abandoned by web users. The internet even loves pages that are fast!
A page must not take longer than 3 seconds to load, but what exactly is an appropriate speed? The indicators directly related to the Core Web Vitals factors, i.e. those relevant to SEO, are, in turn:
- Largest Contentful Paint, whose value should be no more than 2.5 seconds,
- First Input Delay, whose value should not exceed 100 ms,
- Cumulative Layout Shift, which must be below a value of 0.1 (0.01 seconds).
How do I check my website speed?
Before we move on to the tools with which we can measure the speed of a page, let's pause for a moment at what its loading speed actually depends on. 
What does page speed depend on? Here are the most relevant issues:
- from hosting: the server must be well configured to respond to search engines as quickly as possible. This issue is not usually down to the site owners, but to the hosting providers;
- from cache optimisation, which allows the server to reduce its resources and thus speed up its response. Most CMSs have dedicated plug-ins for cache optimisation, such as W3 Total Cache - for WordPress;
- on the size of image files: large files take longer to load - in order not to lose quality (which is also important), it is advisable to compress graphics to a smaller size and to choose suitable file formats (JPEG, SVG);
- from choosing the right SEO tools: implementing too many plug-ins or extensions that 'get in the way' of each other can slow down the site;
- from appropriate redirects, which need to be updated regularly as necessary. Shortening the redirect chain automatically reduces the server response time and thus speeds up the site.
Tools for measuring website speed
The PageSpeed test is an integral part of any SEO audit. If you want to check how fast a page is loading, you can use one of the free analysis tools. Google is certainly at the forefront of the industry here, offering tools to audit and catch any errors that make sites slower.
- Google PageSpeed Insights - this is one of the most popular
tools, with which we can examine the performance and speed of a page. Google PageSpeed Insights additionally gives tips on where changes need to be made to optimise the site.
- Google Analytics Site Speed — Analytics to zaawansowane
web analytics tool. To start using it, all you need to do is add a relevant piece of JS code in the header of your page, which will allow you to collect GA data about your website and enable, for example, a page optimisation test. Google Analytics has many functionalities: with it you can also check the loading speed of your website. This is possible thanks to the report and "behaviour" in the "site speed" section.
- Google Lighthouse - another tool from Google for auditing websites, including open source speed measurement, running as an extension to the Chrome browser. Lighthouse allows you to examine the quality of your website, including specifically its loading speed.
What to use the PageSpeed Insight tool for?
In addition to diagnostics, PageSpeed Insight will indicate what needs to be improved to make the website faster. There is therefore nothing to prevent you from using the tool's tips to make your website more visible. What is the reason for page speed and what benefits does optimisation bring?
- Code minification - compression of HTML files removes all unnecessary characters and speeds up the display of the page by the browser.
- CSS optimisation - cascading style sheets take up a lot of space: to optimise them, firstly remove unnecessary sheets and secondly put all the CSS in one file.
- Gzip compression - i.e. lossless compression of page files, so that they do not lose quality, but take up much less space and thus load faster.
- Image optimisation - here, too, it is advisable to compress images. Using formats such as JPG 2000, JPG XR, WebP allows image files to load faster and without loss of quality.
- Lazy Loading implementation - loading images uses quite a lot of server resources: uploading Lazy Load allows images to be loaded only when the user is in their viewing area.
- Eliminate resources that block rendering - JavaScript elements as well as CSS should not be loaded before the content of the page, as this will slow it down. CSS and JS should be in the HEAD section in the <style> and <script> tags.
Key parameters that can be checked with PageSpeed Insight
Core Web Vitals (key site metrics), is a set of metrics that are designed to determine whether a website is convenient for users. CWVs relate to page performance and speed, and are a web ranking factor from August 2021. Google has introduced Core Web Vitalis because UX is becoming an increasingly important factor in site ratings. And the search engine wants to provide users with the most convenient and valuable pages possible. The four main parameters are:
- FCP - First Contentful Paint - which is the time at which the user sees the first of any element on the WWW;
- FID - First Input Delay - the time from the execution of the action (click) to the response of the page, where server response time is important;
- LPC - Largest Contentful Paint - the time it takes for the largest piece of page content to load;
- CLS - Cumulative Layout Shift - the time it takes for individual layouts to stabilise on a page, when there are no image or content shifts.
Does PageSpeed affect search engine positions?
So what is it with this PageSpeed versus SEO? Page speed is important for SEO, but only when combined with valuable content that retains users for longer, guaranteeing a high search engine ranking.
A page that loads quickly = positive UX = points from the algorithm.
Site speed is important, especially on mobile devices. Why? Their users often browse the web for no particular purpose, doing so while riding the bus or waiting in line. If a page takes too long to load, the visitor is likely to leave after a few seconds and return to the search results to go to a page that loads faster.
The loading speed of a website is not only dependent on how it is optimised, it is also important which network the person who wants to access it is using. The loading speed of a page can vary from device to device, e.g. different models of phones with different components may load websites at different times. To check how a website performs on smartphones, simply do a mobile speed test. Google gives better ratings to sites that are 'mobile friendly'.
PageSpeed vs. actual page speed
At the end of 2021, Google commissioned a new version of PageSpeed Insight, which, unlike the previous version, distinguishes between laboratory and real-world data. As a result, the tool now measures actual page speed for Chrome browser users.
In the new version of the PageSpeed Insights Api, the labels denoting lab and factual data respectively are replaced by text so that everyone can read the reports clearly. In addition, every user will find detailed information on how Core Web Vitals evaluates pages.
Basic features of PageSpeed Insight - what is worth knowing before first use?
Among the core functions of PageSpeed Insights is the analysis of page speed and performance. After the diagnostics, the programme also presents suggestions for changes to improve speed and the projected speed after the suggested changes have been implemented.
To have a page analysed, simply paste the URL of the website on the PageSpeed Insights homepage and click on the 'analyse' button. The tool analyses the website in terms of its adaptation to mobile devices (mobile) and computers (desktop). The page is analysed in terms of speed (Page Speed) and optimisation (Optimisation) and Core Web Vitals Speed can be rated as slow, medium and fast. The optimisation status of a page is given as a percentage, and a score above 75% indicates a page that is sufficiently optimised for search engines.
Page Speed offers reports in which the data is grouped into several categories, these are:
- laboratory data,
- opportunities - elements for improvement,
- diagnosis - recommendations,
- passed audits - elements for which no objections can be raised.
Page Speed results - how are pages rated?
PageSpeed Insights rates a page on a 100-point scale. If a page scores below 69 points, it is unoptimised. A score of 50-89 points is given to a site that is acceptably optimised, but needs improvement. Well-optimised sites score between 90 and 100 points.
Insight is a tool with an intuitive interface that analyses a page for speed and pinpoints the exact elements that need to be improved to make the result better. The analysis of a page is done automatically and quickly - to start it, enter the URL of the page and let the programme collect the data, and then just wait for the results. Page speed is an important aspect under which not only the algorithms, but also the users evaluate a website, so it is worth taking care of it.
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