{"id":40100,"date":"2023-04-18T07:00:32","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dhblog.dream.press\/blog\/?p=40100"},"modified":"2025-05-21T23:38:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T06:38:06","slug":"pagespeed-insights-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www-dev.dreamhost.com\/blog\/pagespeed-insights-report\/","title":{"rendered":"PageSpeed Insights Deep Dive (Full Walkthrough & Tips for Scoring 100)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the Internet, there is no speed limit \u2013 but thankfully, there is a speedometer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your website\u2019s speed and performance has a major impact on business. It can improve your search rankings and SEO, increase website engagement, and drive more conversions \u2013 and revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before you can optimize your website\u2019s speed, you need to know how it performs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where PageSpeed Insights<\/a> comes in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Screenshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This free tool from Google helps you understand your website\u2019s performance, but it can be complicated to jump into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, what do all of these different terms and scores mean? How are you supposed to know what to do or where to start?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This guide is focused on what to do with the results of your PageSpeed Insights report and how to strategically work through specific solutions to improve each of your scores, no matter what issues need to be addressed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we\u2019ll walk through each of the key factors and show strategies for improving your performance with each one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Google PageSpeed Insights?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PageSpeed Insights is a tool that tests, measures, and reports on your website\u2019s performance. It captures vital data about how users experience and engage with your site by analyzing things like site speed, load time, and user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to scoring your website on a stable of key performance metrics, PageSpeed Insights runs a range of diagnostics and also recommends specific action items to help you improve your website\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PageSpeed Insights is powered by Google\u2019s open-source analysis engine, Lighthouse<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes PageSpeed Insights particularly important for webmasters and marketers is that site performance is intricately linked to user experience (UX), SEO, traffic, conversions, and all of the other KPIs that matter most to the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/svg>\n\t<\/a>\n

Website Performance<\/h3>\n

A website\u2019s performance refers to the speed and uptime of the site. A better-performing site will have faster load times, run more smoothly, and have little to no downtime.<\/p>\n \n Read More <\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Getting 100% on PageSpeed Insights is sort of like acing your SAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2019ll do great in college, but it definitely gives you a leg up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Page Speed and SEO<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s answer the main question first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, your website\u2019s speed and performance can impact search engine optimization (SEO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, poor performance can hurt <\/i>your SEO. It\u2019s helpful to think of your PageSpeed Insights as a \u201cgovernor\u201d for your website. If your scores are low, it means the website is slow \u2013 which also slows down your growth in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google has stated publicly that they use website speed signals<\/a>, which they call \u201cpage experience,\u201d as an SEO ranking factor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are three central factors included in the search algorithm that Google refers to as Core Web Vitals<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Loading – Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Interactivity – First Input Delay (FID)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Visual Stability – Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    \n\t\n\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/svg>\n\t<\/a>\n

    What are Core Web Vitals?<\/h3>\n

    Core Web Vitals (CWV) was developed by Google and represents a trio of user experience metrics designed to help create a faster, more accessible, and higher quality web browsing experience. The three Core Web Vitals metrics include Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).<\/p>\n \n Read More <\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    All of these factors measure how quickly your website loads and the speed and quality of the user experience, which can also impact accessibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    These three factors are part of the six total metrics measured by PageSpeed Insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How PageSpeed Insights Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Now that we understand the who, what, where, and why\u2026.all that\u2019s left is the how<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How does PageSpeedInsights work, and how do you use the information it provides?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    First, a bit about how the tool functions behind the scenes, from Google directly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

    \u201cPageSpeed Insights provides both lab and field data about a page. Lab data is useful for debugging issues, as it is collected in a controlled environment. However, it may not capture real-world bottlenecks. Field data is useful for capturing true, real-world user experience – but has a more limited set of metrics.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    In other words, PageSpeed Insights is looking at two things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    First, Google\u2019s computers load your website to see how it performs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Second, since Google\u2019s computers aren\u2019t the same as a laptop you might use at home or work, they look at a log of historical data from real-world users who have visited your site in the last 28 days. (This data comes from the Chrome User Experience Report, often called \u201cCrUX,\u201d and it\u2019s collected from users who use the Chrome browser.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Then PageSpeed Insights combines these two tests and scores your website based on how real users might experience it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The PageSpeed Insights Score is a collection of metrics about your site’s performance that breaks down which areas are good and which may need work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are 6 scores to know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. First Contentful Paint (FCP)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. First Input Delay (FID)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Interaction to Next Paint (INP)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. Time to First Byte (TTFB)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Each of these metrics is measured and then scored according to the level of performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      When you run a PageSpeed Insights report on your site, you\u2019ll receive a score and a \u201cgrade\u201d for each of these, which will fall into one of three buckets:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Good<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Needs Improvement<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Poor<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        These grades are determined by predefined ranges that Google sets:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

         <\/td>Good<\/b><\/td>Needs Improvement<\/b><\/td>Poor<\/b><\/td><\/tr>
        FCP<\/td>[0, 1800ms]<\/td>(1800ms, 3000ms]<\/td>over 3000ms<\/td><\/tr>
        FID<\/td>[0, 100ms]<\/td>(100ms, 300ms]<\/td>over 300ms<\/td><\/tr>
        LCP<\/td>[0, 2500ms]<\/td>(2500ms, 4000ms]<\/td>over 4000ms<\/td><\/tr>
        CLS<\/td>[0, 0.1]<\/td>(0.1, 0.25]<\/td>over 0.25<\/td><\/tr>
        INP (experimental)<\/td>[0, 200ms]<\/td>(200ms, 500ms]<\/td>over 500ms<\/td><\/tr>
        TTFB (experimental)<\/td>[0, 800ms]<\/td>(800ms, 1800ms]<\/td>over 1800ms<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        How to Use This Guide to Improve Your PageSpeed Insights Score<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Understanding PageSpeed Insights is the first part of the battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Next, we have to figure out how to translate all the scores, numbers, and suggestions into an actionable plan for improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Here\u2019s how to use this guide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n