Google PageSpeed Insights has recently received an update, and it’s better than you have anticipated. Achieving a perfect score of 100 is now a lot easier and I was actually surprised, how well I had scored on the new platform. This is primarily good news for internet agencies and freelancers who offer speed optimization and SEO. We all know that explaining the scoring system to your clients is always a bit tricky and hearing your client say: “Why does my website only score 76? That is only average?” can lead to a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings. Your client won’t be happy if he just paid you $10,000 and his site barely reaches the average score. So, having an official page speed platform where everyone with a semi-optimized website and a cheap shared hosting plan can score a solid 95+ mark, without CDN or caching, is definitely something we didn’t even hope for.
What are the benefits of Google’s new PageSpeed engine?
PageSpeed Insights now uses Lighthouse as its analytics engine, as well as field data from CrUX. This allows Google not only to evaluate the code but also to take into account the website’s performance. This means that Google no longer evaluates your blog or site based on what you can do to improve your site; your site is now being assessed based on how it actually performs in real time.
The PageSpeed update is ideal for OCD speed junkies.
Of course, if previously you have struggled to achieve any semi-decent result with PageSpeed Insights, now that you can easily score 100, it can be a great boost for your ego. But let’s not forget, that this isn’t a numbers game, it is about improving the user experience, which in turn can provide more web traffic and more conversion.
How to achieve the perfect score?
Process your website through PageSpeed Insights. Are you under the score of 100? Then, there is a number of things you have to ask yourself:
- Do I use a good web host? (Also read, why optimized WordPress hosting is important for the speed of your website!)
- How do my plugins influence the speed of my site? (Also read: Can you have too many WordPress plugins?)
- Has the code already been fully optimized? (Also read: Tips for optimizing your CSS code)
- Is there no render blocking – in other words, is there no CSS or JavaScript that is loaded before the content? (Also read: Move JavaScript to the footer with a plugin).
- Are my images all optimized? (Also read: How can you best optimize images for your WordPress website?)
- Do I use a good caching plugin? (Also read: The five best caching plugins for WordPress)
Conclusion
Thanks to the new PageSpeed engine, it is now much easier to achieve a perfect score, either for your own ego or for the client, who needs to feel like he did waste his money for nothing. However, as ironic as it may sound, that does not mean that your website is fully optimized! The difference between the old PageSpeed Insights and the new one is that you can have a score of 100, yet there can still be a room for improvement. That means we have to look differently at the results of PageSpeed Insights, and not take it for granted.
In a world where everyone can basically achieve a perfect score of 100, most people will probably stop making improvements, when they reach that goal. If you are the one who continues and does everything to offer your visitors the best possible user experience, you can get ahead of your competitors, who only strive for the absolute minimum. Good luck!