How to optimise the speed of your website

Introduction

The loading speed of your website is crucial to keep your visitors engaged and increase your search engine ranking. According to the latest research, internet users only have about four seconds to decide whether they want to stay on your website or leave it. So here's how to optimise the speed of your website.

Google recommends that website creators optimise their pages for mobile devices (responsive design). Many people use their phones and tablets to surf the web, so it is important that your website displays correctly on these devices and loads quickly. According to Google, pages should load in less than one second.

Slow websites run the risk of ranking lower in search results. Therefore, it is important to know how to measure the speed of your website and detect bottlenecks that may be slowing down its loading. There are several tools you can use to evaluate the speed of your website and fix any issues that may be affecting its performance.

7 Tools to measure website speed:

How to measure speed with Google Page Speed Insights

Google Page Speed Insights is a free Google tool that allows you to measure the loading speed of a website and get recommendations for optimisation.

If you want to know how to measure the speed of your website with Google Page Speed Insights, follow these steps:

1. Access the Google Page Speed Insights page: Open your browser and go to Google Page Speed Insights page (https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/).
2. Enter the URL address of your website: In the "Enter the URL of the website you want to analyse" field, enter the URL address of your website. Then click on the "Analyse" button.
3. Wait for the analysis to complete: Google Page Speed Insights will take a few minutes to analyse your website and generate a report.
4. Review the speed report: Once the analysis is complete, you will be presented with a report showing the speed score of your website on a scale of 1 to 100. In addition, the report will include specific recommendations for optimising the speed of your website.
5. Follow the recommendations: Review the recommendations in the report and consider implementing the ones that apply to your website. Some of the most common recommendations include optimising images, minimising the use of JavaScript and CSS, and using a content delivery service (CDN).

With Google Page Speed Insights, you can measure the loading speed of your website and get useful recommendations for optimisation. This can help improve the user experience and increase your website's search engine ranking.

How to use GTMetrix to measure web page load times

GTMetrix is a free online tool that allows you to measure the loading time of a web page and provides information on how to optimise page loading speed.

To use GTMetrix, follow these steps:

1. Visit the GTMetrix website at https://gtmetrix.com/.
2. In the search bar, type in the URL of the website you wish to evaluate.
3. Click on "Analyse". GTMetrix will start evaluating the page and will show you a detailed report about the page load time and how you can optimise it.

The report includes information on total page load time, total page size, number of requests made and performance score according to Google PageSpeed Insights and Yahoo! YSlow guidelines. Specific suggestions on how to optimise the page to improve its loading speed are also provided.

It is important to keep in mind that the loading speed of a website is an important factor for SEO and user experience. A website that takes too long to load can deter users and negatively affect search engine rankings. Therefore, it is important to use tools such as GTMetrix to measure and optimise the loading speed of your website.

How to identify web speed problems with Pingdom

Pingdom is an online tool that allows you to measure the loading speed of your website and detect problems that may be affecting its performance.

To use Pingdom, follow these steps:

1. Visit the Pingdom website at https://www.pingdom.com/.
2. Click on "Start a free trial".
3. Enter the URL of the website you want to test and select the server you want to test from.
4. Click "Start Test". Pingdom will start evaluating the loading speed of your site and will show you a detailed report with the results.

The report includes information on the total page load time, the total page size, the number of requests made and the load time distribution per element. It also provides a list of problems that have been detected on the page and suggestions on how to fix them to improve the loading speed.

It is important to keep in mind that the loading speed of a website is an important factor for SEO and user experience. A website that takes too long to load can deter users and negatively affect search engine rankings. Therefore, it is important to use tools like Pingdom to measure and optimise the loading speed of your website.

How to see if your website loads correctly with Webpage Test

Webpage Test is a free online tool that allows you to evaluate the loading speed of your website and detect problems that may be affecting its performance.

To use Webpage Test, follow these steps:

1. Visit the Webpage Test website at https://www.webpagetest.org/.
2. In the search bar, type the URL of the web page you want to evaluate.
3. Select the server you want to test from and, optionally, configure any other option you wish.
4. Click on "Start Test". Webpage Test will start evaluating the loading speed of your site and will show you a detailed report with the results.

The report includes information on the total page load time, the total page size, the number of requests made and the load time distribution per element. It also provides a list of problems that have been detected on the page and suggestions on how to fix them to improve the loading speed.

It is important to keep in mind that the loading speed of a website is an important factor for SEO and user experience. A website that takes too long to load can deter users and negatively affect search engine rankings. Therefore, it is important to use tools such as Webpage Test to measure and optimise the loading speed of your website.

How to find location-based speed problems with Dotcom Monitor

Dotcom Monitor is an online tool that allows you to evaluate the loading speed of your website from different geographical locations and detect problems that may be affecting its performance.

To use Dotcom Monitor, follow these steps:

1. Visit the Dotcom Monitor website at https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/.
2. Click on "Sign Up" and follow the instructions to create a free account.
3. Once you have created your account, click on "Add New Monitor" and select "Web Page Performance" as the type of monitor you wish to create.
4. Enter the URL of the website you want to test and select the locations you want to test from.
5. Click "Create Monitor". Dotcom Monitor will start evaluating the loading speed of your site from the selected locations and will show you a detailed report with the results.

The report includes information on the total page load time, the total page size, the number of requests made and the load time distribution per element. It also provides a list of problems that have been detected on the page and suggestions on how to fix them to improve the loading speed.

It is important to keep in mind that the loading speed of a website is an important factor for SEO and user experience. A website that takes too long to load can deter users and negatively affect search engine rankings. Therefore, it is important to use tools such as Dotcom Monitor to measure and optimise the loading speed of your website from different locations.

How to find speed problems with Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free online tool that allows you to measure the performance of your website and detect issues that may be affecting its performance. Although Google Analytics is not specifically a page load speed measurement tool, you can use it to identify performance issues that may be affecting your site's load speed.

To use Google Analytics to identify speed issues, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that you have installed Google Analytics on your website and that you are collecting data.
2. Log in to Google Analytics and select the website you want to evaluate.
3. Click on "Behaviour" and then "Site Speed".
4. Check the "Site Speed" page for graphs and statistics on the loading speed of your site.

On the "Site Speed" page, you can view graphs showing the average load time of your site and the percentage of visits that meet the load time limits you have set. You can also view graphs showing load time distribution by element and load time distribution by geographic location.

If you encounter performance issues in Google Analytics, you can use this information to identify possible causes and solutions. For example, if you see that your site is loading very slowly in certain geographic locations, it may be because you are experiencing server performance issues or because you are using a CDN (content delivery network) service that is not working properly.

In any case, it is important to keep in mind that the loading speed of a website is an important factor for SEO and user experience, so it is important to use tools such as Google Analytics to identify and fix performance issues.