Actionable Tips to Boost Your Google Lighthouse Score
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Google Lighthouse is a game-changer for evaluating website performance. By assessing metrics like First Contentful Paint (FCP), Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Total Blocking Time (TBT), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), Speed Index (SI), and Time to Interactive (TTI), it helps identify areas for improvement. Here’s how you can boost your Lighthouse score and create a seamless experience for your users.
Scripts can block rendering and slow down your site. Adding the defer attribute ensures that scripts load only after the page's HTML has been parsed. This reduces Total Blocking Time and improves overall speed.
Lazy-loading ensures that offscreen images and iframes load only when needed. This improves LCP and CLS, resulting in faster page load times and fewer layout shifts.
Audit your codebase for unused or outdated scripts. Removing unnecessary JavaScript and CSS reduces page weight and speeds up load times significantly.
Minify your CSS, preload critical fonts, and ensure text remains visible during font loading to enhance FCP and TTI.
At Websites Watch, we made significant improvements to our website performance and SEO rankings by addressing key areas highlighted by Google Lighthouse. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the strategies we implemented and their impact:
JavaScript files are often one of the biggest culprits for slowing down a website. Many scripts, such as third-party integrations or analytics tools, can block the rendering of essential content. To eliminate these render-blocking issues:
We added the defer attribute to all non-critical JavaScript files.
This ensured that scripts loaded only after the HTML parsing was complete, allowing the main content to appear faster on the page.
As a result, metrics like First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Time to Interactive (TTI) improved significantly, enhancing the user experience and reducing bounce rates.
Faster load times directly impacted our SEO rankings, as page speed is a key ranking factor for search engines.
Large, unoptimized images can dramatically slow down websites, especially on mobile devices. To prioritize visible content:
We implemented the loading="lazy" attribute for all below-the-fold images and iFrames.
This ensured that only images in the user’s viewport were loaded immediately, deferring others until they scrolled further.
This optimization drastically improved Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), a critical metric for both Lighthouse and SEO.
Additionally, it minimized Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) by preventing layout changes caused by late-loading images.
These improvements not only enhanced performance but also helped increase our website ranking, as search engines favor websites with better user experiences.
Many websites accumulate unnecessary or outdated scripts over time, which can bog down performance. Here’s what we did:
Conducted a full audit of all JavaScript files and removed unused or redundant scripts.
Streamlined our tracking code by consolidating it into a single, efficient implementation.
This reduced the overall page weight, leading to faster load times and improved Total Blocking Time (TBT).
The leaner codebase allowed Lighthouse to evaluate our site more favorably, positively influencing our SEO rankings.
CSS can also contribute to render-blocking and performance bottlenecks. To optimize styles:
We minimized and consolidated multiple CSS files into fewer, optimized ones.
Critical CSS was inlined, ensuring that above-the-fold content loaded immediately.
Fonts were preloaded to improve First Contentful Paint (FCP) and prevent "invisible text" during font loading.
These efforts improved the Speed Index (SI) and Time to Interactive (TTI), making our site faster and more interactive for users.
The Results
By combining these strategies, Websites Watch achieved:
1. Higher Lighthouse scores across all key metrics, including FCP, LCP, TBT, and CLS.
2. Improved mobile and desktop performance, directly influencing our website ranking in search results.
3. A significant reduction in bounce rates, as users experienced a faster and smoother browsing experience.
4. Enhanced credibility as a platform that practices what it preaches about website monitoring and optimization.
If you’re looking to improve your own performance and rankings, start by auditing your site with Lighthouse. Implement these strategies, and watch your website transform into an SEO powerhouse!
1. Use defer for Non-Essential Scripts
Scripts can block rendering and slow down your site. Adding the defer attribute ensures that scripts load only after the page's HTML has been parsed. This reduces Total Blocking Time and improves overall speed.
2. Implement loading="lazy" for Images and iFrames
Lazy-loading ensures that offscreen images and iframes load only when needed. This improves LCP and CLS, resulting in faster page load times and fewer layout shifts.
3. Remove Unnecessary Scripts
Audit your codebase for unused or outdated scripts. Removing unnecessary JavaScript and CSS reduces page weight and speeds up load times significantly.
4. Optimize CSS and Fonts
Minify your CSS, preload critical fonts, and ensure text remains visible during font loading to enhance FCP and TTI.
How Websites Watch Enhanced Its SEO Rankings and Lighthouse Scores
At Websites Watch, we made significant improvements to our website performance and SEO rankings by addressing key areas highlighted by Google Lighthouse. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the strategies we implemented and their impact:
1. Defer Loading Scripts
JavaScript files are often one of the biggest culprits for slowing down a website. Many scripts, such as third-party integrations or analytics tools, can block the rendering of essential content. To eliminate these render-blocking issues:
We added the defer attribute to all non-critical JavaScript files.
This ensured that scripts loaded only after the HTML parsing was complete, allowing the main content to appear faster on the page.
As a result, metrics like First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Time to Interactive (TTI) improved significantly, enhancing the user experience and reducing bounce rates.
Faster load times directly impacted our SEO rankings, as page speed is a key ranking factor for search engines.
2. Lazy-Loading Images
Large, unoptimized images can dramatically slow down websites, especially on mobile devices. To prioritize visible content:
We implemented the loading="lazy" attribute for all below-the-fold images and iFrames.
This ensured that only images in the user’s viewport were loaded immediately, deferring others until they scrolled further.
This optimization drastically improved Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), a critical metric for both Lighthouse and SEO.
Additionally, it minimized Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) by preventing layout changes caused by late-loading images.
These improvements not only enhanced performance but also helped increase our website ranking, as search engines favor websites with better user experiences.
3. Script Cleanup
Many websites accumulate unnecessary or outdated scripts over time, which can bog down performance. Here’s what we did:
Conducted a full audit of all JavaScript files and removed unused or redundant scripts.
Streamlined our tracking code by consolidating it into a single, efficient implementation.
This reduced the overall page weight, leading to faster load times and improved Total Blocking Time (TBT).
The leaner codebase allowed Lighthouse to evaluate our site more favorably, positively influencing our SEO rankings.
4. CSS Optimization
CSS can also contribute to render-blocking and performance bottlenecks. To optimize styles:
We minimized and consolidated multiple CSS files into fewer, optimized ones.
Critical CSS was inlined, ensuring that above-the-fold content loaded immediately.
Fonts were preloaded to improve First Contentful Paint (FCP) and prevent "invisible text" during font loading.
These efforts improved the Speed Index (SI) and Time to Interactive (TTI), making our site faster and more interactive for users.
The Results
By combining these strategies, Websites Watch achieved:
1. Higher Lighthouse scores across all key metrics, including FCP, LCP, TBT, and CLS.
2. Improved mobile and desktop performance, directly influencing our website ranking in search results.
3. A significant reduction in bounce rates, as users experienced a faster and smoother browsing experience.
4. Enhanced credibility as a platform that practices what it preaches about website monitoring and optimization.
If you’re looking to improve your own performance and rankings, start by auditing your site with Lighthouse. Implement these strategies, and watch your website transform into an SEO powerhouse!