There are two ways approaches for optimizing a web page. You can proactively optimize throughout its development. Or you can try to mediate problems after you launch. Like accessibility problems, fixing bad PageSpeed scores is very costly to the project budget if you fix it at the end. Yet, many issues are approachable throughout a project.
First, How To Handle the Low Score Email
When you get an email from a client asking about a low score, it’s often a screenshot or readout of the score. Many things can cause a low score; there is a lot of data to gather beyond the score.
Step 1: Gather the PageSpeed Data
First, run the report yourself using Google PageSpeed Insights Tool at https://pagespeed.web.dev/. Then, after reviewing and comparing the initial results, try running it several times. Most of the time, the scores will shift, so try to get an average.
The difference is a classic case: “it’s not working for you, but it’s working for me.” If possible, have others run the report and create a spreadsheet of the results.
Step 2: Ask the Developers
If you have access to the development team, share the concern and ask them if they can pinpoint the problem. The conversation is delicate because bad scores make developers feel they did shoddy work. This isn’t always the case because many people contribute to a page, and all can cause a low score.
Step 3: Analyze the PageSpeed Data
Simply because you have a bad score doesn’t mean your website is terrible. Some category websites are naturally heavy. For example, a photography portfolio may struggle. Many advertisement-laden news websites have poor scores. There are challenges in the advertising industry where large graphics and moving effects add to web page bulk.
Step 4: Plan mitigation efforts.
Once you have figured out the most significant probable causes of the scores, make a plan to fix them. There are many people accountable for a page score, not just developers. Read the section below for an account of the professionals who contribute to a web page and can affect the page speed score.
How to be proactive about PageScore
If you fix it early, you’ll save many hours of mediation. This is true for accessibility and PageScore. Don’t do the crime and don’t serve the time. The professionals below all have a part in creating a web page. Each can affect a page’s speed score. You can approach each group and perhaps avoid a process that creates lower page speed scores.
The Server Administrator
When you first start a web page, you need a decision on the hosting location. If you have the specs, the administrator should strive to build a fast solution (or choose a provider). There is a price-to-speed ratio to consider, as well as the complexity of the setup. Asking the server or hosting administrator to choose a location that delivers the page fast before it’s time to launch can save headaches later. You can also ask them to consider CDNs for media and to utilize compression and caching resources.
The Designer
While you may not have complete control over a design, you can ask for considerations during the process. For example, lowering reliance on unique web font faces and weights can increase a pageSpeed score. Likewise, using less heavy graphical elements, or at least working to optimize these elements, can avoid a low score after launch.
Analytics and Marketing Team
If you don’t ask these professionals to consider web optimization early, they could sink your score. The marketing team loves Google Tag Manager or similar products. These products allow them to install more conversation pixels and analytics platforms without needing a developer. Who can blame them? Installing these can come with complex rules and add more to the front-end code payload. Developers are careful with code deployment, and the infrastructure can be challenging to edit.
The Web Development Team
These are the people that build the page. So naturally, when a client hands you a bad page score, the email gets forwarded to this group. Let’s be clear, web developers alone can sink a score. There are several things to consider when developing for page speed. Image optimization is a large one. An inattentive developer may output your 600 x 600 raster image as a 3 MB PNG, slowing things down. If developers are using a library to create a web page, they should make sure it’s an efficient use. Adding a library that does 50 things and using only two or three of them way warrant a reconsideration of choice.
In Conclusion
Each person who helps make a web page has the potential to impact a PageSpeed score. Using the information above, you can try to either fix a lousy score on an existing web page or work with the team creating the new web page to suggest better methods of preventing bad PageSpeed scores in the future.