{"id":319931,"date":"2015-06-17T16:52:03","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T14:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-rocket.me\/blog\/?p=484"},"modified":"2023-12-01T15:06:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T14:06:28","slug":"the-truth-about-google-pagespeed-insights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-rocket.me\/blog\/the-truth-about-google-pagespeed-insights\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Care About Google PageSpeed Insights"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re wondering if Google PageSpeed Insights score matters, our short answer is: yes. Google PageSpeed Insights grade is important (and reliable).<\/p>

It hasn\u2019t always been like that for us. In the past, we said that you shouldn\u2019t care about the Google PageSpeed Insights score because the grade alone wasn\u2019t an indicator of speed.<\/p>

While there could still be a difference between the Google PageSpeed score and your site\u2019s loading time, things have changed \u2014 and we need to keep up with the news.<\/p>

Starting from June 2021, the Google PageSpeed score will be closely related to your SEO performance because of the Core Web Vitals included in the new Page Experience ranking factor.<\/p>

In this article, you\u2019ll learn why Google PageSpeed Insights is important and accurate to measure different aspects of your site\u2019s user experience, including performance.<\/p>

You\u2019ll also understand why you should always pay attention to the loading time \u2014 Google PageSpeed Insights could still be a bit misleading, and at WP Rocket, we care a lot about this metric!<\/p>

Lastly, you\u2019ll get some tips to improve your mobile PageSpeed score, the most important grade.<\/p>

You\u2019ll get answers to all your most popular questions and doubts on the PageSpeed Insights importance, including the evergreen question: does the 100\/100 page speed score matter?<\/p>

What Google PageSpeed Insights is And What the PageSpeed Score Means<\/h2>

Let\u2019s refresh the basics.<\/p>

Google PageSpeed Insights is one of Google\u2019s tools to measure and improve your site\u2019s performance on mobile and desktop devices.<\/p>

As the first thing, PageSpeed Insights provides you with the overall page\u2019s performance score.<\/p>

The Google PageSpeed score is determined by Lighthouse<\/a>, an open-source tool powered by Google\u2019s team. Lighthouse runs different audits, including a performance one. After running the performance audit and assessing several metrics, Lighthouse will determine the Performance score<\/a> \u2014 that is the same score that Google PageSpeed provides.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

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The Google PageSpeed score is based on lab data<\/strong>. It means that Google PageSpeed Insights, through Lighthouse, collects performance data in a controlled environment. The simulation is done with the predefined device and network settings.<\/p>

Being based on predefined conditions \u2014 for instance, the Internet connection \u2014 the Google PageSpeed score doesn\u2019t reflect real user experience at 100%.<\/p>

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WP Rocket homepage \u2013 Example of Lab data<\/figcaption><\/figure>

That\u2019s why the PageSpeed Insights tool also provides Field data. <\/strong>Real field-data is based on the aggregated data that Google Chrome collects from users and makes available in the Chrome User Experience Report<\/a> (CrUX).<\/p>

This data is highly valuable because it captures real user experience \u2014 it\u2019s also why this data can slightly differ from the lab data<\/a> and isn\u2019t always available.<\/p>

Field Data stored in the CrUX contains all three Core Web Vitals<\/a><\/strong>. You can quickly identify them by the blue flag: Largest Contentful Paint (loading performance), First Input Delay (interactivity), Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability).<\/p>

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WP Rocket homepage \u2013 Example of Field data<\/figcaption><\/figure>

At this point, it\u2019s useful for you to know that the Lab data contains only the Largest Contentful Paint and Cumulative Layout Shift scores. The First Input Delay metric can\u2019t be measured without real user interaction. That\u2019s why the performance score considers the Total Blocking Time metri<\/a>c, used as a proxy.<\/p>

Last but not least, field data is valuable because it\u2019s how Google evaluates the SEO ranking \u2014 more on this topic just in the next section!<\/p>

Why Google PageSpeed Is Important (and Why It Affects SEO)<\/h2>

Google PageSpeed matters because it can affect SEO from two different perspectives: mobile speed and user experience.<\/p>

Both mobile performance and user experience are related to specific ranking factors:<\/p>

  1. In July 2018, Google rolled out the Speed Update<\/a>, and mobile page speed<\/strong> became a direct ranking factor, both for Google Search and Ads.<\/li>\n\n
  2. In June 2021, the Page Experience signal<\/a> will roll out as an SEO ranking factor. This new ranking factor measures the user experience of a page<\/strong>. It includes several signals: mobile-friendliness, HTTPS-security, intrusive interstitial guidelines, safe-browsing, and the already mentioned Core Web Vitals metrics<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ol>

    On the one hand, mobile page speed has been a ranking factor for more than two years. Hopefully, you\u2019re already taking care of your site\u2019s mobile performance. If you\u2019re still in doubt, we\u2019ve got you covered in the last section of this article with some performance optimization tips.<\/p>

    On the other hand, the three Core Web Vitals focus on how users interact with your page and account for 70% of the overall PageSpeed score weight<\/strong>. Meaning, they\u2019re quite relevant in determining the PageSpeed Insights score.<\/p>

    Even though the Google PageSpeed score as a whole is not a ranking factor, you need to take care of the Core Web Vitals metrics. As we said, they\u2019re part of the new Page Experience ranking signal and will affect your organic visibility<\/a>.<\/p>

    You can find below the score required for each Core Web Vital. You should start thinking about how to enhance them! (Hint: WP Rocket is the easiest way to improve your Core Web Vitals in a few clicks<\/a>).<\/p>

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    The scores for each Core Web Vital<\/figcaption><\/figure>

    Is Google PageSpeed Insights Reliable & Accurate?<\/h2>

    Yes, Google PageSpeed Insights is now pretty reliable and accurate when measuring the full user experience on your site. Thanks to the different metrics included, it gives you an accurate overview of how users interact with your site.<\/p>

    The tool became more and more reliable thanks to the latest changes.<\/p>

    In November 2018, Google released PageSpeed 5.0<\/a>. The new version started to use the Chrome User Experience Report dataset (CrUX) mentioned above. It also started to use Lighthouse audits.<\/p>

    Then, in May 2020, Lighthouse 6.0<\/a> arrived. New metrics have been added \u2014 the same ones that you now see in the PageSpeed Insights tool and capture the overall performance and user experience.<\/p>

    That\u2019s why you can rely on the PageSpeed score and its metrics to understand how your site performs. And, of course, you should follow the PageSpeed Insights recommendations<\/a> to improve your score.<\/p>

    Since the Google PageSpeed score is now more accurate, an improvement in the grade would usually<\/em> reflect an improvement in the loading time.<\/p>

    Wait\u2026 does it mean that the PageSpeed score doesn\u2019t reflect how fast a website is? The honest answer is: it depends.<\/p>

    Why the Google PageSpeed Score Isn\u2019t Equal to the Loading Page Performance<\/h2>

    At WP Rocket, we care about educating users on web performance and giving them the best tools to understand how to approach this complex topic.<\/p>

    That\u2019s why we want to point out that the Google PageSpeed score could<\/em> not reflect how fast your website is.<\/p>

    To be clear: you can have a good PageSpeed score, but your site could not be as fast. Or you can have a fast website and a bad PageSpeed score.<\/p>

    We\u2019ll share a couple of examples \u2014 you might relate to them!<\/p>