Site Speed & Testing

Understanding website page speed & website speed test scores

Site Speed is based on how quickly users are able to see and interact with website content. Freshy optimizes sites to help avoid issues during the build process - Areas can be identified and corrected as time goes on, especially if new functionality is added to the site.

Page speed is one of the most crucial elements of a website.

Having a quick loading time is essential for:

  • Increased site traffic. With a faster page speed, your website will be easier to operate and more enjoyable to explore, attracting more users and increasing overall site traffic.
  • Top-notch user experience. Faster page speed means your site will be recognized for its user-friendliness, attracting higher-quality users that take the time to explore various pages on your website.
  • Higher SEO value and rank. Increased site traffic, combined with a top-notch user experience, equals better SEO and greater visibility for your website and an increased rank on Google search.

The average person spends approximately 10–20 seconds on a webpage before leaving.

If a page takes longer than 2 seconds to load, 47% of visitors will leave almost immediately, while 40% of visitors leave 3 seconds into the page loading process.

Page-load time (front or backend viewing) is determined by many factors:

  • Server configuration
  • A site’s HTML structure
  • JavaScript files
  • Images
  • CSS, and much more

With various items factored into page speed — and so much relying on page speed to capture a visitor’s attention and convert — many website owners rely on different page speed tests, such as Google PageSpeed Insights or Pingdom, to see if their site’s speed is up to snuff. But here's the thing...

Not All Site Speed Tests are Created Equal

Some page speed tests weigh CSS more heavily than JavaScript files, while others take the amount and quality of the images on a page into greater account.

We take a value-based approach here. We believe that the actual speed, feel and overall appeal of your website is infinitely more important than any score your site may receive — why?
Because not every page speed test score is going to be the same, or yield results that accurately reflect how fast your website really is. 

Why we test the way we test, and why you should too
GTMetrix.com: This tool gets a 10/10 from our support team all-stars, in managing and improving site loading times. 
Our preferred testing method tests your site on real devices with complete control to test for specific device results, allowing us to tackle site speed from every possible angle and connection speed. With iOS, Android, Desktop and a multitude of browser, connection and location options - we’re able to pinpoint specific interventions to improve the end user experience, without negatively affecting the visual output. 
Accurate Real World Data is better than any virtual or simulated dataset; thus grounding our recommendations in improvements that will only enhance the end user experience; rather than adjustments made solely for the purpose of improving scoring results that don’t truly reflect performance.
Historical testing data access cannot be overrated. Testing every site post launch gives us full measure as the site ages, and helps us assess options for additional interventions, should the need arise in the future while allowing us to make best practices recommendations that will help keep your site loading fast. 

What can be done to help?

Get in touch with support if you're experiencing caching errors. 

The Freshy server environment has excellent caching mechanisms and we are happy to clear your site from the server level to assist. 

Read How to Clear Browser Cache Here

Read How to Clear your Local Storage Here