Since we support clients through website audits, we like to pass our insights on to you. And we couldn’t do it without Lighthouse.
Lighthouse
“An open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages. You can run it against any web page, public or requiring authentication. It has audits for performance, accessibility, progressive web apps, and more.”- via Google Developers
Lighthouse Updates
Here’s a recap of the latest updates to help you pave the way for a high-performing site:
| Lighthouse Site Auditing Tool | Purpose |
| All text remains visible during webfont loads | Helps your site be read faster by identifying issues with invisible text. |
| Avoid Costly Multiple Round-Trips to Any Origin | Allows identification and correction when the excess time is lost by resource retrieval beyond the URL of origin. |
| Avoids Page Redirects | Alerts you to the triggering of redirects, which can significantly affect your page load time. |
| JavaScript Boot-up Time is High | Shows which JavaScripts are taking the most time for your CPU to process so you can make adjustments where needed to curb the excess activity. |
| Main Thread Work Breakdown | To show what’s happening during page load, so you can pinpoint and correct what’s slowing you down. |
| Preload Key Requests | Website resources that should be loaded soonest alert supported browsers. Make sure you test preloading various elements so you can find the settings that give your web pages the fastest performance and the most seamless look and feel. |
| Unminified CSS & JavaScript | Highlights text resources that haven’t been reduced (minified). |
| Unused CSS Rules | You may not need some CSS rules as your site grows. This allows you to trim the fat so as not to use excess bandwidth. |
| Unused JavaScript | Shows which Javascript is downloaded but not used. |
| Use Video Formats for Animated Content | Flags GIFs over 100 KB so they can be converted to video and embedded. |
| Uses Inefficient Cache Policy on Static Assets | Points out where you can use caches to improve the site experience for return visitors. |
Lighthouse Overall
Google Developer tools will get complicated, but we have no doubt it will help improve your website speed and efficiency. A website audit is a simple, cost-effective way to get you on the right track. Website audits can increase performance and ensure you’re making the most of the open-source resources available.
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