Insights

Google Lighthouse Performance

The Google Lighthouse performance score is a metric that measures the speed and performance of a website. It’s an overall score that ranges from 0 to 100 and is generated based on a number of different performance metrics, such as the time it takes for a website to load, the time it takes for a website to become interactive, the size of the resources used by the website, and other factors that impact the user experience.

A high performance score in Google Lighthouse indicates that a website is fast and responsive, which can lead to a better user experience and improved search engine rankings. On the other hand, a low performance score can indicate that a website is slow and unresponsive, and can negatively impact the user experience.

Mobile Performance
48%
Desktop Performance
87%

Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are a set of specific factors that Google considers important in a webpage’s overall user experience. Core Web Vitals are made up of three specific page speed and user interaction measurements: Largest Contentful PaintFirst Input Delay, and Cumulative Layout Shift.

VitalMobileDesktopTarget
Largest Contentful Paint9.1 s1.7 s< 2.5 s
First Input Delay340 ms40 ms< 100ms
Cumulative Layout Shift0.1770.122 0.1

Tracking scripts

All the tracking scripts on the site generated ~65 KB of data

A tracking script is a code snippet designed to track the flow of visitors who visit a website. Media, advertising, and analytics organisations will provide a script to add to your website that sends data directly to their servers. This data can then be used to measure goals and conversions, analyse user behaviour, and influence advertising campaigns.

Consider how much of this data you actually need and use? How often do you review the analytics data, and does this inform genuine change? Are you actively running social media campaigns? Consider pausing or removing tracking scripts that aren’t being actively used.

googletagmanager.com 1 44 KB
google-analytics.com 2 21 KB

Opportunities

Optimise images

By optimising the following images, roughly 577 KB could be removed from the transfer size, about 42%. This would reduce the CO2 generated per page load from 0.35g grams to 0.21 grams.

Images should be optimised for the web for several reasons:

  1. Reduced file size: Optimizing images can result in a smaller file size, which can help to reduce the amount of data that needs to be downloaded. This can lead to faster page load times and improved performance.
  2. Improved user experience: Optimising images can help to improve the overall user experience, as pages with optimised images load faster and are more responsive.
  3. Lower emissions: Optimising images can help to reduce the emissions associated with data transfer, as less data needs to be transmitted over the network.
  4. Better accessibility: Optimising images can make them more accessible to users with slower connections or limited data plans.
2.png 540 KB 39% 485 KB
cover-page-for-newsletter-march-2023--169x300.png 58 KB 4% 50 KB
coronavirus-web2-2.jpg 40 KB 3% 23 KB
Strategic-plan-cover-211x300.png 25 KB 2% 18 KB

Replace icon font files

Font icons can have a negative impact on performance and emissions because they can increase the size of the page and the amount of data that needs to be downloaded. Some specific reasons why font icons can be bad for performance and emissions include:

  1. Increased file size: Font icons are typically included as part of a web font, which can be a large file that needs to be downloaded. This can increase the overall size of the page, leading to slower load times and higher emissions.
  2. Inefficient rendering: Web fonts are sometimes loaded and rendered inefficiently, which can result in slow performance and higher emissions.
  3. Unused icons: Font icons often include a large number of icons that may not be used on a particular page, increasing the file size and leading to inefficient use of resources.

While icon fonts are still widely used on the web, and they can be a useful tool for adding icons to a website. it is a dated practice when there are better options such as SVG icons, which can be more efficient and have a lower impact on performance and emissions.

FontSize
fa-solid-900.woff277 KB

Remove third party font files

Font files should be loaded from the same hosting as the website because

  1. Increased loading time: Third-party sub-resources, such as scripts, fonts, or images, need to be downloaded from a separate server before they can be displayed on the website. This can increase the overall loading time of the page, leading to a slower user experience.
  2. Dependence on external servers: The loading of third-party subresources is dependent on the availability and performance of the external servers that host them. If these servers are slow or unavailable, it can result in slow page loading times or even errors.
  3. Increased risk of security threats: Third-party subresources can introduce security risks to a website, as they can contain malicious code or be used to track user activity.
HostFont
fonts.gstatic.comKFOlCnqEu92Fr1MmWUlfBBc4AMP6lQ.woff2
fonts.gstatic.comKFOmCnqEu92Fr1Mu4mxKKTU1Kg.woff2
fonts.gstatic.comahcfv8qz1zt6hCC5G4F_P4ASlUuYpmDmYyU.woff2

Replace jQuery and jQuery libraries with more modern code

jQuery is a popular and widely-used JavaScript library that simplifies web development by providing a set of tools and functions to interact with HTML documents, handle events, create animations, and make asynchronous HTTP requests.

In the past, jQuery was a very popular choice for web development because it simplified many common tasks and provided a consistent and cross-browser-compatible API. However, with the advancement of modern web technologies and improvements in browser capabilities, the need for jQuery has decreased.

Many modern web frameworks and libraries, such as React and Angular, provide their own set of tools for handling common tasks and interacting with the DOM, making jQuery less necessary in many cases. The Javascript engine in modern browsers have also become more consistent in the feature implementations often eliminating the need for a library like jQuery.

jQuery represents an opportunity because:

  1. Performance: While jQuery is a powerful and useful library, it can slow down website performance due to its large size and complex code. Modern browsers have also improved their native support for many of the features that jQuery provides, reducing the need for it.
  2. Maintainability: jQuery code can be difficult to maintain and update, particularly as web technologies evolve and change. This can make it harder for developers to keep up with best practices and standards for web development.
  3. Accessibility: Some jQuery plugins and features can create accessibility issues, particularly for users who rely on assistive technologies. This can make it harder for people with disabilities to use and access websites.

First Contentful Paint

First Contentful Paint (FCP) is a performance metric that measures the time it takes for the first piece of content to be rendered on the screen when a user navigates to a web page. This content can be any visual element on the page, such as text, images, or a background color.

FCP is important because it directly affects the perceived speed of a website, and can impact user engagement and conversion rates. A faster FCP can lead to a better user experience and improved performance.

Here are a few ways you can optimise your FCP:

  1. Optimise images: Large, unoptimised images can slow down a page’s FCP. You can optimise images by compressing them, reducing their dimensions, and choosing the right format for each image.
  2. Minimise HTTP requests: Each resource requested by a web page, such as images, scripts, and stylesheets, requires a separate HTTP request. Minimising the number of HTTP requests can help to reduce the time it takes for a page to render.
  3. Prioritize critical content: Prioritizing critical content, such as above-the-fold content, can help to ensure that users see something on the screen quickly, even if the rest of the page is still loading.
  4. Reduce server response time: A slow server response time can significantly impact FCP. Optimizing server-side code and server settings can help to reduce response times and improve FCP.
  5. Use a performance monitoring tool: There are many tools available that can help you monitor your website’s performance, including FCP. These tools can help you identify performance issues and track your progress as you implement optimizations.
MobileDesktop
Score19%94%
Timing4.2 s0.8 s

Largest Contentful Paint

MobileDesktop
Score1%74%
Timing9.1 s1.7 s

Total Blocking Time

MobileDesktop
Score91%100%
Timing190 ms0 ms

Cumulative Layout Shift

MobileDesktop
Score68%84%
Timing0.1770.122

Speed Index

MobileDesktop
Score20%78%
Timing8.3 s1.6 s

Time to Interactive

MobileDesktop
Score50%100%
Timing7.2 s1.0 s

Max Potential First Input Delay

MobileDesktop
Score28%100%
Timing340 ms40 ms

First Meaningful Paint

MobileDesktop
Score41%88%
Timing4.4 s1.0 s

Eliminate render-blocking resources

MobileDesktop
Score26%68%
InsightPotential savings of 2,760 msPotential savings of 430 ms

Properly size images

MobileDesktop
Score100%97%
InsightPotential savings of 38 KiB

Minify JavaScript

MobileDesktop
Score88%97%
InsightPotential savings of 30 KiBPotential savings of 30 KiB

Reduce unused CSS

MobileDesktop
Score48%90%
InsightPotential savings of 136 KiBPotential savings of 136 KiB

Reduce unused JavaScript

MobileDesktop
Score46%87%
InsightPotential savings of 145 KiBPotential savings of 145 KiB

Serve images in next-gen formats

MobileDesktop
Score29%65%
InsightPotential savings of 497 KiBPotential savings of 577 KiB

Initial server response time was short

MobileDesktop
GradeFailPass
InsightRoot document took 810 msRoot document took 570 ms

Serve static assets with an efficient cache policy

MobileDesktop
Score49%48%
Insight57 resources found60 resources found

Avoids an excessive DOM size

MobileDesktop
Score92%98%
Insight759 elements575 elements

JavaScript execution time

MobileDesktop
Score95%100%
Timing0.9 s0.1 s

Minimizes main-thread work

MobileDesktop
Score74%100%
Timing2.8 s0.6 s

Ensure text remains visible during webfont load

MobileDesktop
GradeFailFail