How to Make a Website Fast: A Useful Guide

A fast-loading website is essential for providing a great user experience, boosting search rankings, and improving conversion rates. Website speed optimisation is both an art and a science, requiring the right tools and methodologies. Here’s how to evaluate and improve your website’s speed, along with addressing common issues that might be slowing it down.

Step 1: Assess Your Website’s Speed

Before making changes, you need to know where your website stands. Use these tools to evaluate your site’s performance:

• Lighthouse Test: A built-in tool in Google Chrome that evaluates performance, accessibility, and SEO. Access it by opening Chrome DevTools and running a Lighthouse audit.

• Google PageSpeed Insights: Provides a detailed analysis of your website’s performance on both mobile and desktop, with actionable recommendations.

• WebPageTest.org: Offers in-depth testing with advanced features like connection throttling and multiple test runs.

• GTmetrix: Delivers performance reports, waterfall charts, and recommendations for improving speed.

Step 2: Monitor Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are a set of key metrics defined by Google to measure user experience:

1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures loading performance. Aim for under 2.5 seconds.

2. First Input Delay (FID): Measures interactivity. Aim for under 100 milliseconds.

3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures visual stability. Aim for a CLS score below 0.1.

These metrics provide a user-focused way to identify and improve issues that directly impact how visitors experience your website.

Step 3: Identify Bottlenecks Using Developer Tools

Use the Chrome Network Tab in Developer Tools to pinpoint what’s slowing your site down:

• Identify large assets that take too long to load.

• Monitor DNS lookups and reduce them by consolidating resources where possible.

• Spot excessive HTTP requests caused by too many scripts, stylesheets, or images.

• Check for unused JavaScript and CSS that could be removed.

Step 4: Adopt a Methodology to Improve Page Speed

1. Minimise HTTP Requests:

   • Combine files such as CSS and JavaScript to reduce requests.

   • Use CSS sprites for images when possible.

2. Enable Compression:

   • Use Gzip or Brotli compression to reduce file sizes before delivery.

3. Optimise Images:

   • Compress images with tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim.

   • Use modern formats like WebP for better performance.

4. Leverage Browser Caching:

   • Set cache expiration for static assets to reduce load times for returning visitors.

5. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN):

   • Distribute content globally to ensure faster delivery to users worldwide.

6. Minimise Third-Party Scripts:

   • Audit and remove unnecessary scripts, such as unused tracking or analytics.

7. Lazy Load Images and Videos:

   • Load images and videos only when they appear in the viewport.

8. Reduce DNS Lookups:

   • Consolidate assets to fewer domains to minimise lookup time.

Step 5: Address Common Issues

Here are a few frequent culprits of slow-loading websites and how to fix them:

• Too Many DNS Lookups: Reduce the number of unique domains from which resources are loaded.

• Excessive Scripts: Remove unused JavaScript and CSS. Consider deferring non-critical scripts until after the page has loaded.

• Unoptimised Fonts: Use system fonts or ensure custom fonts are compressed and served efficiently.

• Unoptimised Hosting: Switch to a reliable hosting provider or upgrade to a plan that supports faster server response times.

Step 6: Iterate and Test Continuously

Website optimisation isn’t a one-time effort. Continuously monitor performance and make adjustments as needed. Regularly use the tools mentioned above to test and tweak your site’s performance.

Improving website speed requires a structured approach, the right tools, and regular monitoring. By addressing Core Web Vitals, optimising resources, and using tools like Lighthouse and GTmetrix, you can create a fast, user-friendly website that meets modern performance standards.

At James Anthony Consulting, we specialise in website optimisation and performance. Contact us to make your site faster and more effective today!