Website Speed Testing Tools
-
I have been experimenting with a number of plugins to speed up the loading of my wordpress site and find that website speed testing tools are all over the map when it comes to results. Even the same tool can produce vastly different results. Does anyone have experience with one that is both dependable and consistent?
-
The trick with sitespeed testing, Brett, is that you need to approximate as closely as possible the experience a real user will have.
By far the best tool for this in my experience is webpagetest.org.
It uses actual browser rendering for it's test, not a synthetic imitation. it also allows a couple of other critical customizations:
- select which browser you want to test your site with (you'll be surprised at the differences! Use you Google Analytics to tell you which browser majority of your visitors use)
- Select what sort of connection speed to test from (eg slower DSL which will also mimic phone users or faster cable connection)
- select a specific city to test from (this will have major effect - e.g. you should test from the San Jose location which is much more realistic for your Comox location than an east coast or southern US test would be)
- run a mobile-specific test
- shows both first load and repeat visit (particularly tests caching effectiveness)
- provides a waterfall view so you can exactly which elements may be causing issues
The app also provides full Google Page Speed results/recommendations and a number of other trouble-shooting tools.
GTMetrix provides a number of these, but doesn't have the same flexibility/customization available, I've found. (Though it is using a Vancouver-based server for your test from here (Alberta) which is useful.)
Note that you will get different results each time though, if you're using a real-life tool. That's due to differences in network load and latency and even different load on your server each time tested.
Finally, below is a screenshot demonstrating why you absolutely need to use a real-life test, not just synthetic Page Speed or YSlow scores - the site has a beautiful synthetic score yet a disastrous load time (due to server issues)
Paul
-
thanks Matt. Will give it a try
Brett
-
I found YSlow helped me effectively optimize the loads speed there is so much that you can do to help you with this. Hows the optimization going? My tools of choice were firebug and yslow - I also installed pagespeed from Google Webmaster Tools when doing this work.
-
Tried a tool called Gtmetrix that provides a yslow input
-
Hi Brett - when I have been optimizing the loading of one of my wordpress sites I have found YSlow is effective. Have you used it?
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Finding issue on Gtmetrix speed test and google speed test
Hey, when i have tested my website https://www.socprollect-mea.com/ on GT metrix. When i test morning, it shown page speed of 3.8 seconds and in noon it shown 2 seconds and later i check, it is defeclecting. speed on the Google page speed test as well. What kind of error is this and does anyone have the solution for this issue?
On-Page Optimization | | nazfazy0 -
Internal Website Linking from Syndicated Blog Posts
Does it help, hurt, or do nothing for my website's SEO if I do internal linking from syndicated blog posts (on my blog) to my website pages? For example, a syndicated blog post on winterizing your house has instances of "homeowners insurance" linking to my webpage on homeowners insurance. Proper canonicalization is done as well.
On-Page Optimization | | BFMichael0 -
Instructional Videos on Separate Websites
Am I doing this correctly? We have 3 websites and shoot a lot of instructional videos on how to use our products. I build a webpage for the video and put it on all three websites, using rel="canonical" on 2 of the videos pages, pointing to the single most important page, is this the right method? TY
On-Page Optimization | | KevnJr
KJr PS: I also do this for press releases.0 -
Google Webmaster Tools Not Showing Correct Data?
Hi, I am experience a weird issue. Google webmaster tools suggested me some HTML improvements a few weeks ago. The suggestions were about duplicate Title Tags and Short Meta Descriptions. I changed the Title Tags and Meta Descriptions. But after 3 Google Updates, webmaster still shows the same suggestion. Please advise Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | Kashif-Amin0 -
Should a website have the same standard headings for product pages? And how does that affect SEO?
Hello! I hope my question is self-explanatory but let me give you an example. Suppose I have website X selling A, B and C and I have a dedicated page for each of those products. For SEO practises, Is it better to have the same webpage structure for all product pages (i.e. the same headings and sections) or is it better to vary the structure of the page? Or is it really not important? Again going back to the example, is it better for product page A, B and C to have the same sections in the same order (i.e. Pricing, Product Details, Product Reviews) or is it better to keep it as a flowing content page (product page A has same information in B and C but all those pages are different with different headings and questions asked depending on the product)? Many thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | MarketingDude0 -
International Website(s)
I have an e-commerce site currently selling in Canada and am now looking to branch it into the USA. We have both the .ca and .us domain names, but I am not sure what the best approach to this would be. If we put up a website on the .us domain name it would be virtually the same.. So I would assume we would have a duplicate content issue. What would be the best way to approach this type of situation?
On-Page Optimization | | wishmedia0 -
Duplication About PDF Files on Website
Hello, My site's URL (web address) is: http://www.vostastores.com/ Above is the Our Website URL. We are in the process of Upgrading Our Website and for that we are adding all Details of each and every products. One of the thing that we are planning to do is to get Manufacturer's product PDF files on our Website which the manufacturer already have on their website. So our Question is that Since the manufacturer has the file on their website and we want to add the same on our website, Will be there any Duplication issue? If yes, then please provide us with a Solution by which we can add the same on our website. Thanks & Regards.
On-Page Optimization | | CommercePundit0 -
Content ideas for different sections of a news website?
A news website I'm working on has pages for various sectors, much like any major news site (in this case for example - defence, energy, trade & finance etc.). I've been asked to add content of 150 words or more to each sector, containing keywords we're targeting. I can see the value of this SEO-wise but can't see how we can write anything that adds value for the user. I don't want to add some rubbish for the sake of keywords, I want the information to be useful.The best idea I can come up with is to write an overview of the challenges and topics making the news in each sector, perhaps a bit of historical detail - but I don’t think this will add much value from a user-perspective, and it's not something where there will be the resources available to update often (or to provide some 'best on the web' type info). Any other ideas? Or do you think my idea is a great one? ;-)The pages in question are like the majority of news pages; each item with a synopsis and the usual extra things like a poll and 'most read' box. I've looked at other news sites and can't see one that has any extra content in the way we require.Thanks.
On-Page Optimization | | Alex-Harford0