Understanding the Performance Results - Website Auditing Guide #2

Understanding the Performance Results

In part #1 of the Website Auditing Guide we outlined exactly how you can audit your own website. In the next series of blogs we will go over how you can understand your website audit test results, starting with the Performance score.

Please refer to the first part of the Website Auditing Guide to understand more about the process and tools used to carry out an Audit for a website.

Once the Audit Report has been generated, you will receive four key scores. These are Performance, Accessibility, Best Practises and SEO.

The Scoring

The scores can fit into 3 categories, 0-49, 50-89 and 90-100. If the score is below 50, this means that the website will definitely need to be improved. If the score is below 90 then the website can be improved and should be improved if you have resources to spare. If the score is between 90-100 then your website is performing well and is optimised. The aim for a great performing website is to have your scores for the above four categories to be within 90-100.

Understanding the Performance Score

The Performance score can result between 0 and 100. If the score is an absolute 0 or sometimes a '?', this usually means that there is an error with the Lighthouse Audit Test Tool.

The Performance score is important as it helps to understand the speed of your website. Especially if your visitors have poor connection or slow internet speed, this will demonstrate just how long it takes to load your website. This score mainly depends on the optimisation of your website, from content such as text, images and videos to animations.

There are 6 sub-categories when the Performance score is measured. The lower the time for each of these the faster the website and more optimised the website is. Each of these sub-categories is outlined and detailed below.

First Contentful Paint

First Contentful Paint (FCP) measures the time from navigation to the time when the browser renders the first bit of content. This evaluation is important for users of your website as it provides feedback that the page is actually loading.

Speed Index

Speed Index is a page load performance metric that shows you how quickly the contents of your website are visibly populated. 

Time to Interactive

Time to Interactive is defined as the point at which layout has stabilized, key webfonts are visible, and the landing section of the website is able to handle user input.

First Meaningful Paint

First Meaningful Paint is the time it takes for a page's primary content to appear on the screen. These are the main elements that appear when a user vists your website. It is important to have the main information showing first. On poor connection this would be good to get the first part of the website which the user lands on showing first, while the remaining content loads later.

First CPU Idle

The First CPU Idle metric measures when a page is minimally interactive and the time it takes for the webpage to respond to the users input.

Max Potential First Input Delay

Max Potential First Input Delay measures the worst-case First Input Delay that your users might experience. First Input Delay measures the time from when a user first interacts with your site, such as clicking a button, to the time when the browser is actually able to respond to that interaction.

Other Performance Information

Three areas of note within the Performance scoring category are Opportunities, Diagnostics and Passed Audits. The Opportunities section provides suggestions by the Lighthouse tool which can end up speeding the overal website performance. The Diagnostics section provides further information on the performance of the website. Lastly, the Passed Audits section is where all of the tests your website succeeds in are located. You can click on any suggestion to have more information on how you can improve the website. For example, if you click on 'Properly Size Images' it will let you know how big each image should be.

Now you know what changes your website needs to perform better. In the next series of blogs we will be going through the remaining categories that are critiqued during your Website Audit and how to understand the output for each result.

Please feel free to reach out to [email protected], we can help you explain your website audit scores, perform audit tests and help you find out exactly how your website can be improved.

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