Manzar Mashhood

What is Drupal Personalization?

As customers move online, they still crave a personal touch. But how do you offer that in an online, virtual world? Enter Drupal personalization! Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, Personalization capabilities in Drupal CMS lets you tailor your website to each visitor, showing them relevant products, offers, and content based on their interests. The benefits are clear: longer visits, better recommendations, and higher conversion rates. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just exploring the idea, the Drupal personalization strategies I have covered in this blog post can help you build deeper connections with your prospects and customers, and skyrocket your online success.

What are the different ways to personalize website content in Drupal 10?

Drupal 10 transcends one-size-fits-all, generic content by crafting personalized visitor profiles based on 6 key factors discussed below. This data-driven approach allows Drupal websites to anticipate visitor needs and deliver the most relevant, helpful, and engaging information for each individual.

Geolocation

Imagine your website knowing where you are! Based on your city or country, Drupal can adjust content – showing local news in New York instead of Berlin, showcasing nearby events, or even highlighting products relevant to your region.

Browser History

Like a digital detective, Drupal remembers your past visits. If you spend time reading articles about mountain biking, expect to see related gear recommendations or trail suggestions pop up! It’s like your website tailoring experiences based on your interests.

Search

Ever typed something in the site search bar? Those keywords become clues for Drupal! It connects them to relevant content, so if you searched for “vegan recipes,” expect delicious plant-based options to take center stage. It’s like the website anticipating your next culinary adventure.

Behavior Taxonomy

Your actions speak volumes! Clicking on news, downloading ebooks, or interacting with specific features tells Drupal about your preferences. This builds a “taxonomy” of your behavior, letting the website curate content just for you, like suggesting similar news articles or recommending e-books you might enjoy.

Device Type

Mobile, tablet, or desktop – Drupal adapts! It knows how people interact with different devices and adjusts layouts, content snippets, and even navigation accordingly. So, expect a smooth, effortless experience regardless of how you access the website.

Drupal personalization for large enterprises

For large enterprises, especially B2B businesses, winning customers means navigating long, complex buying journeys. Stakeholders scrutinize big-ticket purchases, leading to multiple website visits as they research and compare options. This is where Drupal 10 shines. Its powerful personalization capabilities learn from each visit, building a deeper understanding of each potential customer. When your customers are high-stakes decision-makers with lengthy buying journeys, personalized experiences aren’t just a bonus – they’re a game-changer. Acquia Personalization (formerly Acquia Lift)

Acquia Personalization (formerly Acquia Lift)

Acquia Personalization, formerly known as Acquia Lift, helps large organizations set up marketing funnels that feel like a guided tour, leading them effortlessly towards a satisfying conversion that Sales will love. It seamlessly integrates with existing data sources like your CRM, Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) and Account based Marketing (ABM) Platform. These platforms hold a treasure trove of customer data. 

Acquia Personalization with its seamless integrations, unlocks these riches, feeding granular insights into personalized visitor profiles. This deep understanding allows for dynamic content adjustments, targeted promotional offers, and personalized recommendations that feel eerily relevant. 

Acquia Personalization offers numerous features such as:

• Easy-to-use interface: You don’t need to know any code to use it.
• Audience segmentation: Divide your visitors into groups based on their interests and behavior.
• Content personalization: Show different content to different groups of people.
• A/B testing: Test different versions of your website to see what works best.
• Machine learning: Use AI to predict what people will want to see next.
• Integration with other Acquia products: Works seamlessly with other tools you might be using.

Drupal personalization for small and medium sized businesses

Drupal 10 has revolutionized web content personalization, making it more accessible and affordable for small and medium-sized businesses to compete with larger organizations on an equal footing. In Drupal 10, the ‘Smart Content’ module takes the spotlight for its exceptional personalization capabilities for SMBs.

Smart Content Module

Smart Content personalizes your Drupal 10 website for different visitors in real time, even if they’re not logged in. It shows different content based on factors like their browser, device, language, or whether they’ve visited before. It works by using “conditions” to decide what content to show. For example, you could create a condition to show a special offer to visitors who are using a mobile device. Smart Content targets content based on data from external services like Demandbase or 6sense. 

The Smart Content module works simply by creating “Smart Blocks” and placing them on your website pages. These blocks can contain different versions of content. Then website managers or admins can set up “conditions” to decide which version of the content to show in each block. Once those conditions are set live, Smart Content will automatically check the conditions for each visitor and show the appropriate content.

By tailoring content to visitors’ preferences, small and medium-sized businesses can simplify buying journeys of their potential customers, reducing decision fatigue and encouraging actions like purchases or subscriptions.

6 Drupal Personalization Strategies for smooth buying journey down the marketing funnel

Anonymous Targeting

Capture visitors’ attention at first click using browser conditions, location, or even data from third-party sources. Imagine showcasing localized content or promoting relevant landing pages based on the visitor’s region. This initial spark of personalization sets the stage for a more engaging experience.

UTM Targeting

For targeted campaigns, harness the power of UTM strings. Craft unique experiences for visitors arriving from specific marketing channels. Picture automatically displaying call-to-actions optimized for paid search users or showcasing relevant case studies for those coming from an industry publication.

Micro Surveys/User Inputs

Nudge visitors to share their preferences with one-question surveys or interactive “vote CTAs.” This progressive profiling builds a richer understanding of their interests, allowing you to dynamically adjust content and offers, moving them further down the funnel with every step.

A/B Testing

Forget bloated external tools! Drupal’s built-in A/B testing lets you seamlessly experiment with different headlines, layouts, and CTAs. Discover what resonates best with your audience and personalize your website based on data-driven insights, ensuring every element is optimized for conversion.

Customer 360 Data Tracking

Take personalized experiences to the next level by leveraging Acquia Profile Manager or external data platforms. Unify data from various sources to create a holistic picture of your visitors. Imagine dynamically adjusting content based on past purchases, website behavior, or CRM data, delivering tailor-made experiences that feel truly personal.

GA4 Integration

Stay informed and optimize your personalization efforts with seamless Google Analytics 4 integration. Track campaign performance and user behavior directly within Drupal. Use these insights to refine your strategies, ensuring each personalization element drives maximum impact and guides visitors effortlessly towards your desired goal.

Case Studies: Drupal Personalization Strategies

Vivint

Vivint wanted a personalized experience for potential smart home customers. They created a quiz-style microsite that recommends products based on user responses. The questions were carefully chosen to identify a user’s needs and pain points. Based on the answers, users were categorized into one of four personas: Prevent, Restore, Conserve, or Convenience. Each persona received a personalized results page with a recommended smart home kit and supporting content like videos and testimonials. The results page also considered the user’s location, displaying insights about potential energy savings and local Vivint users.

This personalized approach aimed to educate customers and lead to more productive sales conversations. It avoided overwhelming users with too many choices and made them feel understood by addressing their specific needs.

Water Research Foundation

Water Research Foundation, a massive freshwater research hub, needed a website overhaul after merging with another organization. Their old website was clunky, disconnected, and scattered across multiple platforms.

The solution? A shiny new Drupal site hosted on Acquia Cloud, complete with personalized experiences using Acquia Lift. They streamlined content, integrated systems, and made everything searchable by key topics. Now, subscribers stay informed through “topic hubs” and tailored recommendations, leading to a 150% increase in returning visitors and a 10% overall content view boost. It’s a win-win for research and user experience!

9 Steps to Drupal Personalization

1. Define Goals and KPIs

Think of personalization like embarking on a journey. Before setting sail, you need to know where you’re going, right? For your Drupal 10 website, that means defining clear goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). What do you want to achieve? Do you want to boost engagement, drive conversions, or nurture brand loyalty? Once you have these objectives in mind, establish measurable KPIs to track your progress. Aim to lower bounce rates, increase click-throughs, or raise conversion rates by specific percentages. With defined goals and measurable KPIs, you’ll be able to gauge the real impact of your personalization efforts.

2. Identify Key Audiences and Journeys

Start this step by finding answers to the following questions: Who are they? What do they want? Understand the demographics, interests, and online behavior of your visitors. Then, Understand their motivations and pain points.

Each visitor on your website has unique goals, backgrounds, and expectations. To personalize their experience effectively, you need to understand who they are. This involves identifying your key audiences – young professionals, seasoned veterans, budget-conscious buyers, etc. Then, map their distinct journeys: how they arrive at your site, what they’re looking for, and the potential roadblocks they might encounter.

By understanding your audience and their journeys, you can tailor content, offers, and calls to action that resonate with them. This level of personalization makes them feel like you’re speaking directly to their needs, creating a more engaging and satisfying experience.

3. Segmenting Users

Refine your understanding of users by drilling down further and grouping users within audiences based on specific criteria like browsing history, location, or device. This lets you personalize even more effectively. Then tailored their experiences by delivering content, offers, and calls to action that resonate with each segment. Imagine showing exclusive deals to loyal customers or highlighting relevant blog posts to tech-savvy visitors. Or showing targeted product recommendations to returning customers versus offering beginner guides to first-time visitors. 

4. Identifying Key Challenges

This step involves identifying key challenges that could hinder your success.

Data Collection and Integration:

• Gathering and unifying data from multiple sources (CRM, analytics, etc.) can be complex.
• Ensure your systems effectively communicate and share insights.

Technology Limitations:

• Your existing CMS or personalization tools might have constraints.
• Assess their capabilities and consider upgrades or integrations if needed.

Resource Constraints:

• Personalization often requires dedicated teams and expertise.
• Evaluate your resources and allocate them strategically.

Organizational Alignment:

• Secure buy-in from different departments to ensure a cohesive approach.
• Foster collaboration and communication across teams.

Privacy and Compliance:

• Respect user privacy and adhere to data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
• Implement transparent data collection practices and obtain consent.

5. Defining the Scope of Your Personalization Project

Just like any journey, your Drupal 10 personalization adventure needs a well-defined map. Step 5 is all about scoping your project, determining its boundaries and limitations. This serves as your roadmap, guiding your efforts and ensuring focus.

Benefits of scoping your Drupal web content personalization project?

Focus and Efficiency

Clearly defining the project’s scope prevents you from spreading yourself too thin and allows for efficient resource allocation.

Realistic Expectations

Establishing boundaries helps you set achievable goals and manage expectations within your team and with stakeholders.

Phased Implementation

You can break down the project into manageable phases, allowing for iterative development and adjustments based on real-world data and feedback.

What to consider when defining scope:

• Specific Goals: What are you aiming to achieve? Increased engagement, higher conversion rates, or brand loyalty?
• Target Audience: Who are you personalizing for? Segmenting your audience can inform the scope of your efforts.
• Available Resources: Take into account your budget, team size, and technical capabilities.
• Timeline and Milestones: Set realistic deadlines and milestones to keep the project on track.

6. Defining Success Criteria for Your Personalization Project

Imagine triumphantly raising the Jolly Roger on your Drupal 10 personalization ship, signifying victory! But how do you know you’ve truly conquered the high seas of engagement and conversions? That’s where defining success criteria comes in.

Success criteria are your treasure map, guiding you towards measuring the impact of your efforts. They’re the metrics you’ll use to gauge how effective your personalization strategies are in achieving your initial goals.

Why define success criteria?

Track Progress and Adjust

By having clear benchmarks, you can monitor your progress, identify what’s working, and course-correct if needed.

Demonstrate Value

Quantifiable results provide evidence of the success of your personalization project, justifying investments and securing future buy-in.

Celebrate Achievements

Reaching milestones motivates your team and fuels continued momentum.

What to consider when defining success criteria:

• Align with Goals: Ensure your criteria directly link to your initial objectives (e.g., increased engagement = higher bounce rate reduction).
• Quantifiable Metrics: Choose measurable metrics like conversion rates, click-throughs, time spent on site, or even positive customer feedback.
• Realistic Targets: Set achievable goals that stretch your team but remain grounded in reality.
• Regular Tracking: Establish a monitoring schedule to stay updated on your progress and make adjustments as needed.

7. Preparing Content for Personalized Experiences

With your course plotted, challenges identified, and goals set, it’s time to prepare the fuel that will take your Drupal 10 personalization ship forward: content tailored to individual user needs and preferences.

Relevance is Key

Generic content won’t resonate with everyone. Personalized content speaks directly to each user’s interests, increasing engagement and conversions.

Dynamic Delivery

The ability to dynamically deliver different content based on user data is vital for effective personalization. Drupal 10’s flexibility makes this possible.

Variety and Depth

Cater to diverse user needs with a variety of content formats. Blog posts, videos, product recommendations, and custom landing pages can all be personalized.

What to consider when preparing content Drupal personalization strategies:

• User Personas: Develop detailed profiles of your target audiences, understanding their motivations, goals, and preferred content formats.
• Content Mapping: Align your content with different user journeys and touchpoints on your website. Think about what each audience needs at each stage.
• Personalization Triggers: Identify data points or user behaviors that trigger the delivery of specific content. For example, showing recent purchase recommendations after a user completes a transaction.
• A/B Testing: Don’t rely on assumptions! Test different content variations and personalization rules to see what resonates best with your audience.

8. Planning and Execution of Personalization Campaigns

Forget one-man-show personalization! Before planning your next website personalization campaign, involve as many stakeholders as possible. Don’t just rely on marketing’s ideas – tap into the goldmine of insights from departments like sales and customer service, who are on the frontlines hearing all about your audience’s needs and frustrations.

Listen actively to their feedback when planning and executing your campaign triggers, rules, and content. What questions do customers ask most? What are their common struggles? Use this intel to craft personalized experiences that address their pain points directly. Think of it as a team effort to truly understand your audience and deliver experiences that resonate.

9. Test, Report, and Iterate

Just like any intrepid seafaring captain, a successful Drupal 10 personalization navigator knows the value of constant course correction. That’s where step 9, testing and iteration, comes in. This critical final stage involves using A/B and multivariate testing methods to continuously hone your personalization strategies.

Think of these tests as mini-voyages on your personalization map. You experiment with different content tweaks, layout variations, and call-to-action formats, meticulously comparing their impact on your pre-defined success criteria. A/B testing pits two versions against each other, while multivariate testing allows you to test multiple variables simultaneously, giving you a deeper understanding of what truly resonates with your audience.

The benefits of this constant experimentation are immense. You’ll be able to identify what strategies are truly propelling your ship forward (increased engagement, higher conversions) and jettison those weighing you down (unproductive content, confusing layouts). 

How Manmash Consulting Can Help in Your Drupal Personalization Strategies?

Skilled crew of Drupal developers, strategists and designers at Manmash Consulting will chart a course to tailor your Drupal website content to individual user preferences, boosting engagement and conversions. We are experienced in transforming any Drupal 10 website into a personalized digital experience, where every visitor feels seen, understood, and valued. You can contact Manzar Mashhood on his Whatsapp +923331200550 or send him a Linkedin connection request, or by filling out the form on our contact page.

Key Takeaways

• Focus on either broad topic clusters or subtopic clusters for SGE.
• Subtopic clusters can be powerful with dedicated content.
• Covering the main topic can still work with strategic linking.
• Glue Up can adapt its approach based on its current focus.

Ever wonder why certain websites seem to dominate Google’s Suggested Guiding Edits (SGE) results? The answer lies in a concept called topical authority. Like a trusted guide leading you through a maze of information, websites with strong topical authority hold the key to unlocking Google’s AI-powered SGE recommendations. In the search generative experience, Google rewards content that deeply understands and comprehensively covers specific topics, and that’s where topical authority shines – it demonstrates your website’s expertise on a subject, paving the way for inclusion in these coveted SGE suggestions.

This blog post a practical case study where I dissect how leveraging topical authority catapulted content into the ranks of Google’s SGE. This is your roadmap to replicating this success for your own domain, so let’s dive in.

The Scenario

We want to rank on Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) for the term “swag bag ideas.”

 We can have two approaches

1. Broad Topic Cluster: Cover the entire “swag bag” topic with a cluster of related blog posts.
2. Subtopic topical cluster: Focus on a specific subtopic within “swag bag ideas,” like “snacks” or “notebooks,” (the categories or subtopics google generated in the AI answer) and build a dedicated topical cluster around it.

Current Observations

Snack Subtopic

The SwagDrop blog ranks in SGE for “snacks” due to their topical cluster focused on snacks within swag bags. This highlights the power of subtopic clusters.

Notebook Subtopic

USchamber.com ranks for “notebooks” even though they don’t directly address the subtopic. However, they link to a blog about conference swag, which Google picked up within the “notebooks” category. This shows that covering the main topic (“swag bags”) can still work.

Conclusion

Even if we can’t focus on a specific subtopic due to our current focus on other topical clusters, we can still increase our chances of ranking in SGE by:

• Building a strong topical cluster around the main, broad topic of “swag bag ideas.” This involves creating multiple blog posts on different aspects of swag bags, showcasing our expertise and providing value to users.
• Strategically linking to relevant external resources. We have to see if we can link to other external resources like USchamber.com swag bag blog ranking in SGE, that delve deeper into specific subtopics, demonstrating our understanding of the broader “swag bag” landscape.

How Manmash Consulting Can Help?

Struggling to get noticed in Google’s new AI search results? Let SEO expert Manzar Mashhood show you the way! His content-powered approach takes you beyond simple “ranking” and builds your brand into a true authority. Attract the right audience, dominate your niche, and watch your bottom line soar. No magic tricks, just smart SEO that works. Contact Manzar and unlock your website’s true potential. My Whatsapp: +923331200550.

Images add pizzazz to your Drupal website, but they can also pack a heavy punch – slowing down pages and leaving visitors impatiently tapping their feet. Fear not, image-loving Drupal enthusiasts! This blog post unveils the magic of image optimization modules, your secret weapon for blazing-fast Drupal websites, enhanced search engine visibility and happy visitors who are more likely to convert into paying customers.

Stop Wrestling with Pixels: Automate Image Resizing and Optimization in Drupal 9 and 10

Imagine this: you upload a beautiful high-resolution picture, but Drupal displays it shrunken down to a postage stamp size. Worse, the file size weighs down your website like an anchor. Enter “Image Optimize“, a Drupal hero that automatically resizes images to fit their designated styles, saving you the pixel-pushing hassle. But it doesn’t stop there! This module also uses clever tricks to optimize the images, squeezing out unnecessary bytes without sacrificing quality. Think of it as Marie Kondo for your website’s image library – tidying things up and sparking joy (in the form of lightning-fast page loads).

Excited About Next-Gen Formats Like WebP But Worry About Browser Compatibility? No Worries!

The world of image formats is constantly evolving, and WebP is the new cool kid on the block. It offers smaller file sizes than traditional PNGs and JPEGS, without compromising visual quality. But here’s the catch: not all browsers understand WebP. Not to worry, because Image Optimize has your back again! It can automatically convert your images to WebP for browsers that support it, while serving up the tried-and-true formats for others, ensures images on your Drupal site always display perfectly for everyone.

Set Different Compression Levels in Image Optimize: Custom Quality Settings

Let’s face it, sometimes you need a little extra control. Maybe you have a massive banner image that can afford a slight quality dip for a significant speed boost. Or perhaps you have delicate product photos where every pixel matters. That’s where Image Optimize’s custom quality settings come in. You can tweak the compression level for each image style, giving you the perfect balance between size and clarity. Think of it as a dimmer switch for your images, letting you adjust the brightness (or in this case, the file size) to suit your needs.

Team Up Image Optimize With These Drupal Powerhouse Modules For Maximizing Speed

Remember, sometimes one hero isn’t enough. For even more image-optimizing goodness, consider teaming up Image Optimize with these Drupal image optimization modules.

Kraken.io

This cloud-based service takes Image Optimize’s capabilities to the next level, offering even more aggressive compression and advanced features like lossless rotation and cropping. Think of it as a turbocharger for your image optimization engine.

ImageAPI Optimize AVIF & WebP

This module introduces AVIF, another next-gen image format that’s even smaller than WebP. While browser support is still growing, it’s worth getting ahead of the curve and offering your visitors the absolute best in image performance.

How To Installing Image Optimization Module On Your Drupal Website

Ready to unleash the image optimization beast? Here are the steps you have to take:

Step 1: Install the modules

Head to Drupal.org site’s “Modules” page and search for your required module such as “Image Optimize”, “Kraken”, or “ImageAPI Optimize AVIF & WebP”. Click “Install” and let the magic begin.

Step 2: Configure Image Optimize

Navigate to “Configuration > Media > Image Optimize Pipelines”. Here, you can define how images are processed. Choose a default pipeline for all uploads or create custom pipelines for specific image styles.

Step 3: Fine-tune settings

Dive into the individual image style settings to adjust compression levels and enable WebP conversion. For advanced users, Kraken.io and ImageAPI Optimize AVIF & WebP offer their own configuration options.

Remember, Manmash Consulting is here to help!

Image optimization might sound complex, but with the right tools and a little guidance, it’s a breeze. And if you ever get stuck, Manmash Consulting is here to be your Drupal sensei. Manzar Mashhood and his team of Drupal Developers have extensive experience in Drupal web development and loading speed optimization using different techniques including but not limited to image optimization, and we’re always happy to share our knowledge. So, ditch the pixelated blues and let your Drupal website shine with lightning-fast, perfectly optimized images. Contact Manmash Consulting today and let’s make your website a speed demon!

Whatsapp: +923331200550

P.S. Don’t forget to share this blog post with your fellow Drupal enthusiasts! Let’s spread the image optimization cheer and build better, faster websites together.

Website speed matters. It impacts your user experience, search engine rankings, conversion rate and ultimately, your bottom line. But running a one-off speed test isn’t enough. You need to continuously monitor your website performance to stay ahead of any potential issues. Here’s why continuous monitoring is essential:

Stay on top of performance issues.

Continuous website performance monitoring tools keep you informed about any performance regressions before they impact your users. This allows you to fix problems quickly and minimize the damage.

Communicate effectively with management.

With historical performance data readily available, you can easily communicate trends and identify areas for improvement to stakeholders. This makes it easier to secure budget and resources for performance optimization projects.

Detect changes before they impact Google rankings.

Google Core Web Vitals data is aggregated over 28 days, meaning it takes time for regressions to be reflected. With features like scheduled lab tests in continuous monitoring tools, you’re notified of technical issues before they affect your core web vitals and ultimately search engine rankings.

Experiment and optimize with confidence

Web performance continuous monitoring tools offer testing and experimentation features that let you test website speed improvements without deploying code. This allows you to validate your ideas and estimate their impact before implementation.

Gain deeper insights into user experience.

Web performance monitoring tools go beyond simulated lab data and offer real-user monitoring (RUM) features to validate reported issues, pinpoint where exactly users are experiencing slowness and prioritize optimization efforts accordingly

Here’s what you can do with continuous website performance monitoring:

• Select from different test locations.
• Analyze pages that require login or are hosted on a staging server.
• Track Lighthouse Performance, Accessibility, and SEO scores.
• Identify slow pages and bottlenecks affecting user experience.
• Prioritize optimization efforts for maximum impact.

Two Key Considerations for Continuous Website Performance Monitoring

Distance matters!

Website loading speed isn’t just about technical specs like server hardware, hosting or code efficiency; it’s also about geographical location of your users. Imagine your website as a restaurant. If the kitchen is across town, delivering food takes more time, frustrating hungry diners. Similarly, a server far from your users means their browser requests travel long distances, causing slower loading times. 

If you are a local business serving a limited geographical area, choose a server close by, like a kitchen just a few steps from the dining area. But if your reach spans continents, consider a cloud server network with locations scattered across the globe. This way, your website can be served from the nearest server to each user, delivering content lightning-fast, no matter their location. Think of it as having kitchens strategically located around the world, ready to whip up a delightful digital experience for every guest.

Focus on the root, not the symptom

Don’t let performance dips leave you in the dark. When website monitoring screams “anomaly!”, dive straight for the source. Recent changes, no matter how small, can hold the key. Foster a culture of transparency in your DevOps and WebOps teams. Punishing silence won’t reveal hidden tweaks. Encourage open communication – that crucial new plugin, the monster image on the pricing page, even seemingly insignificant updates – any one could be the culprit behind a performance shift.

Performance doesn’t fluctuate on a whim. It’s almost always a team’s action, big or small, that triggers a positive or negative impact. So, skip the guessing game and start with the cause, not the symptom. Shine a light on recent changes, and watch the performance puzzle click into place.

Case Study

Story time: How Jira-ffe Used DebugBear’s Continuous Monitoring Capabilities to Achieve SEO Success

Jira-ffe, an imaginary SaaS project management platform, faced a challenge: website loading times were increasing, leading to user frustration and potential SEO ranking drops. To address this issue, they implemented continuous website performance monitoring using DebugBear and RUM (Real User Monitoring).

Step 1: Identify the Problem

• DebugBear revealed a Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) issue: the time it took for the main content to load was exceeding 3 seconds, significantly exceeding Google’s recommended threshold of 2.5 seconds.
• RUM data further confirmed the issue, showing that users on slower connections experienced even longer LCP delays, impacting their experience.

Step 2: Diagnose the Root Cause

By analyzing the waterfall chart in DebugBear, Jira-ffe identified two primary culprits:

• Large image files: Images were unoptimized, causing unnecessary bandwidth usage and slowing down page loading.
• Third-party scripts: Some scripts were loading unnecessarily, adding to the page load time.

Step 3: Implement Solutions

• Image optimization: Jira-ffe implemented tools to automatically compress and resize images without sacrificing quality, significantly reducing their size and improving LCP.
• Script optimization: They identified non-critical scripts and implemented asynchronous loading, ensuring that the main content loaded first, resulting in a smoother user experience.

Step 4: Track Progress and Refine

• Continuous monitoring allowed Jira-ffe to track the impact of their changes. They saw an immediate improvement in LCP, with the average loading time dropping below 2.5 seconds.
• RUM data confirmed the positive impact, showing a significant decrease in user-perceived loading times.
• This improvement in Core Web Vitals was also reflected in the Crux report, with Jira-ffe achieving “good” scores for LCP, First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) within the 28-day window.

Top 6 Tools for Continuous Website Performance Monitoring

WebPageTest

Provides detailed performance reports from multiple global locations. Offers in-depth waterfall charts and video recordings of page loads.

Pingdom

Caters to both technical and non-technical users with clear reports and actionable recommendations. Offers synthetic monitoring and page load optimization tips.

GTMetrix

Delivers detailed performance reports with insights into page load components. Offers RUM, synthetic monitoring, and video recordings of page loads.

CalibreApp

Focuses on visual performance monitoring with screenshots and video recordings of page loads. Offers synthetic monitoring and web design feedback.

New Relic

Focuses on application performance monitoring (APM) but also includes website performance metrics. Provides RUM, synthetic monitoring, and in-depth code analysis.

DebugBear

Offers comprehensive monitoring of uptime, performance, and user experience. Provides synthetic monitoring, real user monitoring (RUM), and waterfall charts.

Sematext Experience

Combines website performance monitoring with log analytics for deeper insights. Offers RUM, synthetic monitoring, and detailed log analysis.

Manmash Consulting: Your Partner in Continuous Website Performance Optimization

Manmash Consulting offers expert solutions for continuous website performance monitoring, ensuring your business stays ahead of potential technical issues before they become critical. Our team of skilled professionals utilizes advanced web performance monitoring tools and real-user monitoring (RUM) to provide comprehensive insights into your website’s loading speed, user experience, and SEO performance. Contact Manzar Mashhood on his Linkedin or Whatsapp +923331200550 for further details.

Imagine ordering a delicious pizza online. You’re excited and hungry, but instead of receiving the pizza immediately, you’re handed a box of individual ingredients like cheese and dough. Now, frustrated and still hungry, you must wait and bake the pizza yourself.

This is essentially the experience of traditional Single Page Applications (SPAs) not using server-side rendering. They’re like pizza ingredient boxes, requiring you to “bake” the pizza yourself by loading a large JavaScript file before any content is displayed. This can be slow, particularly for complex applications, and leave users staring at a blank screen, waiting for the app to become usable. But fear not, there’s a solution: Server-Side Rendering (SSR)!

What is Server-Side Rendering?

Server-side rendering (SSR) is a web development technique where the server generates the HTML code for a web page before sending it to the browser. In essence, the server acts like the chef, preparing the pizza (the webpage) according to your recipe (the code) and delivering it ready to enjoy. This ensures fast initial load times and a consistent user experience, as everyone receives the same pre-rendered HTML, regardless of their device or browser capabilities. Think of it like ordering a pizza from a restaurant – they prepare the pizza exactly to their specifications and deliver it hot and ready to eat.

How is SSR Different from Traditional SPAs?

Traditional SPAs rely on JavaScript for everything, making them slower to load initially. With SSR, the server renders the initial HTML, giving users something to see and interact with while the JavaScript downloads and takes over. It’s like having a pre-baked pizza crust ready to receive the toppings.

What are the Benefits of Server-Side Rendering?

Faster Initial Load Times

Users see content instantly, leading to a more satisfying experience. Imagine the relief of seeing your pizza toppings instead of a blank box!

Improved SEO

Search engines love readable content. Search engines can easily crawl and index the content of websites and SPAs using Server-Side Rendering, as it’s already fully rendered on the server. Conversely, traditional SPAs using client-side rendering only rely on JavaScript to dynamically generate content, which can make it difficult for search engines to understand and index.

While client-side rendering offers a faster initial user experience, its SEO benefits are limited. The reliance on JavaScript can create delays in crawling and indexing and potentially hinder search engine visibility. Additionally, some search engine bots may not have complete JavaScript capabilities, leading to missed content and lower rankings.

Better Accessibility

Users with slower connections or assistive technologies can access content immediately, ensuring inclusivity.

What are the Trade-offs of SSR?

Increased Server Load

SSR requires the server to perform additional work, which can be resource-intensive for large applications.

Development Complexity

SSR requires developers to have a deeper understanding of server-side technologies and frameworks like Node.js, Ruby on Rails, or Django, in addition to their front-end skills. This can be a steep learning curve, especially for developers accustomed to the simpler setup of CSR. Moreover, debugging can be more complex with SSR due to the involvement of both server-side and client-side code. Identifying the source of errors requires extra steps and familiarity with both environments.

How to improve the loading speed of your single-page application using server-side rendering?

The following 3 are the most common solutions that developers use to improve the loading speed of an SPA using SSR.

1. Pre-render Initial Content

1. Identify Initial Content: Determine the essential content users see first (e.g., header, main content).
2. Generate HTML on Server: Use server-side code to generate the initial HTML with this content.
3. Hydrate on Client-Side: Inject the pre-rendered HTML into the DOM on the client.
4. Load JavaScript Asynchronously: Load JavaScript asynchronously to avoid blocking initial render.

Benefits:

• Instant content visibility for users.
• Faster initial render speeds.
• Improved SEO due to readily available content for crawlers.

2. Code Splitting

1. Break Down JavaScript Code: Divide your application code into smaller bundles based on routes or features.
2. Load Only Required Bundles: Only load the bundle for the initial route on the server.
3. Lazy Load Remaining Bundles: Load additional bundles as users navigate to specific features.

Benefits:

• Reduced initial payload size for faster download.
• Improved loading times for subsequent page transitions.
• More efficient resource utilization.

3. Data Prefetching

1. Identify Essential Data: Determine the data needed to render the initial content and subsequent pages.
2. Prefetch Data on Server: Fetch the essential data on the server before sending the initial HTML.
3. Hydrate Client-Side with Data: Hydrate the pre-rendered HTML with the fetched data on the client.

Benefits:

• Eliminates the need for initial data fetching on the client.
• Reduces perceived loading times for users.
• Improves responsiveness and interactivity.

In terms of market share and community support, which two frameworks dominate the server-side rendering landscape?

The top 2 most widely used frameworks for server-side rendering are Next.js and Nuxt.js. 

Next.js

Next.js is a popular framework for building SPAs with React, offering built-in features like automatic routing, data fetching, and pre-rendering. It simplifies SSR development by providing pre-configured solutions for common tasks, making it a great choice for developers familiar with React.

Nuxt.js

Nuxt.js is the equivalent of Next.js but for Vue.js developers. It provides similar features like automatic routing, data fetching, and pre-rendering, but with a focus on simplifying Vue development. Nuxt.js is a great option for developers who want to leverage the power of Vue.js with the benefits of SSR.

The following are the key differences between them.

Feature	Next.js (React-based)	Nuxt.js (Vue-based)
Supported Framework	React	Vue
Routing	Automatic routing based on page file structure	Manually configured routes
Data Fetching	Built-in data fetching with getStaticProps and getServerSideProps	Manual data fetching with asyncData and fetch
Pre-rendering	Supports static site generation, server-side rendering, and hybrid rendering	Supports static site generation, server-side rendering, and hybrid rendering
Head Management	Built-in head management for meta tags, title, and other SEO elements	Requires manual configuration of head elements
Community & Ecosystem	Large and active community with a vast ecosystem of libraries and tools	Smaller but growing community with a focus on Vue-specific tools

What are some popular single-page applications built with Next.js?

• GitHub Pages: GitHub’s static site hosting platform leverages Next.js for its user interface, providing a fast and dynamic experience.
• Twitch: The popular live streaming platform utilizes Next.js for various aspects of its web interface, including the directory and channel pages.
• MDX Documentation: The popular documentation platform MDX utilizes Next.js for its website and live previews, delivering a smooth and interactive experience for developers.

What are some popular single-page applications built with Nuxt.js?

1. Storyblok: This headless CMS platform utilizes Nuxt.js for its public-facing website and admin panel. It leverages Nuxt.js features like server-side rendering and static site generation for SEO optimization and fast loading times.
2. Vuejobs: This job board platform utilizes Nuxt.js for its user interface, providing a fast and dynamic experience for job seekers and employers.
3. Laracasts: This popular online learning platform for Laravel developers utilizes Nuxt.js for some of its website sections, offering faster loading times and a smoother user experience.

What are your personal recommendations for choosing between Next.js and Nuxt.js for an SPA project?

Both Next.js and Nuxt.js offer powerful features for building SEO-friendly SPAs with server-side rendering. Choosing the right framework depends on your preferred JavaScript framework (React or Vue) and your development team’s expertise.

Should You Use SSR for Your SPA?

SSR is a valuable tool for improving the initial load times and SEO of your SPA. However, it’s not a silver bullet. If your application is simple or has a low user base, the additional complexity and server load might not be worth it.

Ultimately, the decision depends on your specific needs and priorities. If speed and SEO are crucial, SSR is a powerful option. But if simplicity and ease of development are your main concerns, a traditional SPA might be sufficient.

Harness the Power of Server-Side Rendering with Manmash Consulting

If you’re looking to improve your website’s speed, user experience, and SEO with server-side rendering, Manmash Consulting is here to help. Our team of SEO experts can guide you through the process, from selecting the right framework to optimizing your website/single page application for maximum performance.

Don’t let a slow website hold you back. Contact Manzar Mashhood, CEO and founder of Manmash Consulting today and unlock the potential of server-side rendering!

Have you ever noticed how some websites seem to load instantly, while others take what feels like an eternity? The culprit behind sluggish loading times often lies in a hidden web of dependencies called network request chains, also known as critical request chains. Longer chains delay the rendering of the webpage, impacting performance metrics like First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) in PageSpeed Insights and Google Search Console.

Imagine you’re building a house but need bricks from different factories. Each factory takes time to make a batch, and you can only start building with the next batch after the previous one arrives. This waiting slows down the overall construction process. It’s the same with websites: downloading resources one by one slows down the page load.

In this blog post, we’ll dive into what is a network request chain and explore how they work. We’ll also unveil practical strategies to identify these chains and minimize them to improve your website’s speed, ensure a smooth and delightful experience for your users and optimize conversion rate.

What is a network request chain?

Network request chains are a series of requests that a website makes to different servers in order to render the complete page for a user. Each request in the chain depends on the previous one, meaning that the browser cannot start downloading the next resource until the current one has finished downloading and processing.

Some websites, particularly those with complex layouts, inadvertently form long sequential request chains when loading important resources. This can significantly slow down the page’s initial render and negatively impact user experience. Ideally, critical resources should be loaded directly, without relying on chains of dependencies.

Can you explain network request chains with an everyday example?

For instance, imagine a SaaS website where the main navigation menu requires a specific font to be downloaded before it can be displayed. This creates a chain where the browser first downloads the CSS file referencing the font, then the font itself, and finally renders the navigation menu. We can break this chain by directly referencing the font in the HTML document, and both the font and navigation menu can be downloaded simultaneously, leading to a faster loading experience.

An example from a personal website audit

While conducting a website audit, I encountered a critical issue: a background image in the hero section was referenced within CSS stylesheets. This delayed the image loading until the stylesheet download was complete, significantly impacting both website speed and user experience. In fact, this very image was identified as the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), further harming the client’s SEO. To address this, I directly referenced the background image within the HTML document, effectively breaking the network request chain. This resulted in improved website speed and core web vitals, ultimately, boosted search engine rankings for the client.

How to Optimize Network Request Chains with ‘Preloading’

Preloading important resources with hints is a powerful and most commonly used optimization technique for breaking network request chains in the realm of web design. Preloading tells the browser to start fetching specific resources before they would normally be discovered in the HTML document, effectively bypassing potentially lengthy chains.

Here’s an example:

HTML

<link rel="preload" href="background-image.png" as="image" />

This code instructs the browser to begin downloading the “background-image.png” image immediately, even before it reaches the HTML code referencing it. This ensures the image is ready for use as soon as the browser needs it, significantly improving the loading speed of the hero section.

Case Study

Let’s understand network request chains with an imaginary SaaS project management website called “Jira-ffe” (if you squint, the logo kind of looks like a giraffe)

Scenario

Imagine visiting Jira-ffe.com, a SaaS project management software for SMEs. As you land on the homepage, the browser starts parsing the code. It encounters a reference to a critical CSS file containing styles for the task list and project cards. This triggers a request for the CSS file.

However, the CSS file itself references several fonts and images. This creates a chain where the browser needs to download and process each resource sequentially, delaying the rendering of the crucial task list and project cards.

Diagnosis

1. Identify critical resources: Use developer tools like Chrome DevTools to analyze the website’s network requests. Identify the critical CSS file responsible for styling the task list and project cards using the waterfall chart. This file is likely referenced early in the HTML document.
2. Analyze dependent resources: Inspect the critical CSS file for references to fonts and images. These resources are likely loaded sequentially, impacting the rendering of the critical content.
3. Measure request times: Use developer tools to measure the time it takes for each resource to download. This will help identify bottlenecks and prioritize optimization efforts.
4. Use Filmstrips: This visualization shows how different resources are loaded over time. By analyzing the loading sequence and timing of specific CSS and JavaScript files, you can roughly estimate their individual transfer times. You can use WebPageTest or GTmetrix to get a filmstrip view of any website.

Solution

The following strategies can help us break the network request chains of Jira-ffe.com

1. Preload critical CSS: Leverage the rel=”preload” attribute in the HTML <link> element to prioritize the loading of the critical CSS file. This ensures its availability before other resources, enabling faster rendering of the task list and project cards.
2. Font optimization: Preload the essential fonts using the rel=”preload” or font-display properties. This reduces the impact of font loading on layout shifts and improves rendering speed.

How to optimize network request chains in WordPress?

Perfmatters

• Preload fonts, images, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Specify preload hints (“as”) for different types of resources.
• Preconnect to external domains used on your website.
• Lazy load images and iframes.

How to optimize network request chains in Drupal?

Fastly CDN

• Integrates with Fastly CDN for lightning-fast content delivery.
• Preloads images, CSS, and JavaScript files automatically.
• Purges cached content to ensure users see the latest version.
• Optimizes images for faster loading.

How Manmash Consulting can help?

Manzar Mashhood and his team of technical SEO experts are experienced in improving the website speed and overall performance that not just improves user experience, but help you in SEO as well because we are primarily focused on getting our clients a relevant and qualified traffic from search engines. Please contact Manzar Mashhhood on his Linkedin or on Whatsapp: +923331200550.

Imagine scrolling through a beautiful travel blog, eager to explore exotic destinations. But suddenly, everything grinds to a halt. The images refuse to load, the text takes forever to appear, and you’re left staring at a blank screen, frustration mounting with each passing second. This is the reality for many website visitors when page weight is not optimized.

Think of page weight as the luggage a website carries. Too much baggage, in the form of large images, unnecessary scripts, and bloated code, slows down the loading process. This not only frustrates your visitors, increasing bounce rates and damaging your brand reputation, but it also negatively impacts your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ranking. Search engines prioritize faster loading websites, so an overweight page can bury your site deeper in search results, making it invisible to potential customers. Let’s get detailed about the “Page Weight” metric and how to improve it for users and search engines.

What is Page Weight?

The page weight metric refers to the total size of all the resources that are downloaded and rendered when a web page loads. This includes:

• HTML files
• CSS files
• JavaScript files
• Images
• Fonts
• Other resources

Images are the biggest contributor to page weight, followed by JavaScript and CSS. Page weight can vary significantly depending on the type of website, the content it contains, and the technology it uses.

Quick Wins for Reducing Page Weight

Choosing the Right Image Format: Less is More

Just like you wouldn’t use a giant photo frame for a tiny picture, you shouldn’t use large image formats when a smaller one will do. New formats like WebP and Avif are like a smaller photo frame for the same picture. They take up less space but still show the image clearly. This is like choosing a smaller pizza topping, it still tastes great but doesn’t make the pizza too heavy.

For example, a JPEG image of a flower might be 100KB, but the same image in WebP format could be as small as 30KB. This means it takes less time to download, making your website load faster.

Making Text Files Slimmer: Compression to the Rescue

Sometimes, the text on a website, like the instructions on a pizza box, can also contribute to its weight. This can be things like the text itself (HTML), the style instructions (CSS), and the code that makes things work (JavaScript). Thankfully, there are tools like Brotli, which are like vacuum sealers for text files. They shrink them down without losing any information, making them lighter and faster to download.

Think of it like compressing a bunch of paper instructions for making pizza dough. With Brotli, you can squish all the same information onto fewer pages, making it easier to store and use. This helps your website load faster for everyone.

These are just a few ways to minimize page weight and improve website speed. By paying attention to the resources used on your website and using the right techniques, you can create a faster and more enjoyable experience for your visitors.

What is the recommended page weight for a home page?

The ideal page weight for a website homepage depends on various factors, including the website’s type (SaaS vs. Ecommerce), content complexity, and target audience. However, some general guidelines can help you aim for optimal performance.

General Guidelines

• Average Optimal Weight: Around 1-1.5 MB
• Maximum Tolerable Weight: Below 3 MB
• Critical Threshold: Above 3 MB, impacts performance significantly.

Breakdown by Website Type

SaaS

• Ideal Weight: Aim for 500 KB – 1.5 MB
• Target Audience: Technical users may tolerate slightly higher weight due to higher hardware capabilities.
• Focus: prioritize information density and clarity over heavy visuals.
• Optimize: Compress images, minify code, and leverage caching.

Ecommerce

• Ideal Weight: Aim for 1-2 MB
• Target Audience: Broader audience with varying internet speeds.
• Focus: Balance visuals and information with a focus on product presentation.
• Optimize: Use lazy loading for images, optimize product photos, and prioritize mobile experience.

What are some free tools available online to measure and optimize page weight?

Here are some free online tools I personally use to measure page weight

WebPageTest

In WebPageTest, the “Page Weight” metric can be found under the “Page Performance Metrics” section

Yellow Lab Tools

Yellow Lab Tools is a free and open-source tool that provides a variety of performance metrics, including page weight

Picperf

PicPerf makes website images smaller and lighter, and helps reduce Page Weight.. It identifies big images, shrinks them without losing quality, and stores them locally for faster loading.

How to reduce Page Weight on WordPress?

WP Rocket

This premium plugin offers a suite of optimization features, including file caching, lazy loading, and image optimization, to help you achieve optimal page weight and performance.

How to reduce Page Weight on Drupal?

Website Speed

This popular extension provides a comprehensive suite of optimization features, including caching, minification, and image optimization.

KernelCare

This extension automatically applies performance optimizations to your Drupal core code, reducing page weight and improving page load times.

Blazy

Blazy helps you optimize Page Weight specially on mobile devices.

How Manmash Consulting Can Help?

Looking to reduce your Page Weight? Our page speed optimization consultants can help! Contact Manzar Mashhood, CEO of Manmash Consulting now.

Linkedin

Whatsapp: +923331200550

Or visit our Contact page. 

Not all website elements are created equal when it comes to loading priority. While some resources, like text and basic layout elements, are crucial for a visitor’s initial experience, others, like fancy graphics and lower-fold images, can wait. Why? Because bandwidth isn’t limitless! Just like your data plan, your website has a finite amount of bandwidth to allocate. So, to ensure a smooth and speedy experience, we need to guide the browser towards the most important resources first.

This is especially true for images. They’re everywhere – headers, footers, sidebars – not just above the fold. But browsers are clueless. They can’t tell a hero image from a tiny footer icon just by looking at the code. They’re blind until the page starts rendering.

That’s where fetchpriority comes in. This magic attribute lets us tell the browser which images deserve the red carpet treatment. Think of it as a VIP pass for your hero image, the one that grabs attention the moment visitors land on your page.

<img src="hero.jpg" fetchpriority="high">

Boom! Your hero image jumps to the front of the queue, ensuring a lightning-fast appearance. Boost the priority of the LCP image by specifying fetchpriority="high" on the image element, causing LCP to happen sooner.

Boost your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) score by prioritizing your LCP image with fetchpriority=”high”. This simple attribute tells browsers to load it first, shaving milliseconds off your LCP.

But what about those lower-priority images? No need to leave them hanging. We can use “lazy loading” to tell the browser to chill with those icons and charts until they’re actually needed. Think of it as a “load-on-demand” service for images.

<img src="icon.png" loading="lazy">

This way, your website feels snappy and responsive, even when it’s packed with visuals.

Heads Up

“fetchpriority=”high” only works as intended in Chrome and Edge. It isn’t yet fully supported in Safari, Firefox, Opera, or Brave. While these browsers may recognize it, they don’t prioritize resources as aggressively.

Text First, Please

Remember, on mobile especially, text reigns supreme. Visitors want to start reading, not wait for a hero image to load. So, prioritize text in your hero section. Let the words do their magic before the visuals take center stage.

How to load images with the right priority in WordPress

Smush Pro with fetchpriority & Lazy Loading

While there are several great contenders in the WordPress image optimization arena, one plugin truly reigns supreme for fetchpriority and lazy loading: Smush Pro with Fetchpriority & Lazy Loading. This plugin isn’t just about squishing your images (although it does that amazingly too); it’s about strategically delivering them for maximum impact and speed.

How to load images with the right priority in Drupal

Image Optimize with OptiPic

While Smush Pro reigns supreme in the WordPress world, Drupal has its own champion for image optimization and strategic loading: Image Optimize with OptiPic. This dynamic duo combines lossless compression with smart delivery techniques, giving your Drupal site the edge it needs to shine.

What is the difference between fetchpriority="high" and rel="preload" attributes?

Both fetchpriority="high" and rel="preload" can help you load a hero image faster, but they work in different ways:

rel="preload"

• Tells the browser to discover the resource early: This is useful for resources not readily apparent to the parser, like background images or those loaded by scripts. For instance, if your hero image is hidden by a preloader script, rel="preload" would make the browser aware of it sooner, potentially leading to faster loading once the script finishes.
• Doesn’t directly influence priority: While preloading makes the browser aware of the resource, it doesn’t explicitly tell it to prioritize it over others. The browser still uses its internal logic to determine priority based on factors like viewport position and rendering needs.

fetchpriority="high":

• Gives the resource a higher priority: This instructs the browser to prioritize downloading and processing the resource over others with lower priority (usually “auto” or “low”). This can be very effective for critical resources like the hero image, pushing it to the forefront of the download queue.
• Works independently of discovery: You can use fetchpriority="high" regardless of when the browser discovers the resource. Whether it’s readily visible or hidden by scripts, the browser will prioritize it based on your hint.

For your hero image, you can combine both approaches for optimal results:

<img src="hero.jpg" rel="preload" fetchpriority="high">

Conclusion

By strategically loading your images, you’ll not only impress your visitors with a speedy website, but you’ll also climb the search engine ladder. Google loves websites that prioritize user experience, and fast loading times are a major ranking factor. So, go forth and conquer the image-loading game!

How Manmash Consulting Can Help

Manmash Consulting can help you optimize your images and speed up your website by seamlessly implementing the fetchpriority and lazy loading attributes on your website and make your website feel much snappier and more responsive, even if it’s packed with visuals. For further information, please contact Manzar Mashhood on his Whatsapp +923331200550 or visit our contact page.

A study by Kissmetrics revealed that a staggering 79% of smartphone users who experience a slow loading page are unlikely to return to the site. This alarming statistic highlights the critical importance of website speed optimization, and one of the primary culprits behind slow website loading times is render-blocking resources.

What are Render-Blocking Resources?

Render-blocking resources are external files, such as CSS and JavaScript, that prevent the browser from rendering the content of a web page until they have been downloaded and parsed. This can delay the appearance of the page content and make the website feel slow and unresponsive.

Which Type of Files Typically Block Rendering?

The most common type of files that cause render-blocking are CSS and JavaScript files. These files are necessary for the browser to render a web page, but they can block the rendering of other content if they are not loaded correctly.

CSS files style the page layout and appearance. CSS stylesheets can be render-blocking if they are not loaded asynchronously. This means that the browser will not start rendering the page until the CSS stylesheet has been fully loaded. This can delay the loading of the page, especially if the stylesheet is large.

JavaScript files add interactivity and functionality to the page. JS files can also be render-blocking if they are loaded in the <head> section of the HTML document. This is because the browser will not parse the rest of the HTML document until the JavaScript file has been loaded. This can delay the loading of the page, especially if the JavaScript file is large or complex.

How to Identify Render-Blocking Files with Waterfall Charts

Waterfall charts are a valuable tool for identifying render-blocking files. By analyzing waterfall charts, SEOs and developers can pinpoint specific resources that are hindering the rendering process and take corrective measures to optimize website performance. WebPageTest and GTMetrix provide free waterfall charts and Film Strip views, enabling developers to easily visualize and analyze render-blocking issues.

The following is a simplified explanation of how render-blocking files impact the rendering process of 6Sense website using a waterfall chart from WebPageTest tool as an example:

1. The browser starts with a blank page

2: The HTML document is loaded

3. Several render-blocking resources are loaded

We’ll focus on post-5.css as it is one of the largest and slowest file with 451 ms load time.

4. The post-5.css file is loaded before the page renders

As indicated by the light green First Contentful Paint line in the waterfall.

5. Finally, the page content starts becoming visible

At 2.2 seconds in the Film Strip view.

Why Should We Optimize Render-Blocking Resources?

We should aim for loading as few render-blocking resources as possible to make our page content appear faster. This is because render-blocking directly affects your LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) score. If your website is loading many render-blocking resources, this will make page content appear more slowly and will hurt your LCP score. This will directly affect your core web vitals score, and ultimately your SEO as Core Web Vitals is now a ranking factor in Google’s algorithm.

3 Ways to Optimize Render-Blocking Resources

There are three main ways to optimize render-blocking resources:

Reduce Server Response Time

The first step for loading a website is always loading the initial HTML document. That’s what the Time to First Byte (TTFB) metric measures—how quickly your web server responds to a request for this resource. Aim for a TTFB of less than 200ms, but anything below 500ms is generally considered acceptable.

If you are using a shared hosting provider, consider upgrading to a more powerful plan or switching to a VPS or dedicated server. You can also use a caching plugin to store frequently accessed resources on the server, which can reduce the load on your server and improve TTFB.

Reduce the Number of Render-Blocking Requests

By reducing the number of resources that block rendering, you can make your website load more quickly. This means that only the files that are necessary to start rendering content on your website should block rendering, not other files. By combining Filmstrip Views and Waterfall charts in GTmetrix or WebPageTest, you can effectively identify the files that are hindering the rendering of page content and determine whether these files are necessary for page rendering.

Once identified, remove the files which are not necessary for rendering page content and it will improve your loading time.

You can also use ‘inline CSS’ directly into your page’s HTML document, ensuring that the page’s core styling is immediately available without requiring additional HTTP requests to load external CSS resource files.

You can defer loading non-critical CSS until after the page has rendered.

The defer and async methods

The defer and async methods tell the browser that a JavaScript file should be loaded but that the page can start rendering before that. This can tackle the problem of render-blocking files by loading them later once the page content is rendered.

For example, we can add the following script to 6sense’s homepage HTML document to load that heavy post-5.js file asynchronously:

<script src="post-5.js" async></script>

Reduce the Size of Render-Blocking Files

You can load render-blocking resources more quickly by reducing the size of the files. This will speed up the download and keep the amount of time that rendering is blocked as short as possible.

There are a number of ways to reduce the size of CSS and JavaScript files, such as minifying the code, removing unused code, and using image sprites. You can also use a content delivery network (CDN) to distribute your static files across multiple servers, which can help to reduce the time it takes for users to download these files.

For example, you can use a tool like CSSO or UglifyJS to minify your CSS and JavaScript files. You can also use a CDN like Cloudflare or Amazon CloudFront to distribute your static files.

Conclusion

Optimizing render-blocking resources is an important part of improving the performance of your website. By reducing the number of render-blocking resources and the size of the files, you can make your website load more quickly and improve the user experience.

How Manmash Consulting Can Help?

Does your website feel slow and sluggish? Manmash Consulting can help! We specialize in making websites faster and more user-friendly. One of our secret weapons is using waterfall charts to identify and fix performance bottlenecks. We can help you create and understand waterfall charts so you can optimize your website speed and boost your bottom line. Contact Manzar Mashhood, CEO of Manmash Consulting, today to learn more.

As an SEO, are you perplexed by Google’s seemingly redundant offerings of PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse Chrome Extension for identifying and resolving core web vitals performance issues? You’re not alone. While both tools offer valuable insights into website performance, they differ in their scope and focus. Despite their apparent similarity, these two tools differ fundamentally in their approach to measuring core web vitals, necessitating Google’s provision of both options. Both tools have distinct roles to play in optimizing website performance.

What is Google PageSpeed Insights (PSI)?

PageSpeed Insights is a free tool from Google that analyzes the performance of a web page and provides suggestions on how to improve it.

What is Google Lighthouse?

Google Lighthouse is an open-source tool that audits the quality of web pages.

How PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse Differ in Evaluating Core Web Vitals

PSI utilizes real-world user data, providing insights into how your website performs for actual visitors. In contrast, Lighthouse Chrome Extension relies on lab data, simulating website performance in a controlled environment.

Feature	PageSpeed Insights	Lighthouse
Data source	Real-world data	Lab-based data
Accuracy	More accurate for real-world user experience	May not reflect actual user experience
Insights	Holistic view of CWV performance	Detailed diagnostic information
Use case	Understanding overall CWV performance	Diagnosing and fixing CWV issues

Search Engine Optimization: Embracing PageSpeed Insights over Google Lighthouse

Real user CWV data is an important part of Google’s algorithm. It helps to ensure that websites that provide a good user experience are rewarded in search results. Google does use real user CWV (Core Web Vitals) data in its algorithm. This data is collected from Chrome users who have opted in to share their browsing data with Google. The data is then anonymized and aggregated to create a representative sample of real-world user experiences. Google uses this data to assess the quality of a website’s user experience and to inform its ranking algorithm.

SEO Success Story: How Glia Leveraged Real-World Data to Boost its SEO

Glia, a SaaS software for digital customer service , back in 2022 had been experiencing a decline in their website traffic and organic search rankings over the past few months. Concerned about this trend, they decided to investigate the cause and found that their website’s Core Web Vitals (CWV) scores were below Google’s recommended thresholds.

Glia used PageSpeed Insights to collect real user CWV data for their website. This data showed that their LCP was 4.2 seconds, their FID was 150 milliseconds, and their CLS was 0.3. These scores were all significantly below Google’s recommended thresholds of 2.5 seconds for LCP, 100 milliseconds for FID, and 0.25 for CLS.

Glia knew that improving their CWV scores would be essential for improving their website’s SEO. They used the data from PageSpeed Insights to identify the specific issues that were causing their poor CWV scores. These issues included:

• Large images that were taking a long time to load
• Unnecessary JavaScript code that was slowing down the page
• A lack of caching for static resources

Glia implemented a number of changes to their website to address these issues. They:

• Optimized their images for the web
• Minified and combined their JavaScript files
• Implemented caching for static resources

After implementing these changes, Glia’s CWV scores improved significantly. Their LCP dropped to 2.2 seconds, their FID dropped to 75 milliseconds, and their CLS dropped to 0.1.

These improvements had a positive impact on Glia’s SEO and organic traffic. Their website traffic increased by 20% and their organic search rankings improved by 15%. This resulted in a significant increase in leads and sales for the company.

Conclusion

To optimize your website’s search engine rankings, focus on PageSpeed Insights data rather than Lighthouse Chrome Extension data. Core Web Vitals data offered by PageSpeed Insights provides a more realistic and actionable understanding of your website’s performance in the eyes of search engines and actual users.

Elevate your website’s performance with Manzar Mashhood‘s expert guidance.

Our team of seasoned website speed consultants is here to help you optimize your website’s core web vitals and achieve top scores in Google PageSpeed Insights. Contact us today to transform your website’s performance, WhatsApp: +923331200550.