In this article, we explore the importance of Page Speed Insights and highlight some points to consider to improve your website's performance in terms of speed and beyond. First of all explain that Page Speed Insights is a service created by Google that helps to analyse and optimise websites in order to get the best out of the online experience. There are a number of rules and best practices that are essential to building a website and from this tool we can get information about protocols and standards that should be implemented in order to ensure the best user experience.

The importance of Page Speed and its impact on experience and conversion

• Dwell time - if a page takes too long to load, visitors may become frustrated and leave before even seeing the content. Numerous studies show that most users expect a page to load in two seconds or less. This is the only way to ensure a positive experience and keep visitors engaged.
• Search engine ranking - faster websites tend to rank better in search results, which results in more visibility and organic traffic to your website. Google considers site speed as an important ranking factor as it aims to provide users with relevant results and a quality search experience. Speed although important is not the only factor to consider, with accessibility issues, good web practices and SEO being equally important.  
• Conversion rate - website speed has a direct impact on the conversion rate of visits into leads and consequently on the generation of online business. Users have ever-increasing expectations of speed, and slow websites can lead to the loss of potential customers. A delay of just one second in page load time can lead to a significant reduction in conversion rate. 
• Mobile experience - the use of mobile devices to access the internet has grown exponentially in recent years. It is crucial that the accessibility of mobile sites offers a fast, effective and user-friendly experience. Since 2010, the Mobile First concept has gained traction in web projects, focusing its development first on mobile devices and then for desktop. According to statcounter website in Portugal in June 2023 approximately 40% of internet accesses were made through mobile devices.

Tips to improve your website's Page Speed and ensure agile and efficient performance

• Optimize images and videos: Images and videos that are too heavy are often one of the main causes of a slow website. It is essential that images and videos are optimized for the web so as not to delay loading. The use of state-of-the-art image formats such as webp, developed especially for the internet, and the loading of specific images according to the screen size are essential for fast loading.
• Use a caching system: Implementing a caching system is essential to improve website speed. Caching temporarily stores static website files (such as CSS, JavaScript, and images) in visitors' browsers, allowing pages to load faster on subsequent visits.
• Minify CSS and JavaScript: Removing whitespace, comments, and other unnecessary redundancy from code will reduce file sizes, which will result in faster load times. This file optimization can make a big difference and there are compression tools that do the work for you. We must also take into account that some base javascript plugins have many elements that are not used and only contribute to increase the loading weight, and can be discarded without prejudice to the functioning of the site.
• Improve accessibility: Although not directly related to loading speed, good accessibility practices will give your website a better ranking. Buttons with accessible names, image elements with alt (alternative, brief and descriptive text of the image's content) or the possibility of zooming in for users with poor vision are details that we should not neglect.
• Hosting your website: Choose a secure and quality hosting service. Make sure the server is geographically located close to the largest chunk of your target audience. This will reduce server response time and consequently improve loading speed. Also, do not forget that you should always use the HTTPS security certificate.
• SEO: Although not directly related to loading speed, basic guidelines must be followed in order to improve your website's ranking and ensure that it is well indexed and appears in search engine searches. If it is poorly indexed, not even the fastest website in the world will appear in the first places of searches.

Nowadays we have a paraphernalia of tools that help us diagnose and improve the performance of our websites, but just as important as knowing the rules and good practices is knowing how to find the balance. If the best way to pass the message is spectacular images, we have to know how to find a balance between good practices and what makes sense, even if this can weigh on the performance index.