When we audit a new client's website, the first thing we check is PageSpeed. Not because we're obsessed with numbers, but because PageSpeed is a proxy for user experience. A fast site is a site people enjoy using. A slow site loses people before they even see your content.
Here's what most businesses don't realise: Google PageSpeed score directly influences your search rankings. Since 2021, Google uses Core Web Vitals — a set of speed and stability metrics — as a ranking factor. A site scoring 40 on PageSpeed is not competing with a site scoring 95, even if the content is identical.
Target scores for every AYRI Technologies build
What Is PageSpeed and How Is It Calculated?
Google PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev) analyses your website and gives a score from 0–100. A score of 90+ is considered "Good". Under 50 is "Poor". The score is calculated using real user data from Chrome browsers combined with lab data from Lighthouse.
The four metrics Google measures are Performance, SEO, Best Practices, and Accessibility. For ranking purposes, the Performance score is most important — and it's driven primarily by these Core Web Vitals:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) — How fast the main content loads. Target: under 2.5 seconds.
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) — How stable the page is as it loads. Target: under 0.1.
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint) — How quickly the page responds to interaction. Target: under 200ms.
The 6 Things That Kill PageSpeed
Issue 01
Unoptimised Images
Images are the single biggest PageSpeed killer on most websites. A single uncompressed hero image can be 8–15MB — and many sites have dozens of them. The fix is to convert all images to WebP format (which is 30–50% smaller than JPEG at the same quality) and use lazy loading so off-screen images don't block initial render.
⚡ Impact: High — can improve score by 20–40 points alone
Issue 02
Too Much JavaScript
JavaScript blocks rendering. Every script the browser has to download, parse, and execute before it can show your page costs time. WordPress sites are particularly vulnerable — they often load 20–30 scripts from plugins, many of which are loaded on every page even when they're only needed on one. The fix: audit your scripts, defer everything non-critical, and eliminate unused plugins.
⚡ Impact: High — especially critical on mobile
Issue 03
No Caching or CDN
Without caching, every visitor's browser has to re-download every asset on your site from scratch. A CDN (Content Delivery Network) stores copies of your site on servers around the world, so visitors load from the nearest location. Together, caching and CDN can cut load times by 40–60%.
⚡ Impact: Medium-High
Issue 04
Render-Blocking Resources
CSS and JavaScript files that are loaded in the <head> of your HTML block the browser from rendering anything on screen until they've fully loaded. The fix is to load critical CSS inline, defer non-critical scripts, and use async loading where possible.
⚡ Impact: Medium
Issue 05
Slow Hosting
All the image compression and caching in the world won't help if your server is slow. Shared hosting plans (often as cheap as ₹99/month) frequently have server response times of 1–3 seconds before a single byte of your page loads. Upgrade to a decent VPS or use a platform like Vercel or Netlify for static and Next.js sites.
⚡ Impact: Medium-High — the foundation everything else builds on
Issue 06
Multiple Font Imports
Custom fonts are loaded from Google Fonts or other CDNs and each one is an additional network request. Loading 4–5 font weights adds hundreds of milliseconds to your load time. The fix: use only the font weights you actually need, preload critical fonts, and use font-display: swap so text is visible immediately.
⚡ Impact: Low-Medium
Quick win: Go to pagespeed.web.dev right now, enter your URL, and switch to the Mobile tab. If your score is below 70, scroll down to "Opportunities" — Google will tell you exactly what to fix and estimate the improvement for each one.
How AYRI Achieves 90+ on Every Build
Every website we build hits 90+ on PageSpeed as a non-negotiable standard. Here's how we do it consistently:
- All images converted to WebP with automatic srcset for different screen sizes
- Next.js automatic code splitting — visitors only load the JavaScript for the page they're on
- CSS-in-JS or scoped CSS to eliminate render-blocking stylesheets
- Vercel or AWS CloudFront CDN on every project
- Font preloading with font-display: swap
- Lazy loading for all below-the-fold images and components
- No unnecessary third-party scripts on page load
If your current website scores poorly on PageSpeed and you want to know what it would take to fix it — send us a message and we'll do a free audit for you.