Audit your site speed using GTmetrix
Audit your site speed using GTmetrix
1. Make a list of competitor websites that you can benchmark your site against.
Ideally, you want your website to load within a couple of seconds, this can be an ambitious initial aim. Instead, start by comparing your site to the competitors. If your site is faster than those, you have a solid starting point and are unlikely to lose customers.
2. Decide which pages on each site that you will check for performance.
Include pages that are particularly critical to the experience and universal across all sites. For example on ecommerce sites these may include: Homepage Product listings Product details Shopping cart For each page you are testing, make columns for connections on fast broadband, slower broadband, or 3G mobile. For each of the above columns, add a second column where you can record improvements made.
3. Set up an account on GTmetrix and log in.
4. Begin testing your connection and for accuracy, conduct the test two or three times.
Enter the URL of the web page you wish to test. Select the video on option, so you can see how the page loads for users. Select the connection speed you wish to test on.
5. Optionally, conduct the test in different geographic locations, useful if you have customers in several geographical regions.
Add appropriate columns to your spreadsheet and select the region you wish to test in.