A perfect 100 on Google PageSpeed often feels like the ultimate badge of honour for business owners and marketers who strive to maximise online performance.
As you work to improve your website’s loading times, user experience, and technical health, the insights from Google PageSpeed become an essential guide. However, the question remains — is it truly possible to reach that perfect score, and more importantly, should it even be your primary goal?
In this article, you’ll uncover the realities behind Google PageSpeed scores, what they genuinely mean for your business, and how to use them strategically to drive real-world results.
Key Takeaways
- A high Google PageSpeed score helps boost SEO, improve user experience, and increase conversions, but achieving a perfect 100 is challenging and not always necessary.
- Prioritising site speed through image optimisation, lazy loading, code minification, and quality hosting makes a more enormous real-world impact than chasing a perfect score.
- Reducing third-party scripts and plugins is crucial for maintaining a fast, efficient website without sacrificing functionality.
- Regularly auditing your site’s performance ensures that improvements are updated with Google’s evolving standards.
- Focusing on meaningful speed improvements, not just Google PageSpeed numbers, delivers better results for business growth and online visibility.
What is Google PageSpeed?
Image Credit: Sistrix
Google PageSpeed is a set of tools offered by Google to help you measure and optimise your website’s performance. The most widely used tool, PageSpeed Insights, analyses your site’s mobile and desktop versions and provides a performance score out of 100 along with actionable suggestions for improvement.
It evaluates key factors such as loading speed, visual stability, and interactivity, using metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) — all part of Google’s Core Web Vitals standards. These metrics are critical because they directly affect user experience, influencing your site’s ranks on Google Search.
While Google PageSpeed provides a helpful benchmark, it is not the only measure of website success. While a perfect score is impressive, what matters more is whether your website provides visitors with a fast, reliable, and engaging experience.
How Important is Your Google PageSpeed Score?
Your Google PageSpeed score is essential, but should not be your only focus. A high score can indicate good technical health, but does not guarantee higher sales, more leads, or better engagement.
Page speed is officially a ranking factor for Google’s mobile and desktop search results, meaning that slow-loading pages could harm your visibility. Research shows that pages taking longer than three seconds to load could lose up to 53% of mobile visitors. However, achieving a 100/100 score often requires trade-offs, such as stripping down rich media or complex functionality that might enhance user engagement.
As a business owner or marketer, your goal should be to optimise for real-world performance. This means ensuring your site loads quickly, works smoothly across devices, and meets customer expectations.
Instead of chasing a perfect score, focus on meaningful improvements contributing to faster page loads, lower bounce rates, and stronger SEO performance. After all, a website that delivers real value is far more potent than one that simply looks good on a test.
How Does PageSpeed Insights Score Affect SEO?
Image Credit: Kinsta
Although your Google PageSpeed Insights score is not a direct ranking factor, the elements it measures significantly influence your SEO performance. Google’s algorithm prioritises user experience, and many of the aspects assessed by PageSpeed — such as site speed, mobile usability, and visual stability — directly impact how your pages rank in search results.
A faster site leads to lower bounce rates and higher average time on page, both of which are positive signals to Google’s ranking systems (source). In fact, according to Google, improving mobile site speed by just one second can increase mobile conversions by up to 27%. Additionally, poor performance on Core Web Vitals (key parts of PageSpeed scoring) can result in a lower Page Experience rating, ultimately harming your SEO outcomes.
While a perfect 100 score is not essential, addressing significant issues flagged by Google PageSpeed Insights ensures your site stays competitive, retains more visitors, and ranks better organically. Ultimately, you should treat your PageSpeed score as a diagnostic tool, not an end goal. It helps you uncover technical issues that, if ignored, could reduce your visibility on Google over time.
7 Best Practices to Improve Google PageSpeed
Improving your website’s load time is no longer optional if you want to stay competitive online. A sluggish site frustrates visitors and weakens your SEO performance and conversion rates. Here are some best practices for creating faster, more user-friendly digital experiences. You can apply them immediately to boost your page speed and enhance website performance.
Step 1: Optimise Image Sizes Without Losing Quality
Large image files are one of the most common causes of slow-loading websites. You should compress all images before uploading using tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim. Stick to modern formats like WebP,which offerg better compression withoutsacrificingg quality. You should also set a maximum display size for images so browsers do not waste time resizing them on the fly.
How to Set a Maximum Display Size for Images
Images are essential for your website’s visual appeal, but if they’re too large, they can slow down your page. Here’s how you can ensure your images load quickly without wasting time resizing them on the fly:
- Set Image Size Before Uploading: Make sure the images you upload to your website are the correct size. Don’t upload a huge image if the image will only appear as a small thumbnail on your page. Resizing images to match the space they will occupy on the screen is key.
- Use the Right Image for Different Devices: Visitors might use different devices, such as phones, tablets, or desktop computers. Using responsive images means your website will automatically choose the correct image size based on the screen size. This ensures that users on mobile devices don’t have to load large desktop images, improving speed.
- Add Image Dimensions: When you upload an image to your website, set the width and height for how it should appear. By doing this, you let the browser know the space it needs to reserve before the image fully loads. This prevents the website from shifting as images load, which can affect the user experience.
- Rescale Before Uploading: If you have a huge image (like a 4000px wide photo) that will only appear at 600px on your website, use an online tool to resize it before uploading. This reduces the image file size, which speeds up page loading times.
Step 2: Implement Lazy Loading for Images and Videos
Lazy loading delays the loading of non-visible media until users scroll to it. This dramatically reduces the initial page load time. You can quickly implement lazy loading by adding the loading=”lazy” attribute to your image and iframe tags. To ensure a smoother experience, prioritise above-the-fold images by excluding them from lazy loading.
Traditional Loading vs Lazy Loading Comparison
| Traditional Loading | Lazy Loading |
| All images and videos load as soon as the page opens. | Only images and videos visible on the screen load initially. Others load as the user scrolls down. |
| It can cause the page to take longer to load, especially for image-heavy websites. | Helps improve the page’s load time by reducing the amount of media loading simultaneously. |
| May lead to a higher bounce rate due to slow load times. | Reduces bounce rates by creating a smoother user experience with faster load times. |
| Uses more bandwidth and can overload the server. | Saves bandwidth and reduces server load, making your website more efficient. |
Step 3: Minimise and Combine CSS, JavaScript, and HTML Files
Unnecessary code and too many separate files slow down your page. Use tools like Minify Code to compress files and combine multiple CSS and JavaScript resources into fewer files.
Here’s a checklist to follow:
- Minimise CSS Files: Remove extra spaces, comments, and unnecessary characters in CSS files.
- Minimise JavaScript Files: Strip out comments and unused code in JavaScript.
- Combine Multiple CSS Files: If you have separate files for fonts, layout, and colours, merge them into one file.
- Combine Multiple JavaScript Files: If your site has multiple JavaScript files, combine them into a single file.
- Use External Files for HTML and CSS: Do not embed all CSS directly in HTML pages. Instead, use external stylesheets.
Remember always to test your website after minification to ensure functionality remains intact.
Step 4: Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A CDN distributes your website’s static files across multiple global servers, reducing the distance between your server and your users. This dramatically speeds up load times, especially for visitors outside Singapore. Choose a CDN with optimisation features like automatic image resizing and compression.
Popular CDN Tools
| CDN Tool | Key Features | Best For | Ease of Use |
| Cloudflare |
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| Amazon CloudFront |
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| KeyCDN |
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| StackPath |
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| CDN77 |
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Step 5: Enable Browser Caching
Image Credit: WP-Rocket
Browser caching stores certain site elements locally on users’ devices, so they do not have to reload them constantly. Configure caching rules on your server to set expiry times for static resources.
Tips to Enable Browser Caching (No Code Needed):
- Contact Your Hosting Provider: Most hosting providers can enable browser caching. If you’re unsure, contact them and ask if they can set it up. Many hosting companies, like SiteGround or Bluehost, offer this feature by default.
- Use a Caching Plugin: If you use a platform like WordPress, you can install caching plugins that automatically manage browser caching. Popular plugins like W3 Total Cache or WP Rocket handle this easily. After installing the plugin, you can enable caching with just a few clicks in the settings.
- Leverage Your Website’s CDN: If you’re using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare, it may have browser caching enabled automatically. Check your CDN’s settings and allow the caching option. CDNs often offer a user-friendly interface to facilitate caching without needing to know any technical details.
- Choose Longer Expiry Times: Set longer expiry times (e.g., one month) for static files that don’t change often (like images, CSS, and JavaScript). This tells the browser to keep these files stored longer, speeding up future visits. Work with your hosting provider or CDN to set this up.
- Test Your Caching: After enabling browser caching, use a tool like GTmetrix or Pingdom to check if it works. These tools will show you which files are being cached and whether the settings are adequate. Ensure all static assets (images, stylesheets, etc.) are cached to improve speed.
Step 6: Upgrade to a Faster Hosting Provider
If your hosting is slow, all other optimisations will have limited effect. Choose a reputable hosting provider with solid-state drives (SSD), HTTP/2 support, and servers optimised for performance. Hosting closer to your primary audience (e.g., Singapore-based servers) can shave off precious milliseconds.
Hosting Providers in Singapore
| Provider | Key Features | Uptime Guarantee | Price (Monthly) |
| SiteGround |
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| A2 Hosting |
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| Kinsta |
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| Bluehost |
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| Hostinger |
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Step 7: Reduce Third-Party Scripts and Plugins
Each third-party script, such as live chat widgets, tracking pixels, or social media embeds, adds extra load time. Audit your website regularly and remove anything non-essential. How to reduce third-party scripts and plugins:
| Action | What It Means | Tips for Implementation |
| Audit your scripts | Review what scripts and plugins are currently on your website. | Set a reminder to audit every 6 months. |
| Remove unnecessary plugins | Eliminate plugins or scripts that don’t add value. | Ask if it helps your business goals. |
| Use lighter alternatives | Replace heavy plugins with faster, more straightforward options. | Research tools that are faster yet effective. |
| Limit plugins | Only use essential plugins. | Combine functionalities when possible (e.g., one plugin for SEO + social sharing). |
| Load scripts asynchronously | Make sure non-essential scripts load in the background. | Check plugin settings or ask a developer for help. |
| Review script placement | Put non-essential scripts in the footer to reduce load time. | Ensure key content and navigation loads first. |
Is It Possible to Get a 100 Score on Google PageSpeed Insights?
Image Credit: Google
Reaching a perfect 100 on Google PageSpeed Insights is possible. Still, it often demands a highly streamlined, minimalistic website that may not always align with your business needs or branding goals. Instead of obsessing over the score alone, focusing on meaningful improvements that enhance user experience, boost SEO, and ultimately drive better business results is far more beneficial.
Optimising your website for speed, efficiency, and accessibility requires technical tweaks and strategic expertise. If you are ready to build a fast, high-performing site that attracts and retains customers, our full-service digital marketing and SEO agency is here to help.
Contact MediaOne today and discover how we can help you achieve lasting digital success. We offer end-to-end solutions designed to meet your business goals while optimising for critical metrics like your Google PageSpeed score.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Lab Data and Field Data in Google PageSpeed Insights?
Lab Data is generated through simulated tests under controlled conditions, providing insights into potential performance issues. Field Data, on the other hand, reflects real-world user experiences over the past 28 days, offering a more accurate picture of your site’s performance for actual visitors.
Why does my Google PageSpeed score differ between mobile and desktop?
Mobile scores often appear lower due to stricter performance criteria and the simulation of slower network conditions. This highlights the importance of optimising your website for mobile users, who constitute a significant portion of web traffic in Singapore.
Should I implement all recommendations from Google PageSpeed Insights?
Not necessarily. While the tool provides valuable suggestions, it’s essential to prioritise changes that align with your business goals and user experience. Some recommendations have minimal impact or are challenging to implement without significant resources.
How frequently should I check my website’s PageSpeed score?
Monitoring your PageSpeed score regularly is advisable, especially after making significant changes to your website. Regular checks help identify new issues promptly and ensure optimal performance on an ongoing basis.
Is there an API available to automate Google PageSpeed Insights checks?
Yes, Google offers a PageSpeed Insights API that allows developers to automate performance checks and integrate them into their workflows. This can be particularly useful for ongoing monitoring and optimisation efforts.
