Website Performance Optimization
Learn how to make your website lightning fast with advanced optimization techniques that improve user experience and search rankings.
Core Web Vitals Targets
First Contentful Paint (FCP)
Time until first text or image appears
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
Time until largest content element loads
First Input Delay (FID)
Time until page responds to first user interaction
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Amount of unexpected layout shift
Time to Interactive (TTI)
Time until page is fully interactive
Why Website Performance Matters
Website performance directly impacts your business success. Studies show that a 1-second delay in page load time can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.
Google uses page speed as a ranking factor, meaning faster websites rank higher in search results. Additionally, 53% of mobile users abandon sites that take longer than 3 seconds to load.
Performance optimization isn't just about speed—it's about providing an exceptional user experience that keeps visitors engaged and converts them into customers.
Image Optimization Strategies
Images typically account for 60-65% of a webpage's total size. Optimizing images is one of the most effective ways to improve performance.
Use modern image formats like WebP and AVIF, which provide 25-50% better compression than JPEG and PNG while maintaining visual quality.
Implement responsive images using the srcset attribute to serve different image sizes based on the user's device and screen resolution.
Lazy loading images ensures that images below the fold don't load until they're needed, reducing initial page load time.
Implementation Example:
<!-- Responsive image with lazy loading -->
<img
src="image-800w.webp"
srcset="
image-400w.webp 400w,
image-800w.webp 800w,
image-1200w.webp 1200w
"
sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 50vw"
loading="lazy"
alt="Optimized responsive image"
/>Code Splitting and Bundling
Code splitting allows you to break your JavaScript into smaller chunks that load only when needed, reducing initial bundle size.
Tree shaking eliminates unused code from your final bundle, ensuring users only download the code they actually need.
Minification and compression reduce file sizes by removing unnecessary whitespace, comments, and using shorter variable names.
Critical CSS should be inlined in the HTML head, while non-critical CSS can be loaded asynchronously to prevent render blocking.
Implementation Example:
// Dynamic import for code splitting
const LazyComponent = lazy(() => import('./LazyComponent'));
// Tree shaking - only import what you need
import { debounce } from 'lodash-es';
// Critical CSS inlined in HTML
<style>
.hero { display: flex; align-items: center; }
</style>
// Non-critical CSS loaded asynchronously
<link rel="preload" href="styles.css" as="style" onload="this.onload=null;this.rel='stylesheet'">Advanced Caching Strategies
Browser caching stores static assets locally, reducing server requests on repeat visits. Set appropriate cache headers for different file types.
Service workers enable advanced caching strategies, allowing your site to work offline and load instantly on repeat visits.
CDN (Content Delivery Network) caching serves your content from servers geographically closer to your users, reducing latency.
Database query caching and object caching reduce server processing time by storing frequently accessed data in memory.
Implementation Example:
// Service worker caching strategy
self.addEventListener('fetch', event => {
if (event.request.destination === 'image') {
event.respondWith(
caches.open('images').then(cache => {
return cache.match(event.request).then(response => {
return response || fetch(event.request).then(fetchResponse => {
cache.put(event.request, fetchResponse.clone());
return fetchResponse;
});
});
})
);
}
});
// HTTP cache headers
Cache-Control: public, max-age=31536000, immutable // Static assets
Cache-Control: public, max-age=3600 // HTML filesCDN Implementation
A CDN distributes your content across multiple global servers, reducing the physical distance between your users and your content.
Modern CDNs offer edge computing capabilities, allowing you to run serverless functions closer to your users for even better performance.
Image optimization CDNs can automatically serve the best image format and size for each user's device and connection speed.
DNS optimization through CDN providers can reduce DNS lookup times, which is often overlooked but impacts initial connection speed.
Essential Performance Testing Tools
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