Web performance focuses on site speed — that is, the time it takes for a page to load its contents. Users expect websites to load completely in 1-2 seconds. Any longer, and they’re likely to bounce right out.
Viewed holistically, website performance also involves smoothness and interactivity. Once a visitor lands on your page, each element needs to respond to their requests instantly. Scrolling through your content has to be painless, pleasant, and engaging.
Of course, there are many ways to achieve this, like using CSS for animations instead of JavaScript, enabling lazy loading, and minimizing file sizes.
In this blog, we breeze through top tools from Google that will help you climb up its ranking system. Aside from site speed, we will also examine tools that address SEO, analytics, and other factors that influence website performance.
The Top 13 Google Tools to Improve Your Website’s Performance
1. PageSpeed Insights
PageSpeed Insights (PSI) audits site speed on desktop and mobile devices. It utilizes Lighthouse to generate a performance score and provide suggestions on how to improve website performance.
PSI collects data on your pages and scores their Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). These metrics measure load speed, responsiveness, and visual stability, respectively.
To achieve a good mark on FCP, the main content must load within 0 to 2.5 seconds. On the other hand, the threshold for FID is between 0 to 100 milliseconds. In terms of CLS, visual elements should remain constant, and your pages should score less than 0.1.
You can obtain this information and more by simply pasting the URL of your web page on PSI and clicking ‘Analyze’.
2. PageSpeed Modules
PageSpeed Modules is a close relative of PageSpeed Insights, providing feedback and automating certain aspects of website optimization. PageSpeed Modules are open-source and can be easily incorporated into your pages without altering your current workflow.
It features four module filters that optimize stylesheets, JavaScript files, images, HTML, and tracking activity. The tool generally reduces file sizes and the number of requests to a web server.
With PageSpeed Modules, some website owners report decreasing the data size by up to 90% and load time by up to 80%. The tool is easily installed and is frequently updated by a global community of developers.
3. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is one of the best all-in-one tools for website optimization. It generates reports concerning site speed, web traffic, security, indexing status, and more.
In one dashboard, you can monitor, test, and track your AMP pages for usability problems. Google Search Console provides information on errors, such as incompatible plugins, viewport issues, small font sizes, and touch elements placed too close together.
Google Search Console is especially useful for SEO specialists and marketers because it shows how your website fares on Google’s ranking algorithm. Specifically, how often your site is pulled up, what queries lead to your content, and the number of users who visit your website.
The tool alerts you to pressing issues, such as broken links and malware, so that you can address them promptly. And the best part is, all its services are available for free.
4. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a set of free tools for analyzing market data and consumer behavior. Although it’s not directly related to loading time and responsiveness, Google Analytics provides unique insights into user demographics and preferences.
The tool automatically collects various user information, such as age, gender, country, interests, and language. It even tells you the time the user visited your app or website. In addition, you can create custom dimensions or metrics for the tool to collect.
Other reports provided by Google Analytics include conversion rate, traffic sources, web page views, time on page, and more. The insights you gain on your consumers, competitors, and content help you tailor future enhancements for better results.
5. Google Optimize
Google Optimize is an online split-testing tool designed to identify site experiences that effectively engage and delight users. It is natively integrated with Google Analytics, allowing you to identify areas that require improvement easily.
Its bread and butter is A/B testing, which allows you to run multiple versions of a single web page and identify which one performs best.
Google Optimize also offers multivariate testing, split URL testing, and server-side experiments, among others. Furthermore, it’s equipped with a visual editor, diagnostics, and customer segmentation.
6. Test My Site
Test My Site is a tool made specifically to evaluate mobile site performance. It checks mobile site speed, monitors mobile trends, and compares your performance against that of your competitors.
The tool was developed in 2017 and has since been revamped to present data more concisely. Compared to its earlier version, Test My Site is now capable of showing you your bounce rate due to slow load times. This data is used in its analysis of how your mobile site speed affects revenue.
Test My Site provides customized solutions for identified issues. When you click on the tab about optimization potential, you’ll see a brief overview of what to do with your results. Recommendations are color-coded to signify which fixes you should prioritize.
For the step-by-step process, Test My Site provides links to PageSpeed Insights, where you can learn how to implement enhancements properly.
7. Google Trends
If there’s anything we’ve learned from last year, it’s that people’s priorities can change in an instant. Google Trends helps you stay up-to-date with trending topics to inform content ideation and marketing campaigns.
The first information the tool provides is a list of trending queries and top relevant search terms. If you’re looking for something specific, you can enter keywords on Google Trends and see how they perform across different periods, types of search, and locations.
These insights provide a solid foundation for content marketing, advertising, and seasonal campaigns. In turn, you gain more traffic and have a better chance at Google putting you on top of its search results page.
8. Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager (GTM) simplifies the management of marketing tags, small snippets of code, on your website or app.
Instead of manually editing code every time you want to add a new tool or tracking pixel, Google Tag Manager (GTM) allows you to implement and manage tags through an intuitive web interface.
This makes it easier to deploy tools like Google Analytics, conversion tracking, remarketing pixels, and custom JavaScript without depending heavily on developers.
It enables faster iteration, easier A/B testing, and better control over what scripts run on your site, all while preserving performance and reducing errors.
9. Google Chrome DevTools
While not a standalone web app, Chrome DevTools is a built-in feature of the Chrome browser offering a robust suite of tools for real-time debugging, performance auditing, and UX testing.
You can inspect load times, diagnose rendering issues, simulate mobile devices, and analyze JavaScript execution all in one place. Developers also use DevTools to analyze layout shifts, monitor memory leaks, and refine animations.
Plus, its seamless Lighthouse integration allows you to run full performance audits directly in the browser, making it a go-to toolkit for serious web optimization.
10. Google My Business
Often overlooked in web performance conversations, Google My Business (GMB) is a cornerstone of local SEO and mobile user experience.
It ensures your business appears correctly in Google Search and Maps, with accurate contact information, hours, website links, posts, and reviews.
An optimized Google My Business (GMB) profile enhances your discoverability in “near me” searches and drives direct actions, such as calls, visits, or website clicks, especially from mobile users. Fast, relevant, and accessible business info is part of a seamless digital experience, helping you convert local searchers more efficiently.
11. Google Ads Keyword Planner
Primarily designed for advertisers, Google Ads Keyword Planner is also a powerful tool for SEO and content planning.
It allows you to explore keyword suggestions, see estimated search volume, and forecast traffic potential based on targeting parameters. By identifying high-value, relevant search terms, you can create content that matches user intent, supports long-tail SEO strategies, and drives more qualified traffic.
When your pages align with popular queries, users are more likely to stay, engage, and convert, boosting both performance and ROI.
12. Google Structured Data Markup Helper
This tool helps you apply structured data (schema markup) to your website’s HTML, enabling search engines to interpret your content more effectively and display it more accurately.
Structured data enables rich search results (for example, product ratings, recipe details, and event dates) that increase visibility and user engagement. The Markup Helper guides you through tagging various content types, such as articles, events, or local businesses, without requiring complex coding.
Proper implementation can improve click-through rates, highlight key information in search engine results pages (SERPs), and enhance your website’s credibility and clarity, all while maintaining performance.
13. Google Safe Browsing
Google’s Safe Browsing tool plays a crucial role in protecting users from phishing attacks, malware, and other deceptive content.
When your site is compromised or flagged by Safe Browsing, Google may display warning messages to users, which can drastically reduce traffic and erode trust. It can also lead to lower rankings, as security is a growing factor in Google’s performance evaluations.
You can check your site’s safety status at any time using the Google Safe Browsing Site Status tool. Regular monitoring enables you to detect and resolve issues promptly. Keeping your site clean, secure, and trustworthy isn’t just good practice; it’s essential for maintaining high performance, search visibility, and user confidence.
Core Web Vitals: Why They Matter
In recent years, Google has made Core Web Vitals a central part of its search ranking algorithm, emphasizing the importance of real-world user experience. These vitals focus on three key performance metrics:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures loading performance by tracking how long it takes for the main content of a page to render fully. Ideally, this should occur within 2.5 seconds.
- First Input Delay (FID): Measures interactivity by tracking the time from when a user first interacts with your page (such as clicking a link or button) to the time the browser responds. A good FID is under 100 milliseconds.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Evaluates visual stability by monitoring unexpected layout shifts during page load, which can frustrate users. A CLS score below 0.1 is considered ideal.
Tools like PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, and Google Search Console automatically track and report on these metrics. Prioritizing Core Web Vitals not only enhances your site’s visibility in search results but also leads to a smoother, more enjoyable experience that keeps visitors engaged and encourages them to return.
How Google Tools Work Together
Many of Google’s tools are designed to complement one another.
For instance, Google Optimize integrates with Google Analytics to test changes and measure their impact on real user behavior. Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights both draw from the same performance engine, while Google Search Console leverages Core Web Vitals for a comprehensive overview.
Using these tools together creates a feedback loop of continuous improvement. You make changes based on one tool’s insights, test those changes through another, and track long-term results with yet another, all within Google’s ecosystem.
Team Up with Professional Web Developers
While there are enhancements you can make on your own, optimizing your website for speed, performance, and user experience often requires expert hands.
A professional team of developers and designers brings technical know-how, strategic insight, and the right tools to address issues that might go unnoticed, from code inefficiencies to overlooked SEO opportunities.
At DevWerkz, we specialize in building fast, responsive, and conversion-ready websites tailored to your business goals. Whether you’re aiming to reduce bounce rates, improve search rankings, or simply create a smoother user experience, we’re here to help.
Let us take the guesswork out of performance optimization and turn your site into a powerful business asset. Contact DevWerkz today.
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