2.19.1. Website optimization settings (PageSpeed)

The site optimization settings use the Google PageSpeed module filters. It is installed on the hosting by default and is designed to speed up the display of the page in the browser. The documentation for this module is available at official website.

Content

Website speed is one of the most important factors that modern visitors pay attention to. Site display delays cause annoyance, negatively impact search engine rankings, and reduce revenue for commercial sites. From the point of view of the visitor, the speed of the site is influenced by two main parameters: the speed of page formation on the server and the speed at which the page is displayed by the browser. To speed up the formation of pages on servers, we use modern equipment and fine-tuning software. Also, our clients have access to tools that allow us to speed up the speed of displaying the page in the visitor's browser, just by making changes to the settings of their site.

Most of the time when the browser displays the page, it takes up loading additional page elements - images, JavaScript and CSS... Almost all themes for popular CMS use a JavaScript framework with a dozen plugins and many CSS-styles. At the same time, the total amount of data uploaded by the visitor often exceeds 500 KB, and the number of requests to the server to display one page is several dozen. This negatively affects the page loading speed of the visitor.

There are several techniques that can be used to increase the speed of displaying the site in the client's browser:

1. Reduce the amount of transmitted data.
2. Reduce the number of requests to the server.
3. Configure caching of static files in the browser.
4. Optimize page rendering.

You can reduce the number of requests to the server, the amount of transmitted data and the efficiency of their compression by combining several files into one and removing unnecessary comments and spaces. If your site has a lot of graphics at the bottom of the pages (which is visible only when scrolling), lazy loading of images can be useful. To speed up page rendering, you need to configure the correct connection order CSS- and JavaScript files, and possibly transfer small CSS in HTML-code. If the pages actively use elements from other sites (traffic counters, social media widgets, online help chats), preliminary resolution DNS-the names of these resources can improve their loading speed in modern browsers. You can perform this kind of optimizations using PageSpeed settings... All optimizations are performed “on the fly”, without the need to make changes to the site code.

The PageSpeed module also works over the HTTPS protocol. When the site is configured redirect from HTTP to HTTPS (or vice versa) using .htaccess, there may be problems with the processing of content by the PageSpeed module over HTTPS. To fix the situation, you need to remove the redirect directives from .htaccess and instead enable the required redirect in the site settings.

Caching allows the browser to save a copy of the static file on the visitor's computer and not ask the server for it on a second visit. However, this creates inconvenience to developers, since visitors will see changes in these files with a delay for the duration of the cache. To avoid this problem, PageSpeed provides advanced caching options for images, styles, and scripts. If used in URL static files, a hash of their content is added, which changes when the file is edited. Thus, long-term caching is achieved with the ability to freely make changes.

To configure PageSpeed, do the following:

1. Openup site settings.
2. On the tab “Website optimization settings"Check or uncheck the boxes next to the required options and click"Save»:
3. Wait approximately 15-30 minutes for the changes to take effect.

To add URL into PageSpeed exceptions, do the following:

1. Openup site settings.
2. On the tab “Website optimization settings" in field "Exceptions from PageSpeed»Enter URLto be excluded and click "Save»:
3. Wait approximately 15-30 minutes for the changes to take effect.

To clear the PageSpeed cache, do the following:

1. Openup site settings.
2. On the tab “Website optimization settings"At the bottom of the page click"Clear cache»:

To completely disable PageSpeed, do the following:

1. Openup site settings.
2. On the tab “Website optimization settings"Uncheck all the options and click"Save»:
3. Wait approximately 15-30 minutes for the changes to take effect.