The Page Experience Update is approaching, and if you’re reading this, you’re likely either scrambling to address neglected issues or seeking ways to improve your existing efforts.
Most in the industry know that the update will start off relatively light and become more impactful over time.
Google’s John Mueller compared it to cooking. They’re beginning with just a pinch of salt and will gradually adjust to get things right.
I view this update much like the HTTPS update. When it initially rolled out, it didn’t cause a huge impact. But how many HTTP sites do you see ranking highly today?
You might argue that this may be correlation and not causation. Switching to HTTPS is straightforward, and most new sites just do it, meaning HTTP sites might not have been penalized out of top positions.
Nonetheless, if you have an insecure site, you’re now competing against numerous sites with an edge over you. It might be a small advantage, but it’s one that everyone else has.
If I’m running a race, I want great shoes. They might only give me a 5-second boost over 5K, but those 5 seconds could mean the difference between a clicked position and a non-clicked one.
So, consider the following quick and easy hacks.
Core Web Vitals Hack 1: Cloud Flare
This one’s not exclusive to WordPress.
My own site often gets neglected in terms of updates. Just like the cobbler who has no shoes. Consequently, it performs poorly on the Core Web Vitals front.
Many may not realize that Cloud Flare offers a free service with substantial speed enhancements.
Before I began implementing Core Web Vitals and Page Experience hacks, our speed was:
After initiating Cloud Flare’s free plan and enabling speed optimization components, we achieved:
Huge improvements, as you can see. This was achieved with about 20 minutes of work, including account setup.
After upgrading to Pro ($20/month) and tweaking settings (see below), we got:
Gained 11 points for $20. Not bad.
The settings enabled were:
- Polish image optimization
- Mirage
And because my site runs on WordPress, we have the option to:
I installed the plugin and applied the recommended settings. The result?
The FCP and Speed Index improved, but the LCP was adversely affected. After multiple checks, some results went as high as 62, but still.
Testing a few settings didn’t help, so I turned off the WordPress plugin, bringing us back to the 70s.
The Lesson?
Not everything works. Always be testing.
Interestingly, the real-world speed from the plugin did improve, which isn’t the main focus here but is worth noting.
Next up…
Core Web Vitals Hack 2: Hummingbird
No, I’m not talking about the 2013 Google Algorithm, but rather the WordPress plugin.
This section is specifically for WordPress users.
I’ve tested various speed and caching plugins, and each works differently depending on the scenario. However, the most consistent (if you have a good hosting provider) seems to be Hummingbird in my experience.
I mention the hosting provider because other plugins might work better on poor hosts, but in that case, my primary recommendation would be to get a better host.
Why Hummingbird?
I like Hummingbird because it’s more than just a caching plugin (we have caching from our decent hosting or Cloud Flare, right?).
While Hummingbird does have caching capabilities, I don’t use them.
I also like that Hummingbird can connect to Cloud Flare to tweak settings remotely.
Their automated optimization wasn’t impressive in the instances I tested. It might be decent if you’re unfamiliar with these settings, but you’ll get better results manually with an interface like:
You might need to experiment to figure out which elements to move inline and which could break site functions if mishandled (I’m looking at you, jQuery).
For this article, all speed boosting and caching functions from Cloud Flare were disabled to start. We began at a score of 34.
I pushed all CSS and JS to the footer and compressed it. This isn’t feasible for everyone, as many sites require jQuery to load early because sliders and other elements depend on it.
Testing multiple pages, such as product, contact, homepage, etc., is recommended.
Combining files didn’t work out well; results were poorer.
In the end, we improved the score from 34 to:
Solid improvement. My rule-of-thumb is to aim for around 60 at minimum. This allows for some margin before dropping into the "poor" category.
And finally…
Core Web Vitals Hack 3: Asset Cleanup
The WordPress plugin Asset Cleanup is another quick fix provider.
Its basic function is to allow site owners to prevent scripts from loading on specific pages. A recommendation I received:
For example, social sharing plugins used on the blog can load sitewide.
Once Hummingbird was deactivated, the score was 35.
The Asset Cleanup interface looks like:
You might spend some time here because testing mode is useful.
Some scripts are easy to decide on (like a contact form on certain pages). For others, you may need to test whether they’re necessary (for example, do you need your slider plugin on every page?).
If you’re in dev or testing mode, you may want to disable all scripts and enable them one by one, checking functionality along the way (my approach).
After around 20 to 30 minutes, the score improved to:
Progressively improved the offending scripts:
Again, significant progress.
Combining These 3 Hacks
Combining didn’t work well in my experience. Scores and real-world timings worsened with combinations of any two hacks. This was surprising since Cloud Flare and Asset Cleanup should have complemented each other.
However…
Results may vary. Testing various combinations and other plugins is suggested if you have the time.
In our case, we’ll be sticking with Cloud Flare.
For those curious, our desktop score with Cloud Flare is:
Now to Turn Things off…
Of course, testing doesn’t end here.
For now, I’ve turned off all optimizations and will keep them off until September, post-rollout.
Basically, I want to see the impact (if any) and the recovery speed.
I don’t recommend you do the same.
Once we have that sorted out, I’ll revisit and update this piece.
More Resources:
- 13 Best WordPress SEO Plugins
- WordPress SEO Guide: Everything You Need to Know
- Core Web Vitals: A Complete Guide
Image Credits: All screenshots taken by author, June 2021
