GTMetrix
Senior SEO-specialist
Want to know how fast your Web site is and how to make it faster? Then use GTmetrix. With this tool, you test your website in different ways. Through different browsers. Through various connections. Through different countries. Read more about GTmetrix here.
What is GTmetrix?
GTmetrix tests your website (for free) and gives you insight into data. That data is about the speed of your site or page. You can see in the overview where potential opportunities for improvement lie. GTmetrix offers packages for individuals and professionals. They also offer packages for teams and companies.(1)(2)
GTmetrix uses Lighthouse’s data and interprets it in its own way. In particular, the waterfall they show (the way the various CSS and JS files are loaded along with the images) is interesting and a big difference from Lighthouse itself.
Getting started with a
SEO specialist?
Ralf van Veen
SEO Specialist
With 11 years of experience, I improve the organic findability of businesses.
Packages and insights
Individual packages are cheaper; there is even a free variant. You pay by the month or year. If you choose annual payment, you will be cheaper. This also applies to team packages. With the free version, you get 10 API credits daily and can monitor one page. The number of locations you can use for your speed tests is more limited with the free version.
Whichever package you have, you’ll get insight into the loading speed of your page or pages through reports. You will see an assessment here and your performance score. You can also test this on a per-device basis. It is not only possible to test your current speed. Over longer periods of time, you can monitor your page with GTmetrix.
Impact of GTMetrix on SEO
The loading speed of your page or website affects SEO. In fact, faster websites tend to rank higher in search results. So the insight you get with GTmetrix is valuable for that. It informs you. With that information, you improve your SEO. The detailed information from GTmetrix makes it clear where you can make improvements. What slows down your site, for example. This is then up to you to fix.(3)
Getting started with a
SEO specialist?
Ralf van Veen
SEO Specialist
With 11 years of experience, I improve the organic findability of businesses.
My advice
GTmetrix has a free version that lets you get to know the program. You can use this free version indefinitely. So that’s practical. If you have more to invest in tools over time, you already know how it works and what to expect. Staying with the free version is also an option.
The most complete book on website speed
I’ve written so much about speeding up websites and everything involved that I like to divide it into different sections; general, tools, speed improvement points and tips. Feel free to see and consult all the links below to learn more about tools and tips for speeding up your website.
General
- What is the website speed
- Website speed: The division between marketing and development
- The influence of SEO on UX
- The influence of web design on SEO
- SPAs and SEO
- What are the Google Core Web Vitals?
Tools
Verbter points for speed
- First Contentful Paint (FCP)
- Time To First Byte (TTFB).
- Time To Interactive (TTI).
- Image for Largest view with content (LCP) preloaded
- Enable text compression
- Reduce the CSS
- Total Blocking Time (TBT).
- Speed Index
- Reduce JavaScript
- Largest Contentful Paint
- Avoid an overly large DOM
- Delete unused CSS
- Remove unused JavaScript
- Deliver images in modern layouts
- Connect in advance to required origins
- Preventing obsolete JavaScript from being delivered to modern browsers
- Use an efficient cache policy for static items
- Remove duplicate modules from JavaScript
- Avoid multiple redirects
- Encode images efficiently
- Use lazy loading
- Load important requests in advance
General tips
- Tips for quickly loading a video
- Using Edge SEO for a faster website
- Installing a Content Delivery Network for SEO
- Optimizing images for SEO
- The influence of hosting on SEO
- Nadik, T. (2023, Feb. 24). GTMetrix: How to use the Speed Test tool. Search Engine Journal. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/gtmetrix-how-to-use-the-speed-test-tool/478269/#:~:text=GTmetrix%20is%20a%20web%2Dbased,with%20recommendations%20to%20improve%20it.
- Getting Started Guide. (2017, Feb. 23). GTmetrix. https://gtmetrix.com/getting-started.html
- Southern, M. G. (2023, Oct. 18). Page speed as a Google ranking factor: What you need to know. Search Engine Journal. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ranking-factors/page-speed/#:~:text=Page%20speed%20is%20still%20a%20confirmed%20ranking%20factor%20for%20Google’s,goes%20into%20evaluating%20page%20experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is GTMetrix?
GTmetrix allows you to test your website. It gives you all kinds of insights about your website and its speed. You can also see where improvements can be made. There are different versions for personal use and professionals.
What is the impact of Gtmetrix on SEO?
Well-functioning and fast websites rank high in search results. GTMetrix gives you the insights you need so that you can make improvements that will therefore get you better results.
