We are encountering a peculiar time in the history of web development. Never have there been so many unique technologies, and advanced digital assets, all simultaneously converging to deliver the user experiences that the contemporary market demands.
Not only are our codebase systems more customizable and extensible than before, but the rapid expansion of new development technologies is affording web platforms the opportunity to shape what customers will come to expect from their online browsing experiences.
However, as our codebases become more complex, development teams will need to direct as much, if not more attention, to site performance as they do to functionality. Fortunately, This Dot Labs, is helping these teams quickly look under the hood with PerfBuddy, the free and easy-to-use browser-based performance testing tool.
Getting Started With PerfBuddy
You can begin testing your site’s performance with just one click! Simply copy/paste the page you are interested in testing, and press the “Start Test” button. No need to register or provide any further information!
After a few moments, PerfBuddy will make your report available in the browser. The reports will show distinct metrics for both mobile and desktop, and include 1-100 point scores in the areas of Performance, Best Practices, Accessibility, & SEO. Below, you can find the clear and easy-to-read report for Tesla.com.
As you can see, Tesla’s desktop website is operating smoothly, but there are some areas where the site falls behind industry averages, resulting in suboptimal performance. This may not be as significant of an issue for a site that offers information about a very specific topic/product, but with many companies competing for the attention of the same potential customers, lower than average performance and SEO metrics can result in lost business!
We were surprised to see the challenges facing Tesla’s mobile website, though their Best Practices score was perfect, and their Accessibility score was significantly higher than average.
Site Loading Metrics
As users continue reviewing their report, they can view site loading metrics for both desktop and mobile. Below, you can see metrics for desktop:
And site loading metrics for mobile as well:
Along with all of these metrics, users can look at simple definitions of each metric, with the option to learn more by following a link to explore external resources the developers found helpful and relevant.
Performance Score
Following site loading metrics, users can review specifics about their desktop site’s performance score, as seen below:
And users interested in learning details about their score can review more specific metrics in the “Performance” section of the report where they can expand each metric to learn more and discover resources for increasing their performance metrics.
And users can review the same metrics for their mobile performance as well:
Best Practice Score
Best practice scores, which evaluate performance optimizations against their potential impact on user experience, are made available for both desktop and mobile, and provides resources for optimizing site maps for large first-party JavaScript.
Accessibility Score
A site’s accessibility by web users with diverse abilities is a crucial aspect of optimal web performance. When thinking about Accessibility, we consider a site’s usability for those with vision, as well as motor-ability differences, including those using adaptive technologies to interact with a user interface. Fortunately, PerfBuddy evaluates a site’s accessibility, providing metrics that allow users to identify pain points that impede its performance for the widest possible user base.
First, users can see an overall score for both desktop and mobile:
As well as specific impediments that developers can improve in order to raise their accessibility score. In Tesla’s instance, both desktop and mobile suffer from the same nonoptimal features:
SEO Score
Finally, users can review their site’s Search Engine Optimization score, which provides specific site features that may be improved to increase their site’s search relevance for both desktop and mobile:
And below these scores, users can expand various boxes to review the specific site features that can be changed to improve SEO as well as links to resources for how to effect these changes:
PerfBuddy is Here to Help
PerfBuddy was designed for developers by developers, and This Dot Labs is thrilled to make this accessible tool available to the web development community for free and without any commitments.
It is our hope that developers are able to use PerfBuddy to improve their websites by leveraging the resources made available to them in their unique web performance reports, or utilize the reports’ clear and concise language to advocate for performance investment within their own organizations. However, some users may find that they need help implementing the improvements needed to boost their performance scores and improve the experience of their users, and so users are encouraged to reach out to the team at This Dot Labs if they need any help understanding their reports or implementing performance optimizations.
Though there is a form for contacting the team on every report, users may also contact the team for further assistance by emailing hello@thisdot.co.