Blake is going through a technical SEO audit for his company’s website when he notices that several pages are taking 6 or more seconds to load. He knows this is too slow and he needs to speed them up, but isn’t sure how to identify what’s causing the slowdown or how to fix it. To get started, what should Blake look into?
- Large code files that could be minified
- Non-essential JavaScript that could be moved to the footer
- Large image or video files that could be compressed
- All of the above
Explanation: In Blake’s quest to enhance his company’s website speed during a technical SEO audit, he should indeed explore all of the above options. Firstly, examining large code files that could be minified is crucial. Minification involves removing unnecessary characters and white spaces from code files, reducing their size and consequently speeding up page loading times. Secondly, identifying and relocating non-essential JavaScript to the footer can significantly improve website performance. Placing JavaScript at the bottom of the HTML document allows essential content to load first, enhancing perceived speed. Finally, addressing large image or video files by compressing them without compromising quality is essential. Compressing media files reduces their size, leading to faster loading times while ensuring visual content remains crisp. By tackling these aspects comprehensively, Blake can systematically enhance his website’s speed, thereby improving user experience and potentially boosting search engine rankings.