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How to Test Your Website Speed with Lighthouse and Why It Matters for SEO

Website speed is one of the most important factors for user experience and search engine optimization (SEO). A fast-loading site keeps visitors engaged, lowers bounce rates, and increases conversions. On the other hand, a slow site can frustrate users and push them straight to your competitors

What is Google Lighthouse?

Google Lighthouse is a free, open-source tool created by Google to audit the quality of web pages. It measures performance, accessibility, best practices, SEO, and Progressive Web App (PWA) features.

You can run Lighthouse directly from

Google Chrome DevTools

PageSpeed Insights (online)

Lighthouse CI (for developers)

How to Test Your Website Speed with Lighthouse

Open your website in Google Chrome.

Press F12 (or right-click → Inspect) to open DevTools.

Go to the Lighthouse tab.

Choose the device type

  • Mobile
  • Desktop

Test your website speed from here

Click Generate Report.

Wait for the analysis → you’ll get a detailed report with scores (0–100) for performance, accessibility, SEO, and more.

pagespeed.webp


Key Metrics Lighthouse Measures

First Contentful Paint (FCP): How quickly the first text or image appears

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How long it takes for the main content to load.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Visual stability (avoiding unexpected page shifts).

Total Blocking Time (TBT): How long scripts block user interactions.

Speed Index: How quickly the content is visually displayed.

Why Website Speed Matters for SEO

Google Ranking Factor

  • Google has confirmed that page speed (and Core Web Vitals) are ranking signals. Faster sites are more likely to appear higher in search results.

Better User Experience

  • Visitors expect sites to load in under 3 seconds. A delay increases bounce rates and reduces engagement.

Mobile-first Indexing

  • Since most users are on mobile, Google prioritizes fast, mobile-friendly websites in search rankings.

At Codenik, we understand how important speed is. ThatΓÇÖs why every website we develop is optimized to achieve a 90+ performance score on Google Lighthouse before launch