Understanding your website's diagnosis doesn't have to be complicated.
Use this guide to translate technical terms into plain English.
Loading Speed
Clinical name: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
Definition:
The time it takes for the main content to appear. Think of this as your website's "Heartbeat".
Symptoms of poor health:
Users stare at a blank white screen and leave before reading.
Visual Stability
Clinical name: CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
Definition:
Measures if items jump around while loading. Think of this as your website's "Balance".
Symptoms of poor health:
Users try to click a button, but it moves, causing them to click the wrong thing (Frustration).
Interactivity
Clinical name: INP (Interaction to Next Paint)
Definition:
How fast the site reacts when clicked. Think of this as "Reflexes".
Symptoms of poor health:
Users tap a menu or button and nothing happens for a second (Sluggishness).
Rx (Treatment):
Remove heavy plugin code.
Discoverability
Clinical name: SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Definition:
How easily Google can read your site.
Symptoms of poor health:
You have a great website, but nobody visits because it is invisible to search engines.
Rx (Treatment):
Add meta tags in your page's head section.
Server Response Time
Clinical name: TTFB (Time to First Byte)
Definition:
Time taken for the server to reply to the initial request. Think of this as "Brain Processing
Speed".
Symptoms of poor health:
The browser waits idly before loading anything.
Total Blocking Time
Clinical name: TBT (Total Blocking Time)
Definition:
Time the main thread is blocked by heavy tasks. Think of this as "Mental Fatigue".
Symptoms of poor health:
The page looks ready but doesn't respond to clicks.
Rx (Treatment):
Break up long JavaScript tasks.
First Contentful Paint
Clinical name: FCP (First Contentful Paint)
Definition:
The moment the first text or image appears. Think of this as "First Breath".
Symptoms of poor health:
Users see a blank white screen for too long.
Rx (Treatment):
Eliminate render-blocking resources.
DOM Size
Clinical name: DOM Size (Document Object Model)
Definition:
The total number of elements on your page. Think of this as "Body Weight".
Symptoms of poor health:
Excessive memory usage and slow scrolling on phones.
Rx (Treatment):
Simplify design and reduce nested elements.
Minification
Clinical name: Minification (Code Compression)
Definition:
Removing unnecessary characters from code. Think of this as "Surgery/Liposuction".
Symptoms of poor health:
Bloated file sizes slow down downloads.
Rx (Treatment):
Minify CSS and JS files.
Compression
Clinical name: GZIP/Brotli (Text Compression)
Definition:
Shrinking files for transport. Think of this as "Packing a Suitcase".
Symptoms of poor health:
High bandwidth usage and slow loading on mobile data.
Rx (Treatment):
Enable text compression on your server.
SSL/HTTPS
Clinical name: SSL Certificate (Security Layer)
Definition:
Secure encrypted connection. Think of this as "Immune System".
Symptoms of poor health:
Browser shows "Not Secure" warning to patients.
Rx (Treatment):
Install a valid SSL certificate.
Cache Policy
Clinical name: Cache-Control (Browser Memory)
Definition:
Storing data locally on the user's device. Think of this as "Short-term Memory".
Symptoms of poor health:
Returning visitors have to re-download everything.
Rx (Treatment):
Set long cache headers for static assets.
Arterial Blockage
Clinical name: Render-Blocking Resources
Definition:
Scripts that stop the page from displaying until they load. Think of this as a "Clogged Artery"
preventing blood flow.
Symptoms of poor health:
The page stays blank white for too long because code is blocking the view.
Circulatory System
Clinical name: CDN (Content Delivery Network)
Definition:
A network of servers that delivers content faster by being closer to the user. Think of this as
"Delivering Oxygen" to extremities.
Symptoms of poor health:
Users in other countries (or just far away) experience very slow loading speeds.
Rx (Treatment):
Use a CDN like Cloudflare or Fastly.
Visual Pace
Clinical name: Speed Index
Definition:
How quickly the content is visually populated. Think of this as the "Patient's Color Returning".
Symptoms of poor health:
The page looks broken, stuttery, or half-loaded for several seconds.
Rx (Treatment):
Minimize main-thread work and speed up LCP.
Patient Walkouts
Clinical name: Bounce Rate
Definition:
The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page. Think of this as "Walking out of
the
Waiting Room".
Symptoms of poor health:
You have lots of traffic, but nobody stays to read your content or buy.
Rx (Treatment):
Improve initial load speed (LCP) and first impression.
Referral Loop
Clinical name: Redirect Chains
Definition:
When a page simply forwards to another page, which forwards to another. Think of this as "Being
bouncing
from specialist to specialist".
Symptoms of poor health:
Slow loading times and browser warnings about "Too many redirects".
Rx (Treatment):
Link directly to the final destination URL.
Recovery Rate
Clinical name: Conversion Rate
Definition:
The percentage of visitors who become customers/leads. Think of this as "Successful Discharge".
Symptoms of poor health:
High traffic but low revenue or zero form submissions.