Research Detail
Website Performance Review: What We Check and How
How we review website performance: Core Web Vitals, lab vs real-user data, accessibility, mobile usability, errors, and the fix list.
What this review is for
A slow or awkward website costs enquiries long before it costs rankings. This page explains how we review performance, so you know what a report from us contains and can run the same checks yourself. It's a method, not a league table: we don't publish averages across other people's websites.
1. Speed and Core Web Vitals
Google's Core Web Vitals measure loading, responsiveness and visual stability. Google's published "good" thresholds, assessed at the 75th percentile of real visits, are:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): 2.5 seconds or less
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): 200 milliseconds or less
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): 0.1 or less
We check each template type separately (home page, service pages, blog posts, product pages), because one slow template can drag down a whole section of the site.
2. Lab data and real-user data
These two sources answer different questions, and reports that blur them mislead:
- Lab data (Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights' lab section) is a single simulated test. It's useful for diagnosing causes and repeating checks after a fix.
- Field data (the Chrome UX Report, shown in PageSpeed Insights and Search Console) reflects real visitors over the previous 28 days. This is what Google uses.
A page can score well in the lab and still fail in the field, for example when real visitors are on slower phones and networks. We report both and say which is which.
3. Accessibility
We test against WCAG 2.2 level AA with automated checks plus manual review of keyboard navigation, focus order, colour contrast, form labels and alternative text. Automated tools catch only part of the issues, so the manual step matters. For sites that sell into the EU, the European Accessibility Act makes this a compliance question as well as a usability one.
4. Mobile usability
On a real phone we check that menus, buttons, forms, click-to-call and WhatsApp links work. We check that text is readable without zooming, that pop-ups don't block content, and that nothing shifts while the page loads.
5. Errors and broken journeys
We look for broken links, failing scripts in the browser console, forms that don't send, missing redirects and mixed-content warnings. These rarely show up in a speed score but often explain lost enquiries.
6. From findings to a fix list
Each issue is listed with the page or template affected, the likely cause, its impact on visitors and the suggested fix, in priority order. Quick wins are separated from development work, so your team or ours can plan. Typical fixes are covered in Core Web Vitals fixes, and deeper crawl and indexing issues belong to technical SEO.
Start with the free audit
Our free first website audit covers PageSpeed, Lighthouse and broken links. A full performance review adds the accessibility, mobile and error checks above. For accessibility remediation, see accessibility services. Other guides are in research and method guides.
Frequently asked questions
Is a high Lighthouse score enough?
No. Lighthouse is a lab test. Google ranks on field data from real visitors, so we check both.
How often should performance be reviewed?
After any redesign, new plugin or major content change, and at least every few months otherwise.
Do automated tools find every accessibility issue?
No. They miss many issues, which is why we add manual keyboard and screen-reader checks.
Will you fix the issues?
We can, as part of a pod or a one-time project, or we can hand the list to your developer.
Request a review
Call 7877637475, email sales@imagineinkmarketing.com, or visit Hanging Gardens, Jaisinghpura Road, Bhankrota, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302026.
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