If you’ve ever waited too long for a website to load, you already understand why page speed matters. In today’s digital landscape, performance isn’t just about keeping visitors happy. It directly impacts your organic search rankings, your conversion rates, and, in turn, your bottom line.
At Amp, we treat page speed as a core part of our digital strategy. Our SEO team works with our developers and designers to ensure your website performs well for users and search engines. A fast, stable site isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s essential. Here’s how we approach it and what you should expect from your agency partner regarding web performance.
Why PageSpeed Insights Scores Can Be Misleading
One of the first things people look at when evaluating their site’s speed is Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. It’s a valuable resource, but it’s often misunderstood. The tool provides two sets of data: lab data and field data.
- Lab data is generated in a simulated test environment. It helps debug and run diagnostics, but doesn’t reflect how real users are experiencing your site. It is based on a simulated load of a page on a single device (a not-the-top-of-the-line mobile phone) and a fixed set of network conditions.
- Field data is pulled from real-world users via the Chrome User Experience Report. Google uses this data to measure Core Web Vitals, which truly matter in SEO.
Focusing solely on lab scores can lead to unnecessary changes or misplaced priorities. A lower lab score doesn’t always mean your users see a slow site. That’s why we analyze both data sets and build a plan based on what improves user experience and SEO performance.
How a Good Agency Partner Improves Website Performance
Improving page speed isn’t just about one tool or one fix. It’s a collaborative, strategic effort that combines SEO, web development, and design. It’s something we prioritize in every client engagement. Here’s how we work:
- Cross-team collaboration: Our SEO, design, and dev teams have worked together since day one. Whether we identify render-blocking resources or suggest design tweaks to improve layout stability, performance is part of the conversation early and often.
- Focus on real-world metrics: We target the Core Web Vitals that Google uses to evaluate real-user experience—Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), and Interaction to Next Paint (INP). These are the metrics that move the needle. We consider metrics like Time To First Byte (TTFB), First Contentful Paint (FCP), and total page load time as we test the sites we build.
- Custom performance audits: We tailor our audits to your website’s platform and technology. Whether you’re running on WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, or a custom solution, our recommendations are always specific and actionable.
- Mobile-first optimization: Most traffic comes from mobile devices, so we start there. From image sizing to font loading strategies, we aim to make your site fast and usable on any screen size or network condition.
- Ongoing monitoring and support: Performance isn’t a one-time fix. We continuously monitor your site through Google Search Console, Lighthouse reports, and Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) dashboards to catch issues before they impact rankings or revenue.
When you partner with an agency that truly understands how to improve site speed correctly, you’re not just ticking an SEO checkbox. You’re building a better user experience and giving your business a competitive edge in search results.
If you’re unsure where your site stands or you’re ready to see performance improvements that matter, let’s talk. We’ll help you navigate the technical details and turn speed into a strategic advantage.
