The RateMySite Blog
Practical, no-fluff articles on website speed, SEO, accessibility, and Core Web Vitals — written for builders and operators.
How to Read a Lighthouse Report
Lighthouse reports are dense. Here's how to read every section, prioritize fixes, and avoid wasting time on low-impact items.
Website Audit Checklist for Small Businesses
If you run a small business website, you don't need an expensive agency to know if it's healthy. Use this checklist to audit it yourself in an hour.
How to Make Your Website Load Faster
The complete playbook for faster page loads. Ordered from highest impact to lowest, so you can stop at any point and still have a meaningfully faster site.
How Hosting Affects Website Performance
The fastest code in the world can't save a slow host. Here's how hosting affects performance and what to look for when you're picking one.
How JavaScript Slows Down Websites
JavaScript is the biggest reason production websites feel slow. Here's how it kills your score and the systematic way to reduce it.
How Images Affect Website Speed
Images are the single biggest cause of slow websites. Here's exactly how they hurt your scores — and the optimization workflow that fixes it.
Best Practices Score Explained
Best Practices is a grab bag of modern web hygiene. Here's what gets checked, why it matters, and how to fix the common failures.
Website Accessibility Score Explained
Lighthouse catches roughly 30% of accessibility issues. Here's what the audit measures, what it doesn't, and how to fix the common red flags.
What PageSpeed Insights Actually Checks
PageSpeed Insights runs four categories of audits with dozens of checks each. Here's what every one of them measures.
How to Improve Your Website SEO Score
Most sites can hit 100 Lighthouse SEO in an afternoon. Here's the checklist that also moves real Google rankings, not just the score.
What Is a Good SEO Score?
Most sites should hit 95+ on the Lighthouse SEO score. Here's what it actually measures — and why it's only the start of SEO.
How Google Measures Website Performance
Google uses multiple tools to measure your site. Here's what each one does, how they fit together, and which numbers actually affect your rankings.
Mobile Speed vs Desktop Speed: Why the Gap Matters
If your desktop score is 95 and your mobile score is 55, you're not alone. Here's why the gap exists, what it means, and which one matters more.
INP: What It Means and Why It Matters
INP is the newest Core Web Vital. It measures how snappy your site feels — and most sites fail it because they have too much JavaScript.
Why Is My Website So Slow?
If your site is slow, it's almost always one of seven specific culprits. Here's how to diagnose which one is yours.
CLS: What It Means and How to Fix It
CLS measures how much your page jumps around as it loads. It's annoying for users and bad for SEO — and almost always easy to fix.
How to Improve Your PageSpeed Insights Score
Stop guessing why your score is low. Here's the prioritized order of fixes that actually move the needle on PageSpeed Insights.
LCP: What It Means and How to Improve It
LCP is the time until your biggest hero element appears. It's the most important Core Web Vital — and usually the easiest to fix.
What Is a Good Website Speed Score?
A good PageSpeed score isn't 100. Here are the real benchmarks for mobile and desktop, what they mean, and how to know if your site is actually slow.
Core Web Vitals Explained for Beginners
Core Web Vitals decide how Google rates your site's user experience. Here's what each metric means in plain English.
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