When you open your website on your device, it may load faster than it does on someone else’s device. This is due to browser caching – when you open a website on a device regularly, it tends to spread faster. However, if you want to know your actual website speed, there are different online tools to check it.
What Should Be Your Ideal Website Speed?
It will be best if your website loads within 2 seconds. It is also the fastest speed at which a website can load. On average, even 3 seconds is an acceptable speed for a website, given that at least some of the basic contents will load within 2 seconds.
Users tend to be impatient when surfing the web. Whether they’re looking for something specific or just going through blogs for entertainment, they need a website to load as soon as they land on the page. So, the more time your website takes to open, the higher the chances of an increasing bounce rate.
Top Free Website Speed Testing Tools
Following are some of the free speed testing tools you can use to know how much time your website takes to load on a stranger’s device:
Google PageSpeed Insights
A simple and free tool created by Google, it gives your website a score between 1-100. If your score is above 85, it means your website is performing well. You’ll get scores for the website’s performance on both desktop and mobile.
Every factor contributing to website speed is checked. Some may have a perfect score; others may need improvement. You’ll be getting details on both.
GTmetrix
The free version of this tool allows you to test one website in several different locations. You can also choose the browser in which a website can open. The overall score is in the form of grades, from A to F, A being the best.
The detailed insights are divided into five sections, highlighting the metrics that are perfect as well as those that need improvement.
Pingdom Speed Test
Test your website speed in 70 different locations. Get a score from 1-100 that indicates the overall performance of the website.
The detailed insights are divided into four sections. They may be less detailed than Google PageSpeed Insights but are easy to read and understand.
WebPageTest
This free tool allows you to test your website speed in 40 different locations and 25 different browsers, which include mobile browsers. Your overall website score is given in the form of a grade, which may range from A to A being the best.
The report has six sections, which have detailed insights about your website performance along with screenshots.
Uptrends
The free version allows you to test from 10 different locations and four different browsers. You also get to choose between mobile and desktop. It gives the Google PageSpeed score along with several other insights.
The paid version allows you to test multiple websites in 226 locations and plenty of other benefits, such as message credits, unlimited monitors, additional users, alerts, and customized dashboards.
Dotcom-Monitor
Test your website speed in 25 different locations and seven different browsers. Get a grade for your overall website performance, along with detailed insights. You’ll get a single report that gives you scores for all 25 locations at once. So, you don’t have to select a single location and test one at a time.
Yellow Lab Tools
You can choose the device you want to test the speed of your website. The report you’ll receive has a grade as well as a score out of 100, making it easy for you to understand your overall website performance. Other detailed insights are also present.
Google Chrome DevTools
If you use Google Chrome, then that’s all you need to use the tool. You need to open your website on the browser. Then, for a Windows device, you press F12, and for a Mac, you press CMD + Option + I. The minute you do so, a pop-up will open, giving you insights into your website performance.
To Sum it Up
With the help of a website speed-checking tool, you’ll not only know how long your website takes to open in different locations, browsers, and devices but also what you can do to improve that speed. I usually use Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix to check your scores before and after working on your website. So, if you’re not getting enough website traffic, you may want to contact me and check your website speed.