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Speed optimization case studies

Before and after speed results for 24 WordPress sites we optimized, with the Google PageSpeed, GTmetrix and Pingdom screenshots for each.

Before and after speed results for 24 WordPress sites Codiffy optimized between December 2019 and September 2022. Every test is of the site’s home page, with Google PageSpeed Insights (a score from 0 to 100), GTmetrix (a grade with its performance percentage) and Pingdom, and each case study shows the screenshots side by side.

The four biggest improvements

Ranked by the rise in the Google PageSpeed mobile score.

All 24 sites

“Fully loaded” is the GTmetrix fully loaded time. The three sites tested before late 2020, on GTmetrix’s old scale, are in their own table below.

Site Business When PageSpeed mobile PageSpeed desktop GTmetrix Fully loaded
thatscoffee.com Online coffee store November 2020 22 to 85 55 to 100 D (61%) to A (100%) 6.1 s to 3.4 s
1stonthelist.ca SEO agency November 2020 48 to 84 85 to 98 B (81%) to A (100%) 3.6 s to 2.1 s
snowyowltours.com Dog sled tour company December 2020 12 to 68 42 to 95 F (6%) to C (63%)
liftylife.ca Vacation rentals business January 2021 9 to 92 38 to 100 F (41%) to A (99%) 8.2 s to 2.0 s
keezingkreations.com Jewellery business January 2021 27 to 94 73 to 100 C (70%) to A (96%) 6.5 s to 1.8 s
prigraphics.com Commercial printer February 2021 30 to 90 62 to 100 F (25%) to A (96%) 13.5 s to 1.8 s
reflectionswatergardens.com Water gardens and pond builder March 2021 13 to 100 48 to 100 E (51%) to A (100%) 10.6 s to 0.9 s
arcadiasourcing.net Manufacturing sourcing company March 2021 49 to 95 79 to 100 D (60%) to A (100%) 6.6 s to 1.8 s
whitewolfrafting.com Whitewater rafting company April 2021 13 to 99 48 to 95 D (60%) to A (97%)
lifesecure.com Emergency kits store May 2021 14 to 98 47 to 100 E (41%) to B (81%) 10.3 s to 2.1 s
neheliskiing.com Heli-skiing operator June 2021 19 to 96 65 to 100 D (57%) to A (97%) 9.1 s to 1.5 s
miragescreensystems.com Retractable screens company June 2021 16 to 80 59 to 95 B (75%) to A (95%) 3.4 s to 2.5 s
premium-electric.ca Electrician July 2021 38 to 100 84 to 100 D (58%) to A (100%) 4.0 s to 1.9 s
enengineering.com Engineering firm August 2021 42 to 95 86 to 100 C (72%) before, no after image
flatoutauto.com Auto accessories business August 2021 21 to 95 62 to 100 D (60%) to A (95%)
bestautopartsonline.com Auto parts store August 2021 32 to 84 72 to 100 D (60%) to A (98%) 8.1 s to 1.3 s
randyclark.com Hair replacement studio September 2021 13 to 97 71 to 100 B (82%) to A (100%)
summer.neheliskiing.com Summer lodge site of Northern Escape Heli Skiing May 2022 38 to 96 65 to 100 D (65%) to A (100%) 8.8 s to 2.4 s
unionvilleoptometry.ca Optometry clinic in Markham, Ontario July 2022 50 to 92 83 to 99 D (57%) to A (100%) 11.0 s to 1.9 s
killerproductions.net Video production company in Dallas July 2022 26 to 80 72 to 99 C (80%) to A (100%)
uniparts.net Industrial electronics repair company September 2022 after: 97 after: 100 after: A (100%) after: 2.4 s

Earlier tests on the old GTmetrix scale

Until late 2020 GTmetrix scored pages with PageSpeed and YSlow percentages instead of today’s grade, so these results are not comparable with the table above. Google PageSpeed was not tested on these sites.

Site Business When GTmetrix PageSpeed score Fully loaded
keswickkidsdental.ca Dental clinic December 2019 to January 2020 40% on the old host, 57% after the hosting move to 95% after optimization 11.7 s to 3.9 s
countrydental.ca Dental group December 2019 to January 2020 61% on the old host, 87% after the hosting move to 94% after optimization 5.3 s to 1.7 s
choquer.store Small WooCommerce store January 2020 83% to 97% 6.9 s to 2.9 s

How we make a site faster

Most of these jobs, from late 2020 onward, were NitroPack installs with manual tuning: plugin conflicts removed, old cache and image plugins switched off, and exclusions set so chat widgets, sliders and forms kept working. The three earliest jobs, from December 2019 to January 2020, were optimized by hand without a speed service: scripts minified and deferred, images scaled and compressed, caching, and fewer requests.

About the numbers

  • As tested Every figure is quoted from the test screenshot taken before and after the work, on the date shown.
  • Initial page weight Very low after figures for page size and requests reflect lazy loading on first load: they are the initial page weight, not everything the page can load.
  • One side only Uniparts has no test from before the work, and the GTmetrix test of EN Engineering after the work has no image, so its result is shown with PageSpeed and Pingdom.

Want this for your site? Read how our performance optimization service works, or book a free call.

Questions.

Which tools do you measure speed with?

Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix and Pingdom, and on one site WebPageTest as well. We test the home page before and after the work and keep the screenshots.

What does a speed optimization job involve?

On most of these sites, a NitroPack install with manual tuning: plugin conflicts removed, old cache and image plugins switched off, and exclusions set so chat widgets, sliders and forms kept working. The earliest jobs were optimized by hand: scripts minified and deferred, images scaled and compressed, caching and fewer requests.

Why are some page sizes so small after the work?

Very low after figures for page size and requests reflect lazy loading on first load. They are the initial page weight: the page loads the rest as the visitor needs it.

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