By Shad Super in Questions —

How Can You Monitor the Performance Impact of Deploying WebP Images on Your Site Using Tools Like Google Analytics and PageSpeed Insights?

Summary

Monitoring the performance impact of deploying WebP images on your site can be effectively achieved using tools like Google Analytics and PageSpeed Insights. This involves configuring custom dimensions and events in Google Analytics to track metrics such as image load time and user engagement while using PageSpeed Insights to assess overall site speed and performance improvements.

Google Analytics

Custom Dimensions and Events

To monitor the impact of WebP images, create custom dimensions and events within Google Analytics. This allows tracking specific metrics like image load time and user engagement.

  • Custom Dimensions: Set up a custom dimension to capture data specific to WebP image loads. This may include load times or error rates.

Custom Events: Implement custom events to track when WebP images are loaded. Use the following Google Analytics code to set up an event:

gtag('event', 'image_load', {'event_category': 'WebP', 'event_label': 'Image Load', 'value': timeToLoad});

For a thorough guide, refer to Google Analytics Event Tracking.

Setting Up Custom Reports

Custom Reports in Google Analytics

Create custom reports to view the gathered data on WebP image performance. Navigate to Customization > Custom Reports, and construct a report focusing on the custom dimensions and events created.

For more information, see Google Analytics Help on Custom Reports.

PageSpeed Insights

Analyzing Site Performance

Use PageSpeed Insights to evaluate how deploying WebP images affects your site's performance metrics, such as First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). Here’s how to utilize PageSpeed Insights:

  • Generating a Report: Enter your site's URL on PageSpeed Insights (visit PageSpeed Insights) and analyze the report generated.
  • Key Metrics to Monitor:
    • FCP: Measures the time from the user’s navigation to the first visual content loading.
    • LCP: Measures when the largest content element is loaded in the viewport.

Follow the detailed recommendations from the PageSpeed Insights report to further optimize image delivery and other performance aspects of your site. Learn more from Google PageSpeed Insights Documentation.

Combining Insights

Holistic Monitoring

By combining data from Google Analytics and PageSpeed Insights, you can achieve a comprehensive understanding of how WebP images impact your site’s performance:

  • Google Analytics: Allows detailed tracking of user interactions, image load times, and overall engagement metrics.
  • PageSpeed Insights: Provides a broader performance overview with specific recommendations for improvement.

For the best results, continuously monitor and adjust your strategies based on the insights gathered from these tools.

References