Getting the Perfect 100 on PageSpeed Insights

I was reading X the other day and someone tweeted about 3 overrated and 3 underrated things in SEO. His number one choice for overrated was Core Web Vitals.

Here’s the tweet.

This is a strange choice, especially considering that most SEOs either don’t care about Core Web Vitals or aren’t proficient enough to fix them, as evidenced by the numerous slow websites. In fact, 72.3% of sites suffer from slow page loading times.

See Patrick Stox tweet.

Most Underrated

I would argue that Core Web Vitals are grossly underrated. According to Google, Core Web Vitals are:

“A set of metrics that measure real-world user experience for loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability of the page. We highly recommend site owners achieve good Core Web Vitals for success with Search and to ensure a great user experience generally.”

Even if Google didn’t exist, prioritizing Core Web Vitals is the right thing to do. It benefits all users in terms of conversions and overall user experience. Numerous studies have shown that page speed directly affects conversions.

I highly doubt anyone would advocate for not fixing a slow website. After all, as SEOs, we’re supposed to optimize websites for users, not just for Google. So why not make sure the presentation is as effective as possible?

How to Achieve the Perfect 100

Contrary to popular belief, scoring 100 on PageSpeed Insights is not that difficult with WordPress. To understand how, read the WordPress research done by Webwhim here.

Achieving a perfect score boils down to four main factors: the theme, your server, your cache, and a CDN. I’m not going to provide a listicle; instead, I’ll give you a precise tech stack to help you achieve that 100 score.

Theme

Use the Kadence theme with Kadence blocks. Kadence blocks are very efficient and only load the CSS needed for each specific block.

Server

Opt for a LiteSpeed server. They are significantly faster than Nginx or Apache. Any LiteSpeed host will do (see a list here), but I recommend either HostXNow or Mechanics Web. Both use Ryzen 9 7900X servers, which are among the fastest processors available.

Cache Plugin

LiteSpeed Cache Plugin is the best WordPress cache plugin out there, and it’s free. However, you’ll need a LiteSpeed server to use it.

CDN

If your target audience is global, a CDN is essential. I recommend QUIC.cloud, which is built on the LiteSpeed stack. Failing to use a CDN can lead to poor Core Web Vitals scores, particularly if your audience is geographically dispersed and connected via slower networks.

Summary

In a nutshell, Core Web Vitals are far from overrated. They are actually underrated and relatively simple to optimize, especially if you carefully choose your tech stack. If you’re building a niche site, you have no excuse not to aim for that perfect 100 score.

Ben is a former affiliate marketer who now works as a Google Analytics Consultant and has a perfect 100 score on page speed insights.