Google Analytics 4 doesn’t feature a Page Timings report, leaving you without a simple way to identify which of pages on your site are experiencing slow load times. Since page load speed is a very critical component of Core Web Vitals and plays a role in Google’s organic search ranking, it’s essential to monitor. Although the PageSpeed Insights tool is available, it assesses only one page at a time, which could be better for analyzing more significant sites.
In Universal Analytics, the Page Timings report lists your slowest-loading pages, allowing you to identify which areas need attention quickly. This was particularly useful for larger websites with thousands of pages, enabling a straightforward approach to prioritize and optimize problem areas. However, with GA4 lacking this feature, you may wonder how to gather similar insights.
Fortunately, other free and paid tools can help you locate and address performance issues across your site. Here are several recommendations to assist in pinpointing and prioritizing pages that require optimization.
1. Google Search Console (GSC)
Pros: It is free and provides Core Web Vitals data segmented by mobile and desktop. Cons: It requires manual monitoring and lacks API integration for Core Web Vitals data.
Google Search Console (GSC) offers a Core Web Vitals report that indicates your site’s performance, broken down by mobile and desktop views. While this feature is valid, it has some limitations. GSC groups pages with similar performance characteristics, presenting only sample URLs rather than a comprehensive list. Additionally, it offers a challenging way to download the data into a CSV file, which can be inconvenient for ongoing tracking.
If you’re interested in continuous monitoring, you must manually check the data in GSC. The GSC API does not allow exporting Core Web Vitals data, so you can’t pull this information into other platforms like Looker Studio or similar visualization tools. This manual approach can be very time-consuming and may not provide the depth of insight required for more significant sites.
2. Screaming Frog
Pros: Comprehensive site indexing, integrates with PageSpeed Insights API (requires an API key), supports scheduled tasks. Cons: It requires a paid license and is desktop-based.
Screaming Frog has earned its reputation among SEO professionals as a versatile tool with many SEO applications, including site indexing, broken link detection, and more. However, for this discussion, one of its key benefits is providing page load times by connecting to the PageSpeed Insights API, allowing you to gain insights into page performance.
The primary limitation of Screaming Frog is that it’s a desktop-based application, meaning it runs on a computer that must be turned on and connected to the internet during operation. This constraint makes it less suitable for constant monitoring and real-time dashboarding.
A simple workaround is to designate a computer that is always on for Screaming Frog tasks. This approach was a standard solution at my agency, where we used an older desktop solely for this purpose. With the scheduling feature, you can set the tool to run at specific times, provided the host computer is operational and online.
Additionally, Screaming Frog can be linked to a Google Drive account, enabling you to export reports to Google Sheets. To ensure seamless integration with other tools, opt for the “Overwrite files in output” setting, which keeps your data in one consistent Google Sheet. This setup allows you to easily import data into platforms like Looker Studio for dashboarding and visualization or to set up email alerts through Google Apps Script.
While Screaming Frog’s desktop-based nature might require additional setup, its scheduling capability, integration with PageSpeed Insights, and Google Drive export make it a robust tool for monitoring page performance and generating comprehensive reports.
3. Ahrefs
Pros: Comprehensive site indexing, cloud-based scheduling capabilities, connects to PageSpeed Insights API (requires an API key). Cons: Paid tool, manual data export.
Ahrefs has earned its reputation as a powerful SEO tool for backlink tracking and keyword analysis. In addition to these features, Ahrefs offers a robust site audit tool that provides insights into page load speed while indexing your website.
Like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs lets you connect to the PageSpeed Insights API, providing detailed information on Core Web Vitals and specific optimization recommendations. You can also set up scheduled site audits to run regularly, helping you stay on top of performance issues.
However, exporting data from Ahrefs is manual, as the Ahrefs API currently does not support automated data exports. This can make it challenging for users who want to create real-time dashboards or maintain continuous monitoring. While you can manually export reports to Google Sheets or other applications, it requires additional steps and doesn’t offer seamless integration with visualization tools like Looker Studio.
Despite these limitations, Ahrefs remains a strong choice for SEO and site auditing due to its thorough indexing and cloud-based architecture. Its ability to track page load speed and connect to PageSpeed Insights provides valuable insights, even if exporting data for further analysis requires manual effort.
4. Semrush
Pros: Comprehensive site indexing, cloud-based scheduling options, connects to PageSpeed Insights API without requiring a key. Cons: Requires a paid subscription manual data export.
Semrush is a well-known SEO platform with many features, including a robust site audit tool. One of its essential functions is analyzing page load speed and identifying pages with the most extended load times. Unlike Ahrefs and Screaming Frog, Semrush connects to the PageSpeed Insights API without needing a personal API key, simplifying the setup process to access Core Web Vitals data directly within the audit.
However, Semrush shares a common drawback with similar tools: manual data export. Although it has an API, exporting site audit data for creating external dashboards or other reports requires manual intervention, which can be inconvenient if you need automated or real-time monitoring.
Despite the need for manual data exports, Semrush is a solid choice for site audits, offering comprehensive indexing and insights into page load speed. Its cloud-based architecture and scheduling capabilities make it user-friendly, and the integration with PageSpeed Insights without requiring an API key is a unique advantage. If you’re comfortable handling occasional manual data, Semrush can be a valuable tool for monitoring site performance and addressing page load speed issues.
5. Track Page Load Speed in GA4 Using Custom Dimensions
Pros: Free, tracks actual user data for page load speed per page, doesn’t require scheduling, cloud-based. Cons: Data collection starts upon implementation (no retroactive data) and does not integrate with PageSpeed Insights API.
To measure the page load speed in Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you can create a custom dimension to capture page speed information. With this custom dimension, you can generate Explorations reports within GA4, export data via the GA4 API, or even pull it into other platforms like Looker Studio for more extensive analysis.
For a comprehensive guide on setting this up, Measure School offers a helpful tutorial on tracking page load speed with Google Tag Manager and custom dimensions in GA4. This approach lets you work with actual user data rather than synthetic measurements, providing a clearer picture of your site’s performance.
While custom dimensions in GA4 offer flexibility, they only start collecting data from the point of implementation—so there’s no way to gather historical data. Additionally, there’s no direct integration with the PageSpeed Insights API so that you won’t get specific optimization recommendations from that source.
If you need to export your custom dimension data to Google Sheets, several tools can help. The free Google Sheets extension “GA4 Reports Builder for Google Sheets” allows you to fetch GA4 data, although it doesn’t support scheduling. If you need automated reports, Supermetrics is a paid tool that connects to multiple APIs, including GA4, and allows you to schedule data extraction into Google Sheets.
Overall, using custom dimensions in GA4 can be a cost-effective way to track page load speed, but it requires some setup and lacks features like automatic scheduling or integration with other speed-related tools.
Connecting with the PageSpeed Insights API
Identifying the slowest pages on your site is just the first step. Once you have your list, the next challenge is to understand why these pages are slow and what can be done to optimize them. Tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, and Semrush integrate Core Web Vitals insights through the PageSpeed Insights API, providing specific recommendations for optimization.
If you don’t have access to these tools, you can manually check each URL with the PageSpeed Insights tool or leverage the PageSpeed Insights API to automate this process. Suppose you’re not a developer or need coding experience. In that case, several user-friendly tools can help you interact with APIs like PageSpeed Insights to retrieve the detailed Core Web Vitals data you need for optimization.
A simple way to start is by focusing on image optimization, which is often a significant factor in page load speed. For example, the API can extract information about oversized images across thousands of pages. This approach allows you to identify:
- The slowest pages on your site.
- Which of these pages have performance issues due to oversized images.
- A prioritized list of images should be resized based on the most significant potential load time savings.
This method can provide near-real-time insights for dashboarding and monitoring, which is crucial for ongoing site optimization and tracking changes in page load speed.
While setting up a connection with the PageSpeed Insights API requires some initial work, the benefits can be substantial. You can create a streamlined workflow to continuously measure page performance, making identifying quick wins and addressing problematic pages easier. If you still need to set up a solution for monitoring page load speed and Core Web Vitals, now is the right time to do so to improve your site’s SEO and user experience.
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