It has become a bit boring to mention how important the overall user experience is to the success of a website. And one of the most important items when it comes to this is the site loading speed. Users have less and less patience to wait for slow and poorly designed websites. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor all parameters and use the tools that we have Google free offers to just determine how much it is the site is technically well made and designed and what is he like loading speed.

Different site speed measurements in Search Console and PageSpeed ​​Insights

However, what happens when we two Google tools give completely opposite data and website speed ratings? John Mueller iz Google-and explains why the report Search Console Core Web Vitals differs from the results PageSpeed ​​Insights- a. He explains why two page speed measurements never match and why it makes sense that they don't.

The question is what John-in was set reads:

 “When I check the PageSpeed ​​Insight score on my website, I see one number. Why doesn't it match what I see in Search Console in the Core Web Vitals report?

Which of these numbers (results) is correct?”

Muller replied:

"I think maybe the first thing to state, in order to get an obvious answer, is that there is no exact number when it comes to speed, when it comes to understanding how your website is performing for your users."

In PageSpeed ​​Insights, by default, I believe we show a number that's a score from 0 to 100, something like that, that's based on a number of assumptions, where we assume that different things are a little faster or slower for users.

And based on that we calculate the result.

In Search Console, we have Core Web Vitals information based on three numbers for speed, responsiveness, and interactivity.

And these numbers are a little different, of course, because they are three numbers, not just one number."

Field and laboratory data

He then tried to explain this difference and continued:

"But there is also a big difference in how those numbers are determined.

Namely, there is a difference between so-called field data and laboratory data.

Field data is what users actually saw when they went to your website. And this is what we use in Search Console.

That's what we use for search as well.

Whereas lab data is kind of a theoretical view of your website, like where our systems have certain assumptions where they think, so the average user is probably like this, using this kind of device and maybe with this kind of connection.

And based on those assumptions, we'll estimate what those numbers might be for the average user.

And of course you can assume that those estimates will never be XNUMX percent accurate.”

So what Mueller it says that the results Search Console- and reflect what actual site visitors have seen.

Two tools, two measurement purposes

The way in which Google measure those actual numbers is through the visitors who allowed Chrome- to provide anonymous basic data about vital data from the web.

Google it does not measure every site visitor, only those who have chosen to send that data Google-u.

Unlike of PageSpeed ​​Insights creates a simulation of what the user can experience.

Purpose of the data Search Console-e is to show what real site visitors experience.

Purpose of the data PageSpeed ​​Insights-a is to provide an assessment of what is going on to provide diagnostic feedback on what may be causing poor website speed performance.

Mueller then comments on how the data will vary and not be consistent, even though it is Search Console based on actual site visitors.

He explained:

"Similarly, the data that users have seen, and that will change over time, where some users may have a very fast connection or a fast device and everything is going very fast on their website or when they visit your website."

And others may not have it.

And because of this, this variation can always result in different numbers.

Our recommendation is generally to use data from the field, data that you would see in Search Console, as a way to understand what the current situation is for a website.

And then to use the lab data, which is the individual tests that you can run yourself, to optimize your website and try to improve things.

And when you're pretty happy with the lab data you're getting with your new version of the website, then over time you can collect data from the field, which happens automatically, and double-check whether users actually see the site as faster or more responsive.

So, in short, again, there is no absolutely correct number when it comes to any of these metrics.

There is no absolutely correct answer where you would say, that is what it should actually be.

But rather, there are different assumptions and different ways of collecting data, and each of them is different in its own way.”

Each tool has its purpose

Perhaps a useful way to think about the two metrics is that they are both useful, but for two different purposes.

Search Console Core Web Vitals the data is derived from real visitors and provides what the user experience of site visitors is like in the real world (data from the field). Real site visitor data can highlight problems that might not show up in a simulated sample.

Results PageSpeed ​​Insights are simulated results, the purpose of which is to analyze and debug page speed errors. This tool identifies problems that prevent pages from loading quickly and offers suggestions on how to fix them.

The data sources are different so they will never match exactly. But that doesn't matter, because the intent for each tool is different.

Google-'s official documentation for the report Search Console CWV says:

"Report of Core Web Vitals shows URL performance grouped by status, metric type, and URL group (groups of similar web pages)."

The purpose of the tool PageSpeed ​​Insights is listed on the tool's website:

"Speed ​​up your websites on all devices"

In short, each tool has a purpose:

• Purpose of the tool Search Console is to provide a detailed cross-section of real-world site performance.
• The purpose PageSpeed ​​Insights-a is diagnostic, to identify problems and offer suggestions for improvement.

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Source: searchenginejournal