Industry
Blogger Directory & Listing Service
Location
Singapore
Timeline
4 Months (120 Days)
Focus
Core Web Vitals & Site Speed
The Challenge: Speed Crisis Killing User Experience
Our client's blogger directory was technically functional but practically failing. Poor Core Web Vitals scores were creating a frustrating user experience that drove visitors away:
- Painfully Slow Loading: 4+ second page load times (LCP) causing 65% bounce rate
- Unresponsive Interface: 300ms+ input delay (FID) frustrating users trying to interact
- Unstable Layouts: 0.25 CLS score causing unexpected shifts and accidental clicks
- Mobile Nightmare: Nearly unusable on smartphones—where 70% of traffic came from
- Declining Rankings: Google penalizing poor page experience with dropping positions
- Revenue Impact: 40% decline in conversions due to abandoned sessions
"Our site was bleeding users. People would leave before pages even loaded. SGSEOServices didn't just fix our speed—they saved our business. Traffic increased 175%, bounce rate dropped to 28%, and conversions doubled. The technical expertise is unmatched."
Rachel Lim
Founder & Director
Our Strategic Approach: Three-Pronged Performance Attack
We implemented a comprehensive, technically-sophisticated optimization strategy targeting each Core Web Vital metric individually while ensuring holistic site performance improvements:
1. LCP Optimization (Largest Contentful Paint)
Goal: Reduce load time from 4,000ms to under 1,500ms
Actions Taken:
- Image Optimization: Compressed all images using WebP format (85% size reduction)
- Lazy Loading: Implemented native lazy loading for below-fold images
- CDN Integration: Deployed Cloudflare CDN for global content delivery
- CSS Optimization: Deferred non-critical CSS, inlined critical path CSS
- Font Loading: Implemented font-display: swap for faster text rendering
- Server Response: Upgraded hosting infrastructure, implemented Redis caching
- Preload Key Resources: Used rel="preload" for critical assets
Result: LCP reduced from 4,000ms to 1,200ms (70% improvement) ✓
2. FID Optimization (First Input Delay)
Goal: Improve interactivity from 300ms to under 100ms
Actions Taken:
- JavaScript Optimization: Code splitting to reduce main thread blocking
- Async/Defer Scripts: Non-critical JavaScript loaded asynchronously
- Third-Party Scripts: Removed unnecessary scripts, lazy-loaded remaining ones
- Long Tasks Breaking: Split JavaScript execution into smaller chunks
- Web Workers: Offloaded heavy computations to background threads
- Event Listeners: Optimized event handling, removed redundant listeners
Result: FID reduced from 300ms to 50ms (83% improvement) ✓
3. CLS Optimization (Cumulative Layout Shift)
Goal: Stabilize layout from 0.25 to under 0.10
Actions Taken:
- Image Dimensions: Set explicit width and height attributes on all images
- Ad Slot Reservations: Reserved space for dynamic ads to prevent shifts
- Font Loading: Prevented FOIT (Flash of Invisible Text) with font-display
- Dynamic Content: Allocated space for elements that load asynchronously
- Animations: Used transform and opacity instead of layout-triggering properties
- Embeds: Added aspect ratio boxes for iframes and videos
Result: CLS reduced from 0.25 to 0.05 (80% improvement) ✓
4. Mobile-First Optimization
Special focus on mobile performance where 70% of traffic originated:
- Responsive Images: Served appropriately-sized images per device
- Touch Targets: Increased button/link sizes for better mobile usability
- Mobile-Specific Caching: Aggressive caching strategy for mobile users
- Reduced Mobile Payload: 60% smaller initial load for mobile devices
5. Infrastructure Upgrades
Backend improvements for sustainable performance:
- Hosting Migration: Moved to premium managed WordPress hosting
- Database Optimization: Cleaned and indexed database for faster queries
- Caching Layers: Implemented Redis, browser, and CDN caching
- HTTP/2: Enabled HTTP/2 for multiplexed connections
The Results: Transformation in Every Metric
Within 4 months, we achieved dramatic improvements across all performance metrics, resulting in 175% traffic growth and doubled conversion rates:
Core Web Vitals Improvements
LCP (Load Speed)
4.0s before
↓ 70% faster
FID (Interactivity)
300ms before
↓ 83% faster
CLS (Stability)
0.25 before
↓ 80% more stable
Business Impact
Organic Traffic
Bounce Rate
Conversions
Avg Session
Visual Proof: PageSpeed Insights Before & After
The numbers speak for themselves. Here are the actual PageSpeed Insights reports showing the dramatic performance transformation:
Performance BEFORE Optimization
Critical performance issues across mobile and desktop:
Overall Score: 28/100
Mobile: 25/100
Desktop: 42/100
Click images to view full size reports
Performance AFTER Optimization
Excellent performance scores across all metrics:
Overall Score: 95/100
Mobile: 92/100
Desktop: 98/100
Click images to view full size reports
Key Takeaways & Technical Insights
- ✓ Core Web Vitals are Ranking Factors: Google uses page experience as a ranking signal—improving CWV directly improved our search positions
- ✓ User Experience = Business Results: Better UX led to 95% conversion increase—speed isn't just technical, it's revenue
- ✓ Mobile-First is Critical: With 70% mobile traffic, mobile optimization delivered the biggest impact
- ✓ Holistic Approach Wins: Addressing all three CWV metrics together created compounding improvements
- ✓ Infrastructure Matters: Premium hosting and caching infrastructure provided sustainable performance
- ✓ Continuous Monitoring Essential: Ongoing performance monitoring ensures metrics don't regress as site evolves
