Fix LCP Issues: Boost Your Website Speed

by Alex Johnson 41 views

Are you struggling with a slow website? Does your site take forever to load, frustrating your visitors and potentially hurting your search engine rankings? One of the most critical metrics for website performance is Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures how long it takes for the largest content element (like an image or a block of text) to become visible to the user. A good LCP score is crucial for a positive user experience and a healthy website. This article dives into the specific LCP issues affecting the Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) WKND deck magazine page and provides actionable solutions to significantly improve its performance. We will specifically address the issues on the page https://publish-p165653-e1774234.adobeaemcloud.com/wknd-deck/us/en/magazine.html. Let's get started on how to optimize your website for a faster and better user experience.

1. Correct Dispatcher Cache Configuration for All Assets

Addressing the Root Cause of Slow Loading is the first step to solving LCP issues. The core problem often stems from inefficient caching. In this case, the server takes an unacceptable amount of time to respond with image and JavaScript files. This means that these assets are not being served from the CDN (Content Delivery Network) or the Dispatcher cache, thus forcing the AEM Publish instance to handle every single request. This is the single biggest performance bottleneck. If you are looking to greatly improve your LCP, then you need to prioritize this. Let's discuss how to fix it.

  • The Crucial Role of Caching: Caching is like a shortcut for your website. Instead of the server generating the same content repeatedly, it stores a copy (the cache) and serves that copy to users. This dramatically speeds up loading times. Think of it like this: if you have to bake a cake every time someone wants a slice, it will take a lot of time. But if you have a pre-baked cake ready, serving a slice becomes instant. That's caching in a nutshell.

  • How to Implement It

    • Configuration: You'll need to modify your AEM project's dispatcher configuration. This involves adding rules to /conf/dispatcher/src/conf.d/cache/rules.any that enable caching for images from the Core Image Component and JavaScript files from client libraries. This tells the Dispatcher which assets to store in its cache.
    • Verifying Caching: After deploying the new configuration, you can check if your pages are being cached by examining the response headers. Look for x-cache: HIT. If you don't see this, it means your caching rules are not correctly configured for the page's template and path.
    • Specific Rules to Add: You'll need to add specific rules to your configuration file to allow caching for images and immutable client libraries. These rules will vary depending on your setup, but a typical implementation might look like the code block in the original request. The following example tells the dispatcher to cache images and javascript files:
    /0100 { /glob "*.coreimg.*" /type "allow" }
/0101 { /glob "/etc.clientlibs/*.lc-*.min.js" /type "allow" }

  • Deployment: After modifying your configuration, you'll need to deploy it using a Cloud Manager pipeline. This ensures that your changes are applied to your live website.

  • Expected Impact and Importance: By implementing this step, you can expect a significant improvement in LCP, potentially reducing the loading time of critical assets by 1.5 seconds or more. This will greatly improve the perceived speed of your website.

2. Optimize LCP Image Loading Attributes and Asset Size

Tuning the LCP Image for Maximum Efficiency is a simple but important step. The main image in your “Featured Article” is usually the LCP element. There are two primary problems.

  • Incorrect loading attribute: The image currently uses loading="lazy". This tells the browser to de-prioritize the image, which is the opposite of what you want for your LCP element. LCP elements should be loaded as fast as possible!
  • Large file size: The image file is too large (846 KiB). This means the browser has to download a lot of data before it can display the image.

Let's discuss how to fix this.

  • Fixing Loading Attributes:

    • Open the HTL template for the hero/teaser component.
    • Remove loading="lazy".
    • Add fetchpriority="high". This tells the browser to prioritize the image.

  • Optimizing the Asset:

    • The asset, article-01-picture-01.png, needs to be replaced with a compressed version. The best format is a JPEG or WebP file.
    • Compress the new image to under 200 KB. This will dramatically reduce the download time.

  • Expected Impact: By fixing the loading attributes and optimizing the asset, you can expect to reduce the LCP by 500ms to 1 second.

3. Optimize Font Loading Strategy

Streamlining Font Delivery for Faster Rendering is about making sure that the fonts your website uses load as quickly as possible. The page is currently making a render-blocking request to fonts.googleapis.com. This delays the critical path by over 700ms. Additionally, the local icon font is in the outdated .ttf format, which is not as efficient as the newer formats.

  • Self-Hosting Google Fonts: The solution is to download the fonts and host them on your own server. You can download the required fonts (such as 'Source Sans Pro') in the WOFF2 format from Google Fonts. Place these font files into your ui.frontend module.

  • Using @font-face: In your project's CSS, you'll use @font-face rules to tell the browser about your self-hosted fonts. Make sure to include font-display: swap; in the declaration. This will allow the text to render quickly using a fallback font while the custom font loads.

  • Converting Icon Fonts: Convert wknd-icon-font.ttf to woff2. Then update the @font-face rule. This will improve the efficiency of your icon font.

  • Expected Impact: By implementing these optimizations, you can expect to reduce the LCP by approximately 700ms.

Conclusion

By carefully addressing these three key areas – caching, image optimization, and font loading – you can dramatically improve the LCP score and overall performance of your website. Remember that a fast-loading website is essential for a positive user experience, increased engagement, and improved search engine rankings. Implementing these changes will not only make your website faster but also enhance the experience for every visitor. With these steps, you are well on your way to creating a website that is both visually appealing and lightning-fast.

For more detailed information on website performance and optimization, please visit the Google PageSpeed Insights website. This website provides detailed analysis and recommendations for improving your website's performance, using the same metrics and standards as we've discussed. This can provide valuable insights and further improvements.