Delay Scripts – Google PageSpeed Test

In this Google PageSpeed Experiment, we’re testing W3 Total Cache’s Delay Scripts tool to understand its impact on website performance.

We want to find out exactly how this feature helps enhance page load times so we have set up two websites, a control website and an experimental website.

Control Website

For our control website, we created a brand new WordPress installation.  For this experiment we’re using the Twenty Twenty-Four WordPress theme, a live chat plugin, and three active code snippets that pull in a weather widget, custom chart and a Google Calendar.

The purpose of adding these plugins and snippets is to generate different JS files on the site. This will help us test the “Delay Scripts” tool when we set up our “Experimental Website”.

Control Website: https://wordpress-speed-test.com/042624-site1/

Experimental Website

We duplicated our Control Website onto a new sub-folder to create a new Experimental Website that mirrors the original one.

We also installed W3 Total Cache Pro, enabled the Delay Scripts tool and used it to delay these four scripts for 5 seconds:

– event-calendar
– https://www.gstatic.com/charts/loader.js
– livechatinc.com
– weatherwidget.io

Experimental Website: https://wordpress-speed-test.com/042624-site2/

Why We chose These Scripts To Delay

A strategic deferral of non-essential scripts helps improve Google PageSpeed scores and creates a more responsive and user-friendly website. Delaying scripts can significantly enhance website performance by optimizing load times and reducing the initial burden on the main thread. For the experiment we chose to delay following scripts because of their commonality and the fact that none are essential immediately upon page load:

1. Live Chat – We chose the live chat script from livechatinc.com because it’s not essential immediately upon page load. Users don’t typically need access to the chat widget the moment they land on the page, so delaying its load allows the main content to appear faster, improving the initial user experience.
2. Weather Widget – Similarly, the weather widget script from weatherwidget.io is not a critical part of the page’s core functionality. Since this information can be loaded a few seconds after the rest of the page, delaying the weather widget script ensures that essential content is prioritized, further enhancing load times and overall site performance.
3. Google Calendar Script – We chose the Google Calendar script because although it may be essential for displaying upcoming events or schedules, but its immediate presence upon page load is not critical.
4. Custom Chart Script – the custom chart script, while providing valuable data visualization, can be deferred to prioritize the loading of essential content.

By delaying these scripts, we optimize load times and ensure a smoother user experience, particularly during the critical moments of initial page load.