In this Google PageSpeed experiment, we’re testing W3 Total Cache’s Lazy Load Google Maps feature with the Google Maps Easy plugin in order to understand its impact on website performance.
+10 Points
In this test, using the Lazy Load Google Maps feature added +10 points on mobile devices to the Google PageSpeed Performance score! Read the documentation to learn how to use the Lazy Load Google Maps tool.
Upgrade to W3 Total Cache Pro and improve your PageSpeed Scores today!
Our goal is to explore this feature and understand exactly how it helps enhance page load times. To do this, we have set up two websites: a control website and an experimental website.
Control Website
Our control website is a simple installation using the Twenty Twenty-Four WordPress theme and Google Maps Easy to pull in a full-width Google Map, which should give us a slight increase in our page load speeds.
The purpose of adding the Google Map is to allow us to test the “Lazy Load Google Maps” tool when we set up our experimental website.
Control Website: https://wordpress-speed-test.com/051524_site1/
Experimental Website
We duplicated our control website into a new sub-folder to create an experimental website that mirrors the original one, allowing us to test the two sites side by side.
On the experimental website we installed W3 Total Cache Pro with the Lazy Load Google Maps tool enabled, specifically for the Google Maps Easy plugin.
Experimental Website: https://wordpress-speed-test.com/051524_site2/
With this method, we hope to compare the performance of both websites directly, giving us valuable insights into the real benefits of using the Lazy Load Google Maps feature. Review the results of our testing below.
-72% Decrease
In this test, using the Lazy Load Google Maps displayed a 72% decrease on the Total Blocking Time Performance score on mobile devices! Read the documentation to learn how to use the Delay Scripts tool.
Upgrade to W3 Total Cache Pro and improve your PageSpeed Scores today!
Desktop Mobile
Performance
Performance score
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 95.5 | 98 | +2.5 | +2.62% |
| | |
Points per Metrics
First Contentful Paint
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 10 points | 10 points | 0 points | 0% |
| No change. |
Largest Contentful Paint
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 22.75 points | 23.75 points | +1 points | +4.4% |
| | |
Total Blocking Time
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 29.5 points | 30 points | +0.5 points | +1.69% |
| | |
Cumulative Layout Shift
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 25 points | 25 points | 0 points | 0% |
| No change. |
Speed Index
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 8.5 points | 9.5 points | +1 points | +11.76% |
| | |
Metrics
First Contentful Paint
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 0.6 s | 0.63 s | +0.03 s | +4.17% |
| | |
Largest Contentful Paint
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 1.13 s | 0.98 s | -0.15 s | -13.33% |
| | |
Total Blocking Time
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 60 ms | 12.5 ms | -47.5 ms | -79.17% |
| | |
Cumulative Layout Shift
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No change. |
Speed Index
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 1.43 s | 1.03 s | -0.4 s | -28.07% |
| | |
Diagnostics
Largest Contentful Paint element
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 1117.5 ms | 992.5 ms | -125 ms | -11.19% |
| | |
Potential savings from render-blocking resources
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 245 ms | 210 ms | -35 ms | -14.29% |
| | |
Potential savings by serving images in next-gen format
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Time third-party code blocked the main thread for
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 65 ms | 0 ms | -65 ms | -100% |
| | |
Potential savings from unused CSS
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Potential savings from unused JavaScript
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 88 KiB | 65 KiB | -23 KiB | -26.14% |
| | |
Potential savings if Minifying CSS
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
# of static assets without an effecient cache policy
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 15 | 1 | -14 | -93.33% |
| | |
JavaScript execution time
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 0.45 s | 0.07 s | -0.38 s | -85.19% |
| | |
Main-thread work
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 1.03 | 0.3 | -0.73 | -70.73% |
| | |
# of long main-thread tasks
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 2 | 1 | -1 | -50% |
| | |
Initial server response time
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 357.5 ms | 327.5 ms | -30 ms | -8.39% |
| | |
# of large layout shifts
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| No change. |
# of user timings
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
# of animations found
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Network payload
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 1184.75 KiB | 733 KiB | -451.75 KiB | -38.13% |
| | |
DOM size
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 364 | 127 | -237 | -65.11% |
| | |
# of chains found
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 14 | 13 | -1 | -7.14% |
| | |
Defer offscreen images
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| 0 | Passed audit |
Minify JavaScript
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 2 KiB | 2 KiB | 0 KiB | 0% |
| No change. |
Properly size images
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Efficiently encode images
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Enable text compression
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Preconnect to required origins
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Preload key requests
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No change. |
Preload Largest Contentful Paint image
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Avoid multiple page redirects
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Use video formats for animated content
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Remove duplicate modules in JavaScript bundles
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Avoid serving legacy JavaScript to modern browsers
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Largest Contentful Paint image was not lazily loaded
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Avoids document.write()
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Image elements have explicit width and height
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Has a <meta name="viewport"> tag with width or initial-scale
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Uses passive listeners to improve scrolling performance
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| 0 | Passed audit |
All text remains visible during webfont loads
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| 0 | Passed audit |
Performance
Performance score
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 66 | 76 | +10 | +15.15% |
| | |
Points per Metrics
First Contentful Paint
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 6.75 points | 7 points | +0.25 points | +3.7% |
| | |
Largest Contentful Paint
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 2 points | 5 points | +3 points | +150% |
| | |
Total Blocking Time
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 24.25 points | 29.75 points | +5.5 points | +22.68% |
| | |
Cumulative Layout Shift
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 25 points | 25 points | 0 points | 0% |
| No change. |
Speed Index
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 8 points | 10 points | +2 points | +25% |
| | |
Metrics
First Contentful Paint
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 2.45 s | 2.45 s | +0 s | +0% |
| No change. |
Largest Contentful Paint
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 6.53 s | 5.38 s | -1.15 s | -17.62% |
| | |
Total Blocking Time
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 287.5 ms | 80 ms | -207.5 ms | -72.17% |
| | |
Cumulative Layout Shift
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 0.02 | 0.02 | -0 | -1.19% |
| No change. |
Speed Index
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 4.03 s | 2.75 s | -1.28 s | -31.68% |
| | |
Diagnostics
Largest Contentful Paint element
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 6512.5 ms | 5382.5 ms | -1130 ms | -17.35% |
| | |
Potential savings from render-blocking resources
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 1042.5 ms | 880 ms | -162.5 ms | -15.59% |
| | |
Potential savings by serving images in next-gen format
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| 14 KiB | Passed audit |
Time third-party code blocked the main thread for
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 447.5 ms | 62.5 ms | -385 ms | -86.03% |
| | |
Potential savings from unused CSS
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Potential savings from unused JavaScript
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 87 KiB | 65 KiB | -22 KiB | -25.29% |
| | |
Potential savings if Minifying CSS
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
# of static assets without an effecient cache policy
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 16 | 1 | -15 | -93.75% |
| | |
JavaScript execution time
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 1.38 s | 0.28 s | -1.1 s | -80% |
| | |
Main-thread work
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 2.55 | 0.9 | -1.65 | -64.71% |
| | |
# of long main-thread tasks
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 7.75 | 5 | -2.75 | -35.48% |
| | |
Initial server response time
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 310 ms | 322.5 ms | +12.5 ms | +4.03% |
| | |
# of large layout shifts
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| No change. |
# of user timings
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
# of animations found
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Network payload
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 1309 KiB | 733 KiB | -576 KiB | -44% |
| | |
DOM size
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 346 | 127 | -219 | -63.29% |
| | |
# of chains found
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 14 | 13 | -1 | -7.14% |
| | |
Defer offscreen images
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| 0 | Passed audit |
Minify JavaScript
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 2 KiB | 2 KiB | 0 KiB | 0% |
| No change. |
Properly size images
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| 71 KiB | Passed audit |
Efficiently encode images
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Enable text compression
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Preconnect to required origins
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Preload key requests
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized | Difference |
|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No change. |
Preload Largest Contentful Paint image
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Avoid multiple page redirects
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Use video formats for animated content
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Remove duplicate modules in JavaScript bundles
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Avoid serving legacy JavaScript to modern browsers
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Largest Contentful Paint image was not lazily loaded
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Avoids document.write()
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Image elements have explicit width and height
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Has a <meta name="viewport"> tag with width or initial-scale
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| Passed audit | Passed audit |
Uses passive listeners to improve scrolling performance
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| 0 | Passed audit |
All text remains visible during webfont loads
| Standard site | W3TC Optimized |
|---|
| 0 | Passed audit |
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