Baldwin’s approach to Page Speed Insights: focus on real results, not just the scores

Page Speed Insights (PSI) is Google’s well-known tool for auditing a website’s performance. It’s free, easy to use, and gives a quick overview of how a site performs on both desktop and mobile. But while a high PSI score might look impressive, it’s not the only thing that matters. Especially if you tricked the PSI engine. What really matters is how people experience your site. And that’s where Baldwin comes in.

It’s a common mistake to confuse a high PSI score with a high-conversion, engaging shop. It’s easy to think these two things are the same, but they are not. So, what should you focus on? Scores? Engagement? Or both? The truth is, focusing solely on the numbers might leave you with a fast-loading shop that doesn’t necessarily drive results. Instead, the goal should be creating experiences that balance performance with useful features that keep users engaged and drive conversions.

What PSI measures

PSI evaluates websites using two types of data:
Field data: real-world performance based on actual users, but sometimes limited in availability.
Lab data: a controlled test that provides insights into key metrics like first contentful paint (FCP) and time to interactive (TTI). However, it doesn’t always reflect real user experiences, since it uses a predetermined device and network setup.

Does a good PSI score guarantee a good website?
Not exactly. Here’s why:
it’s just a number 🙂

PSI provides a score between 0 and 100, with 90+ considered “good.” But even a perfect score doesn’t guarantee an optimal user experience.

Why?

• It’s not always accurate. The score is based on lab data, which means it doesn’t account for real-world conditions like older devices, slow connections, or varying user behaviours. And the tool can also be tricked by code…
• It’s one piece of the puzzle. Page speed matters, but so do content quality, SEO, and usability. And having features that are helpful for the users. A site that loads fast but lacks engaging content won’t convert visitors into customers. Right?

Baldwin’s focus: performance that drives results

Of course we look into the metrics. Of course we look to improve. Of course we aim for the 100. But our main focus is to build websites that not only load fast but also engage users and drive conversions.

Here’s how we do it:

Optimising Magento stores for speed

Magento is a powerful e-commerce platform, but it can struggle with slow load times. We’ve tackled this head-on by:

• Enhancing core web vitals, improving key metrics like largest contentful paint (LCP) and first input delay (FID).
• Eliminating unnecessary code to reduce bloated scripts and speed up rendering.
• Implementing advanced caching to serve pages faster.
• Optimising external scripts and integrations to prevent slowdowns.

Hyvä frontend: a game-changer

We’ve embraced Hyvä, a modern Magento frontend designed specifically for speed.

With Hyvä, we:

• Reduce complexity and eliminate heavy JavaScript, leading to lightning-fast page loads.
• Improve user experience with seamless, smooth navigation.
• Help businesses meet Google’s core web vitals standards, boosting SEO rankings and conversion rates.

The Baldwin difference

That means:

• We are prioritising user experience over arbitrary numbers.
• We make sure your site loads quickly without sacrificing design or functionality.
• We focus on what truly matters: engagement, conversions, and customer satisfaction.

Here’s what we managed to achieve with our approach

(note: we didn’t look at SEO scores for this experiment)

Homepage mobile

Homepage desktop

Product page mobile

Product page desktop

So, should you look into the speed metrics? Totally. Should you obsess over it? No. The focus should always be the user experience. And as long as you are doing it, the rest of the metrics will follow.

After all, are we humans, or are we data? Baldwin builds for people first. And that’s what gets results.