Page load performance is far from optimal at the moment, especially on Mobile. While Accessibility, Best Practices and SEO score high (70 - 100), Performance scores rock bottom at no higher than 20 for Mobile on Page Speed insights.
I’ve already reduced image sizes, moved these to be hosted by Softr itself, and removed any Javascript and integrations that I don’t strictly need (e.g. Google Maps or HotJar).
Unfortunately, however, the other recommendations seem to be outside of my control. I am frankly very concerned about the impact of these performance numbers on end users and SEO.
Any other tips as to how you have improved your Softr page speeds? @artur , fully appreciate that many Softr websites may be for internal use only, and therefore performance is less of a priority. In my case, however, it’s critical to optimize conversion and reach more bookings. Hoping there is low hanging fruit that can be tackled performance-wise!
Google has recently said page speed has no impact on rankings however you will have high bounce rates on slow sites. How many blocks are you loading on the page you are testing ? How many rows on those blocks ?
Great question. The key pages (Homepage, Listing Page, Detail Page) would each have 1 to 2 dynamic blocks requiring calls to Airtable, i.e. a list or list-details block, and up to 6 ‘static’ blocks with text and/or assets.
Note that I do have different versions of the dynamic blocks (Desktop vs Mobile, Logged out vs. Logged In), but I’d assume in the background only the applicable block would be loaded? Also assuming that any ‘disabled’ blocks do not actually impact page performance when rendering the page.
Would it be possible to add a caching layer on top? Or any best practices for image hosting? I’m currently uploading assets to Softr (https://softr-prod.imgix.net/) assuming this leads to the best performance. All help is appreciated.
Regarding the use of Airtable, I have reduced the number of rows in the table from 7k to > 1k. Also limiting the number of items show on a list to 12 (instead of 24). Not seeing an immediate impact, but will keep you updated.
@olaastrand, can you please share your app URL so we can test your app speed too? Please include the page URL where we can see the table you were referring to in your answer.
It’s great to see your dedication to improving page speed performance. You’ve already taken some important steps by optimizing images and removing unnecessary elements. Since you’re focused on enhancing user experience and SEO, I’d recommend considering a comprehensive seo site audit. This can provide deeper insights into any technical issues that might be affecting your performance scores. Furthermore, you could explore techniques such as lazy loading for images and content, minimizing server response times, and utilizing browser caching. Combining these strategies with your existing efforts can make a noticeable impact on your Softr page speeds, particularly on mobile devices.
It is quite telling that there is no follow up from the founders on what is a major issue. Softr page speeds are incredibly slow and this should be a bigger priority that almost anything in my opinion. It completely ruins a user experience.
Hi, we do our best to speed up the app loading time, but it also depends on your app content, the device, OS version, and the Internet connection you use. If everything ok at your end, please share your app URL so that we can check it on our end too (the URL you shared above does not include your app URL )
Great post and discussion! Is it safe to conclude then that for page speed and competitive SEO performance we should only use Softr’s static blocks and exclude dynamic blocks when connected to Airtable? Or perhaps not use Softr at all when SEO performance is the goal?
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