Real-World Example: Before & After Audit
Real-World Example: E-commerce Site Optimization
Let's look at a common scenario for a small online store selling handmade crafts.
Before the Audit:
- Problem: The store owner noticed declining sales and an increase in customer complaints about the website being slow, especially on phones.
- Initial State: Product pages featured large, high-resolution photos directly uploaded from a camera (often > 2MB each). The mobile navigation was a standard desktop menu shrunk down, making links tiny and hard to tap. Server response time was acceptable but not great.
- Audit Findings:
- Lighthouse Performance Score: 35 (Mobile), 65 (Desktop)
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): ~8.5 seconds on simulated mobile due to large product images.
- Accessibility issues flagged for small tap targets on mobile navigation.
- Opportunities identified for browser caching and CSS/JS minification.
After Implementing Audit Recommendations:
- Actions Taken:
- Image Optimization: All product photos were compressed using an online tool (like TinyPNG) and resized to appropriate dimensions (e.g., max-width 1200px). WebP versions were generated and served using the
<picture>
element. - Mobile Navigation: Implemented a dedicated mobile "hamburger" menu with larger, easily tappable links.
- Caching: Configured server rules to leverage browser caching for static assets (CSS, JS, images) for 1 month.
- Minification: Enabled built-in CSS and JavaScript minification features in their e-commerce platform.
- Image Optimization: All product photos were compressed using an online tool (like TinyPNG) and resized to appropriate dimensions (e.g., max-width 1200px). WebP versions were generated and served using the
- Results (After 2 Months):
- Lighthouse Performance Score: 78 (Mobile), 92 (Desktop)
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Reduced to ~2.8 seconds on simulated mobile.
- Mobile bounce rate decreased by 15%.
- Mobile conversion rate increased by 20%.
- Accessibility score improved due to fixed tap targets.
This example highlights how a systematic audit can pinpoint specific, actionable issues that directly impact user experience and business outcomes.