Website performance analytics reviews provide essential insights into site speed, user experience, and technical optimization, enabling data-driven decisions that improve user satisfaction, search rankings, and business outcomes. Whether you're analyzing Core Web Vitals, page speed, mobile performance, server response times, or user experience metrics, this comprehensive checklist covers every aspect of conducting thorough website performance analytics reviews. From pre-review preparation through Core Web Vitals analysis, page speed evaluation, mobile performance, resource optimization, server performance, user experience metrics, geographic performance, browser compatibility, error analysis, competitive benchmarking, and reporting, this guide ensures you extract maximum value from your performance analytics data.
This detailed checklist walks you through pre-review performance preparation, Core Web Vitals analysis, page speed analysis, mobile performance analysis, resource and asset analysis, server and hosting performance, user experience metrics, geographic performance analysis, browser and device performance, error and issue analysis, competitive performance analysis, and reporting and optimization. Each phase builds upon the previous one, ensuring comprehensive analysis of your website performance. Follow this systematic approach to transform performance data into actionable optimization insights.
Effective website performance analytics reviews begin with proper preparation and tool access. Schedule your website performance analytics review meeting with relevant stakeholders. Set calendar reminders for your review date to maintain consistency.
Gather access to performance monitoring tools including Google Analytics, Google PageSpeed Insights, Google Search Console, and any other performance tools you use. Verify access to server and hosting analytics for server-side performance data.
Review your previous period's performance report for comparison context. Set the date range for your review period. Identify key pages to analyze based on traffic and business importance.
Gather business context and performance goals to provide proper interpretation of the data. Prepare your performance analytics dashboard or template. Identify any site changes or updates during the review period that may have affected performance.
Core Web Vitals analysis measures the key user experience metrics that Google uses for ranking. Review Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores to measure loading performance. Analyze LCP performance by page to identify slow-loading pages.
Review First Input Delay (FID) scores to measure interactivity. Analyze FID performance by page to identify pages with interactivity issues. Review Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) scores to measure visual stability.
Analyze CLS performance by page to identify pages with layout shifts. Compare Core Web Vitals to the previous period to track improvements. Review Core Web Vitals by device type to understand mobile vs desktop performance. Identify pages with poor Core Web Vitals scores requiring optimization. Analyze Core Web Vitals trends over time.
Page speed analysis measures how quickly your pages load and become interactive. Review overall page load time to understand general performance. Analyze page load time by page to identify slow pages.
Review Time to First Byte (TTFB) to measure server response time. Analyze TTFB by page and server to identify server performance issues. Review First Contentful Paint (FCP) to measure when content first appears.
Analyze FCP by page. Review Speed Index scores to measure visual completeness. Compare page speed to the previous period to track improvements. Review page speed by device type. Identify slowest loading pages requiring optimization.
Mobile performance analysis is critical as mobile traffic continues to grow. Review mobile page load time to measure mobile speed. Analyze mobile Core Web Vitals to measure mobile user experience.
Review mobile page speed scores. Compare mobile vs desktop performance to identify mobile-specific issues. Analyze mobile-specific performance issues such as network conditions and device capabilities.
Review mobile network performance. Identify mobile optimization opportunities based on analysis.
Resource and asset analysis identifies optimization opportunities in your site's assets. Review total page size to understand overall resource usage. Analyze image file sizes and optimization to reduce image weight.
Review JavaScript file sizes and optimization including minification and code splitting. Analyze CSS file sizes and optimization. Review font loading and optimization to improve text rendering.
Analyze third-party script impact on performance. Review resource compression including Gzip and Brotli. Analyze unused CSS and JavaScript that can be removed. Review caching implementation to improve repeat visits. Identify resource optimization opportunities.
Server and hosting performance analysis measures your infrastructure's impact on site speed. Review server response time to measure server performance. Analyze server uptime and availability to ensure reliability.
Review CDN performance if applicable to measure content delivery efficiency. Analyze server error rates including 4xx and 5xx errors. Review server resource usage including CPU and memory.
Analyze database query performance if applicable. Review hosting provider performance. Identify server optimization opportunities.
User experience metrics connect performance to business outcomes. Review bounce rate by page and correlate with performance. Analyze session duration to understand engagement.
Review pages per session to measure site exploration. Analyze exit rate by page to identify problematic pages. Review user engagement metrics including scroll depth and time on page.
Analyze user flow and navigation patterns. Review conversion rate correlation with performance to measure business impact. Identify UX issues related to performance.
Geographic performance analysis measures how performance varies by location. Review performance by geographic location to understand regional differences. Analyze performance by country to identify optimization needs.
Review CDN coverage and effectiveness for global audiences. Analyze regional performance differences. Identify geographic optimization opportunities.
Browser and device performance analysis ensures your site works well across all platforms. Review performance by browser to identify browser-specific issues. Analyze performance by device type including desktop, mobile, and tablet.
Review performance by operating system. Analyze browser-specific performance issues. Identify browser optimization opportunities.
Error and issue analysis identifies technical problems affecting performance and user experience. Review JavaScript errors that may affect functionality. Analyze console errors and warnings.
Review 404 error pages that indicate broken links. Analyze 500 server errors that indicate server problems. Review broken links and resources.
Identify critical performance issues requiring immediate attention.
Competitive performance analysis provides context for your performance relative to competitors. Compare performance to competitors if available through tools. Review industry performance benchmarks.
Analyze competitive positioning to understand market standards.
Effective reporting transforms analysis into actionable optimization. Compile key performance metrics summary highlighting most important findings. Create visualizations for performance metrics to make data accessible.
Document key insights and findings that inform decision making. Identify optimization opportunities based on analysis. Prioritize optimizations by impact and feasibility.
Create comprehensive website performance analytics report. Include recommendations for improvements based on findings. Document performance goals for next period. Save report in accessible location for team reference.
Throughout your website performance analytics review process, keep these essential practices in mind:
Website performance analytics reviews provide essential insights for optimizing user experience, search rankings, and business outcomes. By following this comprehensive checklist, preparing thoroughly, analyzing all relevant performance metrics, documenting findings effectively, and translating insights into actionable optimizations, you'll maximize the value of your performance analytics data. Remember that effective performance analytics reviews are not just about reporting metrics but about understanding how performance impacts users and business results and how to optimize every aspect of your site for better performance.
For more analytics review resources, explore our monthly analytics review checklist, our quarterly business analytics review guide, our e-commerce analytics review checklist, and our marketing campaign analytics review guide.