Okay, so today I was messing around with this thing called Lighthouse. It’s a tool made by Google. My goal for today is to use this tool to check out how a webpage is doing. Let me tell you, it was a bit of a journey, but a pretty interesting one at that!
Getting Started
First things first, I had to get this Lighthouse thing up and running. Turns out, it’s already built into the Chrome browser’s DevTools. I mean, how convenient is that? So, I opened up Chrome, went to the webpage I wanted to check out, and hit F12 to bring up the DevTools. There it was, a tab labeled “Lighthouse”. I clicked on it, feeling like a tech whiz already.
Running the Audit
Next up, I saw a bunch of checkboxes for different categories like Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO. I decided to go all in and check them all. I mean, why not get the full picture, right? Then, there was this big “Generate report” button. I gave it a click and watched as Lighthouse started doing its thing. It felt like waiting for a report card, but way cooler.
Analyzing the Results
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After a bit, the report popped up. It was colorful, with scores and everything! The Performance section was a bit of a mixed bag. Some things were good, some not so much. It showed me where the webpage was slow and what could be done to speed it up. Pretty neat, huh?
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Then there was the Accessibility part. This was all about making sure everyone, including people with disabilities, can use the site. Lighthouse gave some suggestions on how to improve that. It’s kinda like making sure your store has a ramp for wheelchair access, but for websites.
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Best Practices was like a checklist to see if the webpage was following the rules of the internet. Things like using HTTPS and making sure the code was up to snuff. Lighthouse pointed out a few things that could be better.
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And lastly, the SEO section. This was all about how well the webpage would do in search results. Lighthouse gave some tips on how to make it more search engine-friendly. It’s like getting advice on how to make your shop more visible to people walking by.
Wrapping Up
So, that was my day with Lighthouse. I learned a bunch about how to check if a webpage is in good shape. It’s like being a doctor for websites. You get to diagnose problems and suggest fixes. I wouldn’t say this tool is directly related to your search ranking but checking these indicators can indirectly help you better. And the best part? It’s all right there in Chrome, easy peasy. If you’re into web stuff, you should definitely give it a try!
