Sharp decrease in visits and issue with images

  • Resolved leticia34

    (@leticia34)


    9 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hello.

    Last 4th of February in the evening I was updating the configuration in Speed Optimizer, as previously I was only using a few functions compared to the wide number of functions it provides. PageSpeed Insights in Google showed a few things “in orange” (218 INP in Mobile; and 0,13 CLS and 1,3 TTBF in Desktop; however, all the other metrics were in green). So, I thought that using all the recommended functionalities in Speed Optimizer would help me to improve those metrics, and so increase the number of views in my blog.

    I activated “Precalentar Caché”, “Memcached” and “CDN” in the plugin.

    In “Entorno” I activated “Mantenimiento programado de la base de datos”, selecting all options inside except two.

    In “Portada”, I activated “Combinar archivos CSS”, “Precargar el CSS combinado”, “Minimizar los archivos JavaScript”, “Combinar archivos JavaScript”, “Aplazar JavaScript que bloquea la visualización”, “Minimizar la salida HTML”, “Desactivar Emojis”.

    In “Medios”, I activated “Compresión de imágenes” at 25%, including the change of the 460 existing images to the date. Also I activated “Usar imágenes WebP” and “Carga diferida de medios”.

    Yesterday, when I checked the blog statistics for the first time after these changes, I was shocked to discover that my views have decreased to almost 0, starting exactly from Monday 5th (the date after all those changes in Speed Optimizer). Even Google Analytics has marked this event as an anomaly.

    Checking in PageSpeed Insights, now I have two “orange” metrics for Mobile (204 CLS and 1 TTFB), and for Desktop (and 0,11 CLS and 1,3 TTBF, and 79% in Performance Score). So, it seems that the changes in Speed Optimizer plugin did not help to improve the metrics, and really, it has made them worse.

    Also, I have noticed that the images of my blog are not displayed somtimes, but in a random manner (it happens sometimes in some posts, but maybe 30 minutes later I check the same post with the same browser and the images are there). This also seems to have been caused because of Speed Optimizer, as it was not happening before the 5th of February.

    I need please to solve this big issue with the images and with the decrease in views because of the changes made with Speed Optimizer. I am really worried because something like this had not ever happened in my blog before.

    Could you please provide some advice?

    Thanks in advance

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Plugin Support Dimo Dimov

    (@dimodi)

    Hello @leticia34,

    Please note that the WordPress forum is specifically for support-related queries regarding the plugin itself. Inquiries related to PageSpeed Insights cannot be addressed here.

    Please reach out to us by opening a support ticket from your SiteGround Client Area. This will allow our team to access and inspect your web application directly and provide more targeted assistance.

    Regards,
    Dimo

    Thread Starter leticia34

    (@leticia34)

    Hello Dimo,

    My query is of course related to Speed Optimizer plugin, as some of the configuration of this plugin I changed last 5th of February is what have caused all the issues I detail in my query.

    So, although I may contact Siteground through other means, I think my query should be addressed here, as it is clearly related to malfunction in the plugin Speed Optimizer. (Please note I only activated the RECOMMENDED functions). Answering here could also prevent problems for other users of the plugin.

    Then, could you please stop this game of buck passing and try to help?

    Thanks and regards

    Hey @leticia34,

    If you don’t mind, please allow me to help a bit. Hablo espa?ol y entiendo tus problemas.

    I checked your website (from Dallas, Texas USA) and it runs well (good speed, all images display).

    Upon analyzing your website in more detail, here’s what I would recommend: (make a back-up first)

    Speed Optimizer:

    • Disable CSS, JS, and HTML minification (most of these files are already minified).
    • Disable File-Based Caching.
    • Disable both combine and preload CSS (this will eliminate your render-blocking and page-lag display issue).
    • Disable Lazy Loading (it’s not helping at all on the front end as proven via webpagetest.org).
    • You may want to experiment by disabling Memcached (leave it off) and CDN (use Cloudflare free instead).
    • Clear all cache.

    Perfmatters:

    • Purchase and install Perfmatters. Worth every penny. It’s affordable and a very powerful tool. Also, customer support is superb. Note: I’m not affiliated with the plugin developer nor benefit from this recommendation.
    • Enable the Lazy Loading feature(s). This will reduce your website load time. It works better than Speed Optimizer.
    • Enable the Remove Unused CSS feature(s). This will properly position and load (preload) your CSS files without causing render-blocking issues.
    • Check out all other features (especially those that will help you offload CSS and JS files – per page – that you don’t need).
    • Explore and enable many other features that will accelerate your website to a brand new level.
    • Clear all cache.

    Both Speed Optimizer and Perfmatters are compatible with each other — just make sure you don’t duplicate (i.e., enable) the same feature within each plugin.

    Special Note: Don’t fret too much over achieving a high PageSpeed score. What matters the most is the User Experience and the PERCEIVED website speed which is influenced by many factors such as type of device used, internet speed, user location, local bandwidth, time of day, etc.

    Buena suerte! ??

    Thread Starter leticia34

    (@leticia34)

    Hi @generosus,

    Thanks for your answer!

    On the 11th in the morning I managed to solve the problem with the images. It was caused by the option “Carga diferida de medios” of Speed Optimizer. Once I disabled that function, the images appeared again always.

    However, I still have the issue with GA4 not measuring the visitors, starting from the 5th of February. This is driving me crazy, as it still measures a few visitors (2 to 5 per day, more or less). But I know there is something wrong with this, and I know for sure I have many more visitors than those (for instance, I haven’t experienced a decrease in affliate clicks/sells, and Google Search Console doesn’t show any decrease in organic search).

    I will try to apply your advices and let you know if that changes something with the GA4 or not.

    Greetings from Spain!

    Hi @leticia34,

    Que bueno! Glad you got that fixed (partially, at least). Yeah, give my recommendations a try. They should all help. In direct response to your GA4 issue, disable File Based Cache and Memcached, clear your cache and wait 2-3 days to see if that fixes your issue. We don’t use Memcached, but do use Perfmatters together with Cloudflare APO. Great results.

    Keep us posted. Salud! ??

    Thread Starter leticia34

    (@leticia34)

    I disabled File Based Cache and Memchached, and after that I cleared the cache with the pluggin Speed Optimizer. However, still no changes in GA4. I will check in a few days and post here with the news.

    Hey @leticia34,

    Sounds good. My final thoughts on your issue:

    If the above doesn’t work, deactivate Speed Optimizer, clear all of your cache, wait a day or two, and see if your GA4 data is repopulated. If so, then the issue is with one of your SO settings. For example, you may need to exclude from combination the JS files associated with GA4.

    If the data does not repopulate with SO deactivated, then the issue is with Site Kit (the plugin you’re using for GA4 metrics) or another plugin. Check the links provided below or contact the developers of Site Kit for a solution.

    By the way, your site still loads and displays great. My only suggestion would to make your menu “sticky”and/or add a To Top button at the bottom of each page.

    Best wishes!

    ———–

    https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/lost-ga4-tracking/

    https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/switched-to-google-site-kit-now-analytics-no-longer-working/

    https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/site-kit-fails-to-load-data-and-charts/

    Thread Starter leticia34

    (@leticia34)

    Good news, finally it seems that I found the issue!

    It was caused by the option “Combinar archivos JavaScript” of Siteground Optimizer. After disabling that option in the pluggin, I started to see the visits in GA4 again.

    Disabling the different options of the pluggin one by one has allowed me to ensure that it was that option the one causing the issue, and not another one.

    I hope this helps other people ??

    Awesome! You can always exclude the affected file from the drop-down exclusions list or — if the file does not show up in the list — you can use one of SO’s filters to do that all while retaining all other JS files combined.

    If happy with the resolution, can you close this topic as “Resolved”?

    Cheers!

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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