This article shows you how to view the Lighthouse score for any page of your website from inside your Appropriate Websites dashboard. Lighthouse measures how well your page performs across four key areas Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO.
How to Access Lighthouse
Step 1: Log in to your Appropriate Websites dashboard at studio.appropriatewebsites.com.au
Step 2: Click Pages under the Content section in the left hand menu
Step 3: Find the page you want to check and click Edit
Step 4: Click the Lighthouse tab at the top of the editor
What You Can See on the Lighthouse Tab
The Lighthouse tab shows two views; Desktop and Mobile. Click between them to see how your page performs on each device type.
Performance measures how fast your page loads. A score of 90 or above is considered excellent.
Accessibility measures how accessible your page is for all users including those using screen readers or assistive technology. A score of 100 means your page is fully accessible.
Best Practices measures whether your page follows modern web development best practices. A score of 90 or above is considered excellent.
SEO measures how well your page is optimised for search engines. A score of 90 or above is considered excellent.
Core Web Vitals
Below the four main scores you will see four Core Web Vitals metrics.
First Contentful Paint measures how long it takes for the first piece of content to appear on your page. A lower time is better.
Largest Contentful Paint measures how long it takes for the largest piece of content to load on your page. A lower time is better.
Total Blocking Time measures how long the page is blocked from responding to user input during loading. A lower time is better.
Cumulative Layout Shift measures how much the page layout shifts while loading. A lower score is better and means your page is visually stable while loading.
Desktop Audits
Below the Core Web Vitals you will see a detailed Desktop Audits section. This shows a list of individual checks with a Pass, Partial, or Fail status for each one. The audits include checks for HTTPS, HTTP Status, Meta Description, Title Tag, Canonical Tag, Robots, Indexability, Hreflang, Structured Data, Meta Viewport, Font Sizes, and Touch Targets.
You can search for a specific audit using the search bar in the top right corner of the audits section.
How to Run a Fresh Lighthouse Report
Step 1: Click the Deploy button in the top right corner of the page
Step 2: Wait for the deployment to complete
Step 3: Your Lighthouse scores will update to reflect the latest version of your page
Important Note
Lighthouse scores are a useful guide to how well your page is performing but they are not the only measure of success. Focus on keeping your Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO scores as high as possible. If you see any Failed audits in the Desktop Audits section contact support at [email protected] for help resolving them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How often does my Lighthouse score update?
A: Your Lighthouse score updates when you click the Deploy button. It does not update automatically every time you save changes.
Q2: My SEO score is below 90. What should I do?
A: Check that your Meta Title and Meta Description are filled in on the Meta Tags tab. Also make sure all images on the page have Alt Text filled in. These are the most common reasons for a lower SEO score.
Q3: What does a Fail status mean in the Desktop Audits section?
A: A Fail status means that specific check has not passed and may be affecting your page performance or SEO. Contact support at [email protected] if you need help resolving a failed audit.
Q4: Can I check my Mobile Lighthouse score separately?
A: Yes. Click the Mobile tab at the top of the Lighthouse section to see your scores and audits specifically for mobile devices.