5 alternatives to the missing Page Timings report in GA4

Web page load pace, amongst different Core Web Vitals, is a known Google organic ranking factor. Whereas we have now the PageSpeed Insights instrument, it sadly solely works on one web page at a time. 

The Web page Timings report in Common Analytics surfaced particular pages in your website that had been slowest, permitting you to prioritize which pages to judge and optimize.

The instrument was notably useful when you have a big website with 1000’s of pages to investigate. Armed with the listing of drawback URLs, you might then prioritize pages for assessment utilizing the PageSpeed Insights instrument.

However Google didn’t embrace the Web page Timings report in GA4, so the place can you discover related data now? 

Beneath are a number of free and paid instruments that may allow you to pinpoint your drawback pages and prioritize their optimization.

1. Google Search Console

• Professionals: Free.
• Cons: Extremely guide, no API connections.

Google Search Console (GSC) supplies a Core Internet Vitals report and even separates the info by cellular versus desktop.

Nonetheless, whereas GSC supplies some examples of URLs affected, it doesn’t present a full listing. As a substitute, it teams pages collectively and exhibits examples from the group. The info can also be not simply downloadable to a CSV for monitoring.

In case your objective is common monitoring, you’ll have to log in to GSC and assessment the info throughout the instrument. The GSC API doesn’t help exporting core internet vitals report knowledge, so you possibly can’t pull GSC knowledge into Looker Studio or different visualization instruments.

2. Screaming Frog

• Professionals: Completely indexes websites, connects to PageSpeed Insights API (with a key you present), scheduling out there.
• Cons: Paid instrument, desktop-based.

A protracted-time favourite of SEO professionals, Screaming Frog software program has many beneficial search engine optimization functions, however an important factor for this text is that it supplies web page load occasions. 

It might additional be linked to the PageSpeed Insights instrument utilizing a key from the PageSpeed Insights API to import Core Internet Vitals knowledge immediately into the PageSpeed report:

The one actual downside to Screaming Frog is that as a result of it’s a desktop-based software, the pc you host it on needs to be turned on and linked to the online when the report runs. This makes the instrument much less optimum for dashboarding and extremely common knowledge monitoring.

One workaround is to have a desktop laptop that’s all the time turned on. I did this in my company for a few years with a devoted, outdated desktop laptop operating Screaming Frog. 

As a result of the instrument permits for scheduling, the scheduled report can run on the appointed time so long as the pc is on and linked to the web. Moreover, you possibly can join Screaming Frog to a Google Drive account and export the report tabs to Google Sheets:

If you wish to use the add for dashboarding, select the Overwrite information in output, which can can help you simply replace the identical Google Sheet.

As soon as the info is in a Google Sheet, you possibly can import it into different platforms, reminiscent of Looker Studio, to create dashboards and visualizations or create thresholds to ship e mail alerts utilizing Apps Script.

3. Ahrefs

• Professionals: Completely indexes websites, scheduling out there, cloud-based software, connects to the PageSpeed Insights API (with a key you present).
• Cons: Paid instrument, guide knowledge export.

Ahrefs has lengthy been an search engine optimization favourite for monitoring backlinks, however the instrument additionally has a strong website audit instrument that tracks web page load pace because it indexes an internet site.

Like Screaming Frog, you possibly can join PageSpeed Insights on to the location audit to see particular core internet vitals optimizations that ought to be made:

Whilst you can export studies to Google Sheets, it’s a guide course of. Web site audits could be scheduled for normal intervals.

Sadly, the Ahrefs API doesn’t seem to have a option to routinely export the outcomes, leaving it a little bit of a guide course of and fewer than excellent for dashboarding and close to real-time studies.

4. Semrush

• Professionals: Completely indexes websites, scheduling out there, cloud-based software, connects to the PageSpeed Insights API (no key wanted).
• Cons: Paid instrument, guide knowledge export.

One other widespread search engine optimization instrument is Semrush, and it additionally has a website audit function that opinions web page load pace and lists the pages with the longest load occasions:

Not like Ahrefs and Screaming Frog, you aren’t required to enter a private PageSpeed Insights API key to attach core internet vitals optimization data on to the audit.

Once more, with this instrument, nevertheless, the info export for this report is guide. Semrush has an API, although, and it’ll report on web page load pace points. Nonetheless, the API is simply out there for enterprise plans and better, which begin at $499/month.

5. Add web page pace into GA4 utilizing customized dimensions

• Professionals: Free, measures precise consumer knowledge for web page load pace by web page, scheduling not required, cloud-based software.
• Cons: Solely begins monitoring knowledge as soon as applied (no historic knowledge), doesn’t routinely join with PageSpeed Insights API.

Another choice to revive web page load pace in Google Analytics is to create a customized dimension. You should utilize that customized dimension to create an Explorations report, import knowledge into Looker Studio or export knowledge utilizing the GA4 API or numerous instruments that incorporate the API.

Measure Faculty has an excellent tutorial on how to track page load speed utilizing Google Tag Supervisor and customized dimensions in GA4. 

A number of free and paid instruments can export your listing of sluggish pages utilizing the customized dimension to Google Sheets, together with the free Google Sheets extension GA4 Reports Builder for Google Sheets.

Not like its predecessor in Common Analytics, this extension doesn’t have scheduling functionality. I personally use Supermetrics, which is a paid instrument however supplies me entry to a number of APIs, together with GA4, and permits me to schedule studies.

Connecting with the PageSpeed Insights API

After you have your listing of the location’s slowest pages, although, you’re not utterly completed! Screaming Frog, Ahrefs and Semrush pull Core Internet Vitals optimizations into their platforms utilizing the PageSpeed Insights API. 

If you happen to’re not utilizing a type of instruments, you’ll both have to interrogate every URL within the PageSpeed Insights instrument manually, one after the other, or you may also use the PageSpeed Insights API to make these queries for you.

If you happen to’re not an online developer or expert with coding, there are luckily instruments that you need to use to faucet into APIs, together with the PageSpeed Insights API, to get the precise core internet vitals particulars you want for optimization.

My private favourite is Zapier, which has a webhook zap permitting even non-developers a simplified option to join your listing of sluggish URLs to the PageSpeed Insights and pull in whichever knowledge factors are most necessary:

Optimizing pictures can usually be a fast means to enhance web page load pace. Within the zap instance above, I solely pull in picture particulars for every URL for a website with over 10,000 pages. This enables me a quick option to discover:

• Which pages are slowest.
• Of these pages, which of them are sluggish as a consequence of pictures that ought to be resized.
• Make a listing of the photographs that ought to be resized and prioritize them by biggest load time saved per picture.

The good thing about this strategy is that it really can present near-real-time reporting and dashboarding, whereas the opposite options nonetheless have drawbacks that make them lower than excellent for dashboard studies.

Nonetheless, you proceed to measure web page load pace for natural search optimization, every resolution requires some set-up and work. So, when you haven’t already began on an answer, get began instantly as a way to rapidly mine fast wins for search engine optimization and enhance your drawback pages.