IndianTechnoEra: Part 1: Blogger Performance Optimization - Speed & Core Web Vitals Guide

A slow-loading blog frustrates readers and hurts SEO rankings. Google prioritizes fast, user-friendly sites in search results, so optimizing your Blogger blog’s performance is crucial.

This guide focuses on Part 1: Performance Optimization, covering speed tweaks and Core Web Vitals fixes to make your Blogger site load faster and rank higher.

🚀 Why Speed Matters for Blogger Blogs

• Better SEO rankings (Google favors fast sites)
• Lower bounce rates (Visitors stay longer)
• Improved Core Web Vitals (Key ranking factor)
• Higher AdSense earnings (Faster sites = more pageviews)

📌 Part 1: Performance Optimization (Speed & Core Web Vitals)

1. Image Optimization (Critical for LCP)

Images are often the biggest performance bottleneck. Follow these best practices:

✅ Use WebP Format (Best for Speed)

• Go to Blogger Dashboard → Settings → Image optimization
• Enable "Auto-convert to WebP" (Reduces file size by 30-50%)

✅ Compress Images Before Uploading

• Use free tools like:
  • TinyPNG (Lossy compression)
  • Squoosh (Advanced controls)
  • ShortPixel (Bulk compression)

✅ Lazy Load Images

• Most modern Blogger themes do this automatically.
• If not, manually add loading="lazy" to <img> tags in Theme → Edit HTML.

✅ Specify Image Dimensions

• Prevents Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).
• Always set width and height attributes in HTML:

<img src="example.jpg" width="800" height="450" alt="Example" loading="lazy">

2. Reduce Render-Blocking Resources

CSS and JavaScript can delay page rendering. Fix this by:

✅ Minify CSS & JavaScript

1. Go to Theme → Edit HTML.
2. Copy all code and paste into:
   • CSSNano (For CSS)
   • Terser (For JavaScript)
3. Replace the original code with the minified version.

✅ Defer Non-Critical JavaScript

• Add defer or async to <script> tags:

<script src="script.js" defer></script>

• Defer = Loads after page rendering.
• Async = Loads in parallel but may still block rendering.

✅ Remove Unused Widgets

• Delete unnecessary gadgets in Layout → Page Elements.
• Common culprits:
  • Heavy social media widgets
  • Multiple ad scripts
  • Unused tracking codes

3. Enable Caching & CDN

Caching stores static files for faster reloads.

✅ Turn on Blogger’s Cache

1. Go to Settings → Preferences.
2. Enable "Allow blog caching".

✅ Use a Free CDN

• Cloudflare (Best free CDN for Blogger)
• Jetpack (Alternative for WordPress users)

4. Optimize Blogger Theme

A bloated theme slows down your site.

✅ Use a Lightweight Theme

• Recommended fast themes:
  • Sora (Minimalist)
  • Contempo (SEO-friendly)
  • Notable (Clean design)

✅ Limit External Fonts

• Avoid multiple Google Fonts (1-2 max).
• Use system fonts for faster loading:

body {
    font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif;
}

✅ Avoid Too Many Widgets

• Remove unnecessary:
  • Social share bars
  • Heavy animations
  • Multiple ad networks

🔧 Quick Performance Checklist

Task	Done?
✅ Enable WebP conversion	☐
✅ Compress images before upload	☐
✅ Lazy load images	☐
✅ Fix CLS (set image dimensions)	☐
✅ Minify CSS/JS	☐
✅ Remove unused widgets	☐
✅ Enable caching	☐
✅ Use a lightweight theme	☐

🚀 Final Thoughts

By optimizing images, reducing render-blocking resources, enabling caching, and choosing a fast theme, your Blogger blog will load 2-3x faster, improving SEO rankings and user experience.

Next Step: Part 2: SEO Improvements

Need help implementing these tweaks? Let me know in the comments!