"Google May 2020 Core Update" affecting your xF Forum?

[askandy]

overnight? he announced it like years ago.

That's true, so fair enough.

I guess the question is whether or not other sites got deranked the same way for the same reason at the same time.

Or, are there websites with similar Core Vitals that didn't lose any of their traffic?

My point is, that it's easy to say that's the cause -- but unless there is evidence that is definitively the cause, it's just a bit of speculation.

Regardless, I do appreciate the discussion, help, and the advice

We're definitely looking into doing everything we can to improve the performance of the site. That said, I have a suspicion that won't be the killer change that will get our traffic back up to what it was prior to the May 2020 update.

Notwithstanding, improving site performance is always a good thing for visitor experience.

 

[Anatoliy]

That's true, so fair enough.

I guess the question is whether or not other sites got deranked the same way for the same reason at the same time.

Or, are there websites with similar Core Vitals that didn't lose any of their traffic?

My point is, that it's easy to say that's the cause -- but unless there is evidence that is definitively the cause, it's just a bit of speculation.

Regardless, I do appreciate the discussion, help, and the advice

We're definitely looking into doing everything we can to improve the performance of the site. That said, I have a suspicion that won't be the killer change that will get our traffic back up to what it was prior to the May 2020 update.

Notwithstanding, improving site performance is always a good thing for visitor experience.

totally agree.
well, we gave a start. if others would share if they are affected & what is their score, the theory will get confirmed. or will go to a garbage can. )
and yes, it's a pleasure to chat with you, guys.

 

[arn]

If we think speed is a factor...

Here are easy things to do that will help the most:

@askandy
- I'd remove the Ebay javascript to see if that helps. It's 265kb. I think there are better/faster ways to rewrite Ebay links.

- Install this for lazy load attachments: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/lazy-load-img.6057/

- You are behind Cloudflare but you aren't using their caching for images or css. Add these page rules to Cloudflare. (use your forum domain/subfolder)




arn

 

[Anatoliy]

- You are behind Cloudflare but you aren't using their caching for images or css. Add these page rules to Cloudflare. (use your forum domain/subfolder)

what about /styles/ ?
p.s. does that railgun worth those money?

 

[Anatoliy]

p.p.s. he has some "sam-lazy", not sure that it works though

 

[arn]

• I'm not sure what "sam-lazy" is for, but the attachments are not being lazy loaded.
• /styles/ is usually already covered by Cloudflare. they do cache .jpg/.png/.css/woff2 extensions by default, but they do not cache xenforo css.php, avatar and attachment urls without being told to specifically -- because they don't have those extensions
• Railgun is ok. Not sure it's doing much. I wouldn't upgrade to business just for it. But we were already on that plan.

 

[Anatoliy]

cool. thanks!
p.s. looks like sam-lazy is for ads only

 

[Ozzy47]

I think there are better/faster ways to rewrite Ebay links.

I think that would be much better also.

 

[askandy]

Here are easy things to do that will help the most

Thanks! I've sent the recommendations to our forum/website hosting provider/partner Todo10.

I'll take a closer look at the eBay/Amazon parser. I know there's another similar one developed by XF2 Addons, which we subscribe to as well. Though XF2 Addons uses 4 different add-ons (2 addons each for Amazon & eBay).

Any thoughts on whether to use XF2 or the one you pointed me to?

 

[Ozzy47]

I honestly feel the one he linked to is cleaner code (yes I know it’s mine but I did not write it).

 

[Anatoliy]

• But we were already on that plan.

for image resizing?

 

[arn]

Thanks! I've sent the recommendations to our forum/website hosting provider/partner Todo10.

I'll take a closer look at the eBay/Amazon parser. I know there's another similar one developed by XF2 Addons, which we subscribe to as well. Though XF2 Addons uses 4 different add-ons (2 addons each for Amazon & eBay).

Any thoughts on whether to use XF2 or the one you pointed me to?

I hadn't really compared. I use the one I linked and it works well.

for image resizing?

I did test it out, but in the end I installed Thumbor on a server (ex 400px,1600px) and very happy with that. We serve up srcset images on our blog. haven't integrated it into xenforo, but it would be possible to do it to attachments. It would just be a matter of hacking up Xon's lazy load addon, but totally possible since that js plugin (lazy sizes) also supports lazy srcset.

 

[Masetrix]

yep.
I guess pages from orange zone weren't affected by G update, only from red zone. you have a lot of reds, you got a big drop, I don't have them, I don't have a drop.

That's not right ...

Google also "worked" on Pagespeed.
My Pagespeed on Mobile was at ~ 94 a week ago.
We are also affected by all the losses and I can't find anything I can do. It is also strange that suddenly
"<div class =" contentRow-main contentRow-main - close ">" is criticized and criticized as being too time-consuming

Test https://www.elo-forum.org/

 

[arn]

ya, I don't actually think speed (alone) is what caused the other forum to drop. But improving speed is a good idea regardless.

 

[Anatoliy]

My Pagespeed on Mobile was at ~ 94 a week ago.

one page, or all the pages?

 

[Masetrix]

one page, or all the pages?

I'm just testing the homepage. On the other pages, it is AutoAds from Google that slow down the speed and no forum admin can change the loading time of GoogleAds.

Without ads, the speed is also on the other sites as on the home page.

 

[askandy]

Here are easy things to do that will help the most

Ok, we did all three Thanks to Todo 10 for their responsiveness!

 

[Anatoliy]

autoads... ) that is a ticket to a "red zone"
so we got another affected, and he is from red zone, too.
let's keep counting

 

[Masetrix]

autoads... ) that is a ticket to a "red zone"
so we got another affected, and he is from red zone, too.
let's keep counting

The forum has been around since 2005, we had GoogleAds from the start and there were never any problems with it. Then Google started to constantly change the rules so that we use AutoADS to avoid placing too many ads or placing them in the wrong place.
If Google now penalizes sites for their own ads to slow down the site, it's perverted.

 

[Anatoliy]

Ok, we did all three Thanks to Todo 10 for their responsiveness!

and your forum's index page from 27 jumped to 39. now fix Largest Contentful Paint (10 seconds!!!) and you will be all set.

<img data-xf-init="sam-lazy" width="300" height="250" title="Check out the brands that Andy recommends the most!" src="https://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/wp-content/uploads/andys-favorite-brands-tie-300x250.jpg" style="display: inline;">