Minify JS To Improve SEO
If you minify JS on the sites you're responsible for optimizing, they'll load faster. And that's a good thing!
But first, what is "minify js?" What does it mean? Glad you asked! Google has a pretty good definition:
"...removing unnecessary or redundant data without affecting how the resource is processed by the browser - e.g. code comments and formatting, removing unused code, using shorter variable and function names..."
Uh huh, what's JS? It stands for JavaScript. It's a programming language used that browsers like Chrome, Safari and FireFox use. It's good for website functionality.
Now, there's probably a bunch of you who are horrified and shocked, because you were under the impression you didn't have to do any HTML or programming to be an SEOer. You are correct, but when you run website audits for SEO, you're going to discover minification issues, so you might as well get used to understanding it on a very, very, very basic level right now.
How To Find And Minify JS
The easiest way to find it is to go into Google Search Console. Scroll down the left hand side to "Other Resources." Look to your right and find PageSpeed Insights. If you click on it, the home page of whatever web property you're on will be analyzed. It takes a few seconds to run, and when it's done, you'll see this:
Click on "Show how to fix," and you'll see this:
Hand this over to your friendly neighborhood web developer for resolution. See, you don't have to do any coding, umkay?
This is a very, very, very common SEO technical issue. By minifying, you speed up page load times, which is good, because Google prefers sites that load fast. Your web visitors also appreciate that you've done some work to show them each page quickly, so why not check out your site in Google Search Console and see if there are any minification issues?
If you'd like to learn more about website technical issues, as well as basic, on-page search engine optimization techniques and skills, let's get together and plan your SEO training course. We'll do a customized, one on one training that unpacks your website issues.
Do you prefer learning SEO online? We now offer our SEO basic course on the internet!
Until next time, stay safely between the ditches!
All the very best to you,
Nancy McDonald
Screenshots courtesy of author
