What our website speed tester checks
The Webhosting NZ website speed tester runs Google PageSpeed Insights (Lighthouse) on both mobile and desktop, then adds something most speed tests leave out: where your website is hosted and how far that is from your visitors in New Zealand. You get an A to F grade, your Core Web Vitals, and a short list of fixes written in plain English.
Core Web Vitals explained
| Metric | What it measures | Good | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | How long until the main content is visible | 2.5 s or less | over 4 s |
| Interaction to Next Paint (INP) | How quickly the page reacts to taps and clicks | 200 ms or less | over 500 ms |
| Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | How much the page jumps around while loading | 0.1 or less | over 0.25 |
How your grade is calculated
Your grade combines the Google performance scores for mobile (60%) and desktop (40%). Mobile counts for more because most New Zealanders browse on their phones. A is 90 or above, B is 75 to 89, C is 60 to 74, D is 45 to 59, and anything lower is F.
Why hosting location matters in New Zealand
New Zealand is a long way from the big hosting hubs. A server in Singapore is about 8,400 km from Auckland, and one in the United States is more than 10,000 km away. Each round trip adds delay, and a page needs several before it shows. Hosting in New Zealand, or using a CDN with local edge locations, keeps that trip short. Compare our NZ web hosting and WordPress hosting plans if your site is hosted overseas.
How to make your website faster
Start with the fixes at the top of your results. The most common wins are compressing images, removing unused plugins and scripts, turning on page caching and choosing hosting close to your visitors. If you would rather have it done for you, our web design team builds fast, lightweight sites for New Zealand businesses, and our blog has more guides on hosting and performance.