Speed & performance
Scripts in the head blocking first paint
One of the 136 checks Lala SEO runs on every page of a site in a free audit.
- How serious
- Worth fixing. Weakens how Google reads or shows the page. Fix after the serious ones.
- Based on
- Google's own documentation
What is wrong
JavaScript files loaded in the head section of your page delay the moment when the browser can display your page to visitors. The browser must download, parse and execute these scripts before it starts painting anything on screen, even though the visitor cannot interact with the page during that initial load anyway.
Why it costs you
This slowdown damages your page speed metrics, which Google uses when deciding whether to show your site prominently in search results. Visitors also perceive slower pages as less trustworthy, and may leave before the page finishes loading.
How to fix it
Move render-blocking scripts to the end of the body tag instead of the head, or add the `async` or `defer` attribute to script tags in your head. The `async` attribute tells the browser to fetch and execute the script in parallel with page rendering. The `defer` attribute tells the browser to wait until the page has finished parsing before executing the script. For most third-party scripts (analytics, ads, tracking), `async` is appropriate; for scripts that must run in order, use `defer`.
What the audit tests
- No script in the page head holds up rendering (missing async or defer)
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