Fix Image Layout Shift Issues

How to optimize reddit.com

Generic SiteScore: 48/100Analyzed January 2026

Fix Image Layout Shift Issues

Medium Impact+8 points estimated

Why It Matters

Unsized images are causing 0.4 CLS score and poor visual stability during load.

How to Fix

Add explicit height and width attributes to all subreddit icon images. Use CSS aspect-ratio property to reserve space before images load. Implement placeholder backgrounds matching final image dimensions to prevent content jumps.

0Poor

What This Score Means

A score of 48 falls in the "Poor" range (50-89). While it is better than poor (0-49), you should aim for 90+ to provide an optimal user experience and maximize SEO benefits.

This site is slower than approximately 35% of similar sites. The main issues affecting performance are image optimization, JavaScript execution time, and layout stability.

Addressing these issues could improve your conversion rate by 15-20% and boost your search engine rankings.

Core Web Vitals Analysis

LCP

Largest Contentful Paint

5.6s
Poor

Good: < 2.5s

Measures how long it takes for the main content to appear on screen

INP

Interaction to Next Paint

138ms
Good

Good: < 200ms

Measures how quickly the page responds to user interactions

CLS

Cumulative Layout Shift

0.40
Poor

Good: < 0.1

Measures visual stability - how much content shifts during page load

AI Performance Analysis

This Reddit page has significant performance issues with a poor score of 48/100. The biggest problem is excessive JavaScript execution time (2.8 seconds of main-thread work), which is blocking the page from loading quickly and causing a very slow Largest Contentful Paint of 5.6 seconds. The site is also suffering from major layout shifts (CLS score of 0.402) primarily caused by unsized images that move content around as they load. Reducing unused JavaScript (which could save 645 KB) and properly sizing images would be the most impactful fixes to improve both loading speed and visual stability.

Other Optimization Recommendations

Eliminate Render-Blocking CSS Resources

High Impact+12 points estimated

Why It Matters:

Critical CSS files are blocking first paint and delaying LCP by 450ms.

How to Fix:

Inline critical above-the-fold CSS directly in the HTML head. Use media queries to defer non-critical CSS like comment-preview-unit and hui-grid styles. Implement loadCSS() function to asynchronously load remaining stylesheets after page render.

Reduce Unused JavaScript Payload

High Impact+15 points estimated

Why It Matters:

645KB of unused JavaScript is wasting 1.6 seconds of load time and blocking LCP.

How to Fix:

Split large JavaScript bundles using dynamic imports for Reddit components. Remove or defer reCAPTCHA loading until user interaction is required. Implement tree-shaking to eliminate dead code from concatenated JS files.

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