Fix Render-Blocking Resources

How to optimize sciencereader.com

Generic SiteScore: 71/100Analyzed February 2026

Fix Render-Blocking Resources

Medium Impact+12 points estimated

Why It Matters

Critical CSS and JavaScript files are blocking first paint by 750ms, delaying content visibility.

How to Fix

Move jQuery to footer or use defer attribute since it's not needed for initial render. Inline critical CSS for above-the-fold content and defer non-critical Elementor CSS files. Use a performance plugin like WP Rocket to automatically handle render-blocking optimization for WordPress themes.

0Needs Improvement

What This Score Means

A score of 71 falls in the "Needs Improvement" 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

7.2s
Poor

Good: < 2.5s

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

INP

Interaction to Next Paint

103ms
Good

Good: < 200ms

Measures how quickly the page responds to user interactions

CLS

Cumulative Layout Shift

0.00
Good

Good: < 0.1

Measures visual stability - how much content shifts during page load

AI Performance Analysis

This website has poor performance with a score of 71/100, indicating significant room for improvement. The biggest problem is an extremely slow Largest Contentful Paint of 7.2 seconds, which is far above the recommended 2.5 seconds and severely impacts user experience. The main culprits are oversized images that are downloading much larger files than needed for their display size (saving 280 KiB), unused JavaScript from Google Analytics and other scripts (saving 226 KiB), and render-blocking resources that delay initial page rendering by 750ms. Additionally, the site is experiencing forced reflows from jQuery operations that are causing layout thrashing and contributing to the sluggish interactivity time of 7.7 seconds.

Other Optimization Recommendations

Remove Unused JavaScript Code

High Impact+18 points estimated

Why It Matters:

227KB of unused JavaScript is delaying LCP by 1.05 seconds and blocking page interactivity.

How to Fix:

Defer Google Analytics and GTM scripts using async/defer attributes or move to Google Tag Manager with proper timing. Remove unused Swiper.js library (97% unused) from Elementor or load conditionally only on pages that need carousels. Use a plugin like Asset CleanUp to disable scripts on pages where they're not needed.

Optimize Image Compression and Sizing

High Impact+15 points estimated

Why It Matters:

Oversized images waste 280KB and delay LCP by 750ms with poor compression ratios.

How to Fix:

Install ShortPixel or Imagify to compress existing images with better algorithms. Implement responsive images using WordPress's built-in srcset to serve appropriately sized images (your 430x430 images are displaying at 219x123). Configure your theme to generate proper thumbnail sizes for article previews.

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Keep Your Site Fast After Optimization

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