{"id":199506,"date":"2021-07-22T00:02:28","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T00:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/?p=199506"},"modified":"2021-07-22T00:02:28","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T00:02:28","slug":"lighthouse-seo-scan-smartcrawl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/lighthouse-seo-scan-smartcrawl\/","title":{"rendered":"Let There Be Light(house)! SmartCrawl Now Integrates Lighthouse SEO Scan Feature"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Google Lighthouse is the industry standard for testing website performance, and is now built into our SEO plugin, <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/smartcrawl-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\">SmartCrawl<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lighthouse has historically been able to run in several ways: as a Chrome DevTools, as a separate Chrome add-on (with a few restrictions), and as a Node package (incorporating it into your build process).<\/p>\n<p>Now, you can do it from right within SmartCrawl\u2019s dashboard (or if you\u2019re a WPMU DEV member, from our streamlined <a href=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/docs\/hub-2-0\/seo\/#getting-started\" target=\"_blank\">Hub interface<\/a>), without touching a line of code.<\/p>\n<p>Continue reading for the full article, or use the links below to jump to any section:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_n0f1ny33dmje\">Why Lighthouse?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_tm7j57yff90m\">A Guided Lighthouse Tour<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_2buxoeirofif\">The Start of Something Big<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_72ih3um45k99\">Looming Large: Page Experience<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_cy8vv16k6us\">What to Look for in Lighthouse Results<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_qns80qdb7lsk\">Performance Measures<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_qq3exztguks\">SEO Check<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_xp021j5ck7nj\">Setting Up Lighthouse in SmartCrawl<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_7dcgiqinsxqb\">WordPress Dashboard Settings<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_f10749ykunkb\">(Re)Ports of Call<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_zc2pyhp86j8m\">The Hub Settings<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_i7k5nj6r7b09\">Advantages of Using Lighthouse SEO in SmartCrawl <\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#post-747-_nzgepsbeh2tk\">A Beacon of Light(house)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Alright, let\u2019s delve into this illuminating new feature.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"post-747-_n0f1ny33dmje\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>Why Lighthouse?<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199510\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199510\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/001-google-lighthouse-1050x503.png\" alt=\"Google Lighthouse logo\" width=\"1050\" height=\"503\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Google\u2019s Lighthouse beckons you to test the surfing waters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Lighthouse is an open-source auditing tool that provides standardized scores across five areas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Performance<\/li>\n<li>Progressive Web App<\/li>\n<li>Best Practices<\/li>\n<li>Accessibility<\/li>\n<li>SEO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lighthouse runs performance tests using emulated data, also known as lab data. This is performance data collected within a controlled environment (with predefined device and network settings), and is helpful for assessing and debugging performance issues.<\/p>\n<p>As mentioned in many of our <a href=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/speed-up-optimize-avada-theme-smush-hummingbird-plugins\/\" target=\"_blank\">optimization articles in the past<\/a>, many variables go into your testing results. What Lighthouse tests via your local machine in a controlled environment does not equate 1:1 to real-world usage. Still, it is a useful indicator on the whole, and a valuable addition to your toolkit.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"post-747-_tm7j57yff90m\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>A Guided Lighthouse Tour<\/h2>\n<h3><a id=\"post-747-_2buxoeirofif\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>The Start of Something Big<\/h3>\n<p>In May of 2020, the Google-backed Chromium project <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.chromium.org\/2020\/05\/introducing-web-vitals-essential-metrics.html\" target=\"_blank\">announced a set of three metrics<\/a> with which the browser would measure performance.<\/p>\n<p>Known as <em>Web Vitals<\/em>, these metrics \u2015 Loading, Interactivity, &amp; Visual Stability \u2015 became part of a Google initiative to provide guidance for quality signals.<\/p>\n<p>With Web Core Vitals comprising more than half of Lighthouse\u2019s performance score, the focus changed to new, more refined goals.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-747-_72ih3um45k99\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>Looming Large: Page Experience<\/h3>\n<p>Google also announced in May of 2020 that Page Experience signals would be included in Google Search ranking.<\/p>\n<p>The new Page Experience signals combine Core Web Vitals with Google\u2019s existing search signals: Mobile-friendliness, Safe Browsing, HTTPS Security, and Intrusive Interstitial Guidelines.<\/p>\n<p>Google\u2019s Page Experience is slated to be complete by the end of August 2021, at which time it will join the hundreds of signals that Google considers when generating Search results.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199551\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199551\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/002-google-page-experience-core-web-vitals-web-search-signals-1050x739.png\" alt=\"Google page experience\" width=\"1050\" height=\"739\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Google\u2019s Page Experience combines Core Web Vitals + Web Search signals.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><a id=\"post-747-_cy8vv16k6us\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>What to Look for in Lighthouse Results<\/h2>\n<h3><a id=\"post-747-_qns80qdb7lsk\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>Performance Measures<\/h3>\n<p>We know Google Lighthouse analyzes your site based on the five factors mentioned above; performance is simply the heaviest contributor to the score.<\/p>\n<p>When you double click into performance, Google measures: First Contentful Paint (FCP); Speed Index (SI); Largest Contentful Paint (LCP); Time to Interactive (TTI); Total Blocking Time (TBT); Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).<\/p>\n<p>TBT has surpassed LCP in the latest version of Lighthouse, and is now weighted the heaviest in the score. TBT measures the total amount of time that a page is blocked from responding to user input, such as mouse clicks, screen taps, or keyboard presses. The sum is calculated by adding the blocking portion of all long tasks between First Contentful Paint and Time to Interactive.<\/p>\n<p>You can see how the score is calculated by going to the <a href=\"https:\/\/googlechrome.github.io\/lighthouse\/scorecalc\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lighthouse Scoring Calculator<\/a>:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199512\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199512\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/003-lighthouse-scoring-calculator-1050x548.png\" alt=\"Lighthouse scoring calculator\" width=\"1050\" height=\"548\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lighthouse scoring calculator allows you to select device type and scoring version.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Lighthouse report also features some opportunities to improve the site speed of your mobile site, including how much loading time they will save. These include reducing render-blocking stylesheets, render-blocking scripts, properly sizing images, and fixing offscreen images.<\/p>\n<p>Lighthouse gives you a tremendous amount of insight into the performance of your page. You can and should parlay these findings to your advantage.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-747-_qq3exztguks\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>SEO Check<\/h3>\n<p>Lighthouse has another awesome feature: the basic SEO check. You can use this to run a simple audit, which will uncover rudimentary SEO issues your site may have. It also provides suggestions for fixing any found issues.<\/p>\n<p>Lighthouse currently checks items in four different categories. I\u2019ve listed these below, along with a brief description of what each should do.<\/p>\n<p>Search engines must understand your content:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Document has a title element (should be unique, descriptive, concise, and doesn\u2019t stuff keywords)<\/li>\n<li>Document has a meta description (so it provides a summary of page content for search engines to include in search results)<\/li>\n<li>Links have descriptive text (so they clearly convey the target of a hyperlink)<\/li>\n<li>Document has a valid <em>hreflang <\/em>(so it displays the correct version for each language or region)<\/li>\n<li>Document has a valid <em>rel=canonical<\/em> (so search engines select the primary version of a page instead of a duplicate)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Search engines need to crawl and index your page:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Page has successful HTTP status code (so the server returns a status code in the 200s for all valid URLs or the 300s for a resource that has moved to another URL)<\/li>\n<li><em>robots.txt<\/em> is valid (so it tells search engines which of your site&#8217;s pages they can crawl)<\/li>\n<li>Document doesn&#8217;t use plugins (so content that relies on browser plugins, such as Java or Flash, can be indexed)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Your page should be mobile friendly:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Has a <em>&lt;meta name=&#8221;viewport&#8221;&gt;<\/em> tag with width or initial-scale (so the width and scaling of the viewport is sized correctly on all devices)<\/li>\n<li>Document uses legible font sizes (so they aren\u2019t too difficult to read on mobile devices)<\/li>\n<li>Tap targets are sized appropriately (so areas of a web page that touch device users can interact with are big and far enough apart that your page is mobile-friendly &amp; accessible)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Additional manual check:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Structured data is valid (so search engines can understand what kind of content is on your page)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each SEO audit is weighted equally in the Lighthouse SEO Score, except for the manual <em>Structured data is valid<\/em> audit, which does not affect the score.<\/p>\n<p><em>Web.dev<\/em> is a great resource for more specific details, examples, and fix options for each of the above <a href=\"https:\/\/web.dev\/lighthouse-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lighthouse SEO audit <\/a>items.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"post-747-_xp021j5ck7nj\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>Setting Up Lighthouse in SmartCrawl<\/h2>\n<p>Armed with the knowledge of how important search metrics are, let\u2019s implement our supreme surveyor of SEO-ness, <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/smartcrawl-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\">SmartCrawl<\/a>. (Say that five times fast!!)<\/p>\n<video loop muted autoplay playsinline class='dev-html5-video'><source src=\"https:\/\/premium.wpmudev.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/smartcrawl-600.webm\" type=\"video\/webm\"><source src=\"https:\/\/premium.wpmudev.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/smartcrawl-600.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\"><\/video>\n<p>You will have the option to continue using SEO check ups, but we highly recommend switching to the new SEO Audits. With it, you\u2019ll get the best of the web on your own site, ensuring it\u2019s always optimized for search engine results ranking. (Also, please note that our SEO Checkup tool will become fully depreciated after the next few version releases.)<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-747-_7dcgiqinsxqb\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>WordPress Dashboard Settings<\/h3>\n<p>After you install and activate SmartCrawl from your WP site, navigate to her dashboard and the Quick Setup Wizard will pop up.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199513\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199513\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/004-smartcrawl-quick-setup-wizard-1050x1054.png\" alt=\"SmartCrawl quick setup wizard\" width=\"1050\" height=\"1054\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SmartCrawl pre-selects the above options during quick setup.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Let\u2019s leave all the pre-selected elements on, and click the <em>Get Started<\/em> button.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019ll take a few seconds to do her thing, then the full dashboard with the various menus and markers will load. As you can see from the list of found issues, SmartCrawl ran her first test during the setup process.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199514\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199514\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/005-smartcrawl-initial-dashboard-view-1050x1002.png\" alt=\"SmartCrawl initial dashboard view\" width=\"1050\" height=\"1002\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SmartCrawl\u2019s Checkup provides a comprehensive report of our site\u2019s SEO optimization.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Before we try to fix anything, let\u2019s switch from the SEO Checkup default to the new, recommended Google Lighthouse SEO. To do so, click on the <em>Switch to Lighthouse SEO audits<\/em> text.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199554\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199554\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/006-smartcrawl-initial-dash-SEO-checkup-before-switch-to-lighthouse-1050x865.png\" alt=\"SmartCrawl SEO checkup\" width=\"1050\" height=\"865\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Switching to Google Lighthouse through SEO Checkup settings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>From the SmartCrawl informational strip that loads at page top, click on the blue <em>Try Lighthouse Audits<\/em> button, which will take you to the settings panel.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199556\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199556\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/007-smartcrawl-confirmation-switch-to-lighthouse-SEO-1050x132.png\" alt=\"SmartCrawl confirm switch to Lighthouse SEO\" width=\"1050\" height=\"132\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Confirmation message after integrating the Google Lighthouse feature in settings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Click on the <em>Lighthouse Audits<\/em> tab, select whether you want to scan Desktop or Mobile, then click <em>Save Settings<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199517\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199517\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/008-smartcrawl-SEO-health-settings-1050x667.png\" alt=\"SC SEO health settings\" width=\"1050\" height=\"667\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">You can switch between Desktop &amp; Mobile anytime in the Lighthouse Audits settings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>With <em>Lighthouse Audits<\/em> selected, you\u2019ll now be viewing the SEO Audit screen and Dashboard widget.<\/p>\n<p>Now let\u2019s run a test using Lighthouse. From the dashboard, <em>SEO Audits<\/em> tab, click <em>Run Test<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199558\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199558\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/009-smartcrawl-SEO-audits-run-test-1-1050x710.png\" alt=\"SC SEO audits run test\" width=\"1050\" height=\"710\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In this case, we\u2019ve selected Desktop, so those are the results we\u2019ll be capturing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After running the test, SmartCrawl lays out her findings. SEO audits are divided into four categories: Content audits, Crawling and indexing audits, Responsive audits, and Manual audits. You can read about these in depth in <a href=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/docs\/wpmu-dev-plugins\/smartcrawl\/#seo-audits\" target=\"_blank\">SmartCrawl\u2019s documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199519\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199519\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/010-smartcrawl-SEO-health-post-seo-test-screen-results-1050x747.png\" alt=\"SC SEO health post test\" width=\"1050\" height=\"747\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One health test you\u2019ll be glad to test positive for is SmartCrawls\u2019s SEO.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Each Audit includes an overview, a status, and a description on best practices or how to fix. Click the dropdown arrow next to any listed audit to see suggestions on how to improve your SEO.<\/p>\n<video loop muted autoplay playsinline class='dev-html5-video'><source src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/018-smartcrawl-SEO-post-tests-audits-listing.webm\" type=\"video\/webm\"><\/video>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><small>Single-click simplicity to all the fixes or recommendations SmartCrawl makes.<\/small><\/p>\n<p>We recommend addressing as many of the identified issues as possible to ensure your site is the most SEO friendly.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-747-_f10749ykunkb\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>(Re)Ports of Call<\/h3>\n<p>Reports are a great way to keep track of your all-important SEO indicators, and nip any issues in the bud. SmartCrawl brings this to the table with the ability to send SEO Audits Reports. There are two different kinds: Scheduled (automated), and Conditional.<\/p>\n<p>For Scheduled Reports, you can choose the frequency \u2015 daily, weekly, monthly\u2015 as well as which day of the week &amp; what time of the day. You can also select which device types to include in said reports \u2015 Desktop, Mobile, or both.<\/p>\n<p>With Conditional Reports, you can select to send an SEO Audits Report based on degrees of variance from baseline values. Settings allow for triggering a report send when your SEO score drops below a specified threshold (any incremental percentage of ten, between 10 and 100).<\/p>\n<p>To set up reports, go to Dashboard, Reporting, Emails &amp; Report, and click on the plus sign for SEO Audits or Sitemap Crawler to get reports on each. (Note: Sitemap Crawler can do scheduled reports only.)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199520\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199520\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/011-smartcrawl-setup-emails-reports-thru-DEV-Hub-1050x597.png\" alt=\"SC setup emails thru dashboard\" width=\"1050\" height=\"597\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With SmartCrawl, SEO reports and email notifications come based on your selections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>From here you can cater to your preferences, having reports come at your will on selected days &amp; times, or based on specific conditions.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199521\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199521\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/012-smartcrawl-send-conditional-reports-1050x1463.png\" alt=\"SC conditional reports\" width=\"1050\" height=\"1463\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Report sends can be automatic or conditionally based.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We\u2019ve seen how easy and helpful controlling SmartCrawl\u2019s settings through the WordPress dashboard can be. Now let\u2019s look at what we can do with them through the Hub.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-747-_zc2pyhp86j8m\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>The Hub Settings<\/h3>\n<p>From WPMU Dev\u2019s Hub 2.0, click on the SmartCrawl icon in line with any of your hosted sites, and it will install the plugin.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199562\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199562\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/013-hub-smartcrawl-activate-icons-1050x168.png\" alt=\"HUB SmartCrawl activate icon\" width=\"1050\" height=\"168\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The green icons in these Hub settings indicate the plugin or feature is already installed &amp; active.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The SmartCrawl splash screen comes into view, with a blue <em>Install <\/em>button. Let\u2019s click that.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199560\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199560\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/014-hub-initial-landing-page-for-SEO-tab-pre-SmartCrawl-install-1050x623.png\" alt=\"SC landing page in Hub\" width=\"1050\" height=\"623\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SmartCrawl shines a light in the darkness with her superior SEO skills.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A nearly identical screen loads, this time with a blue <em>Run Test<\/em> button, which we are going to click now.<\/p>\n<p>A quick overview of your latest Lighthouse Audit results is provided below the SEO score.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199524\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199524\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/015-hub-SEO-scan-test-results-panels-1-top-1050x1064.png\" alt=\"HUB SEO scan test results\" width=\"1050\" height=\"1064\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Click any audit category to view additional details in SmartCrawl\u2019s SEO Health screen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Beneath <em>Other SEO tools<\/em>, you can select any listed items that you\u2019d like displaying in your Hub. Clicking <em>Activate <\/em>on any of these will take you back to the WP plugin dashboard, where you will need to enter other pertinent information in order to include them as active panels in the Hub.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199597\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" data-caption=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-ratio-full wp-image-199597\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/016-hub-SEO-scan-test-results-bottom-1050x218.png\" alt=\"HUB SEO scan test results, other tools\" width=\"1050\" height=\"218\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Some of the SEO tools require other information in order to activate them in the Hub.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For example, to see MozRank data, you will need to connect to your <a href=\"https:\/\/moz.com\/login?redirect=\/products\/mozscape\/access\" target=\"_blank\">Moz <\/a>account by providing your API credentials (Access ID and Secret Key).<\/p>\n<p>Checking SEO tools via the Hub interface is visually pleasing, useful, and convenient, as users can view all their sites\u2019 scores in the same place. And, this can be done in addition to accessing the information through the WP plugin dashboard, or in tandem with it. It\u2019s really nice having the option for both.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"post-747-_i7k5nj6r7b09\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>Advantages of Using Lighthouse SEO in SmartCrawl<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Single Source Testing<br \/>\nWith SmartCrawl\u2019s Lighthouse SEO integration, users can check Desktop <em>and <\/em>Mobile audits, at the same time, from the same place. (On console, you would need to do this separately for each device.)<\/li>\n<li>Fixes at Your Fingertips<br \/>\nSmartCrawl provides users with fixes for any issues directly in its UI. (Disclaimer: there are some audits that do not.)<\/li>\n<li>Advice and Assistance At-the-Ready<br \/>\nSmartCrawl shows best practices &amp; contextual help for each audit. (On console, you would be redirected to a separate Docs page.)<\/li>\n<li>Send Scheduled Reports<br \/>\nSmartCrawl allows you to send regularly scheduled SEO Audits Reports.<\/li>\n<li>Send Conditional Reports<br \/>\nSmartCrawl allows you to send SEO Audits Reports based on conditional changes.<\/li>\n<li>Location, Location, Location<br \/>\nALL of your sites\u2019 scores are viewable in the SmartCrawl Dashboard. Or alternately\u2026 The Hub.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hub<\/strong>ba <strong>Hub<\/strong>ba.<br \/>\nThe Hub. This deserves a second shoutout, because it is just that cool and that useful. SmartCrawl\u2019s powerful suite of SEO features are fully integrated with the Hub, so you can <a href=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/easily-configure-your-wordpress-seo-with-smartcrawl-and-the-hub\/\" target=\"_blank\">manage all your connected sites<\/a> from a single, streamlined point of access.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><a id=\"post-747-_nzgepsbeh2tk\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>A Beacon of Light(house)<\/h2>\n<p>Most users won\u2019t be clocking speed scores when they visit your site; but they will remember whether the experience felt fast or slow (with the line between the two separated by milliseconds). We\u2019re living in the tech-forward 2020\u2019s, and most folks won\u2019t settle for delayed gratification.<\/p>\n<p>SmartCrawl is free, and packed with benefits. But if you really want to go full throttle, opt for the ultimate bundle of SEO tools &amp; services, with all of our highly rated plugins, plus our 5-star 24\/7 support. There\u2019s no commitment! You can do a <a href=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/pricing\/\" target=\"_blank\">free trial<\/a> of our full membership, or our <a href=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/hosting\/\" target=\"_blank\">fully dedicated individual site hosting<\/a> service. If you\u2019re not completely happy, we\u2019ll refund your hard-earned moolah.<\/p>\n<p>Whoever you use as a hosting service, and whatever plugins or tools you avail yourself of, keep Google Lighthouse and Page Experience signals in mind, and make sure your tools &amp; providers are trusted and reliable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google Lighthouse is the industry standard for testing website performance, and is now built into our SEO plugin, SmartCrawl. Lighthouse has historically been able to run in several ways: as a Chrome DevTools, as a separate Chrome add-on (with a few restrictions), and as a Node package (incorporating it into your build process). Now, you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":915455,"featured_media":199595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"blog_reading_time":"9","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_tutorials_categories":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[263,11260,11259],"tags":[],"tutorials_categories":[11238],"class_list":["post-199506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","category-wpmu-dev-products","category-wpmudev-tutorials","tutorials_categories-smartcrawl-pro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/915455"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199506"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200148,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199506\/revisions\/200148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199506"},{"taxonomy":"tutorials_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorials_categories?post=199506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}