Google Lighthouse for Beginners: A Real Portfolio Optimization Case Study

Okay, so you’ve learned what Google Lighthouse is, how it works, and what the metrics mean. But most tutorials stop there instead of showing you how to actually improve them. For that purpose, I am structuring this article as a case study in which I am going to optimize the performance of my own portfolio through Google Lighthouse while also highlighting what to focus on, what to ignore, and some useful tips for using Google Lighthouse. Prerequisite I wrote this article for junior developers, especially those using Google Lighthouse for the first time and trying to understand how to act on its reports in a practical way. To follow along, you only need a basic understanding of the main Core Web Vitals and loading metrics: FCP, LCP, INP, and CLS. Before You Run Lighthouse Before using Lighthouse, make sure you are testing in the right environment. If you want to measure the actual performance of your site, run Lighthouse on the live domain where the site is hosted. You can still use it d