Simple ways to check site speed for SEO beginners

I’ve been working in SEO for a long time, and this is what I usually recommend to beginners when they ask:

“How do I know if my site is too slow?”

I keep it simple and white-hat:

Google PageSpeed Insights
I tell them to focus on mobile. Red = real problem.



Pingdom Tools
Good for seeing actual load time and what blocks the page first.



And the best one for the end : Basic user test
Yes, simply open the site on a phone.
If it feels slow, it is slow.

No audits.
No paid tools.
No shortcuts.


Just enough to avoid common beginner mistakes.


Now I’m curious:
What do you recommend beginners check first when it comes to site speed?

Quite handy tool: https://www.webpagetest.org/