Check GZIP compression

Fix Google PageSpeed enable compression in PHP and htaccess

Enabling gzip compression on your script / webserver will not only help you achieving a greater score on Google PageSpeed Enable compression [1] test, but also allow a faster rendering time on your visitors browser.

Zlib compress example

The easiest way to achieve it, providing your are using PHP, is to add a few lines at the beginning of your PHP script to activate zlib output compression [2] and Check the GZIP compression on Google PageSpeed test:

A good way to check if it works, is to perform a before / after test on gidnetwork (Fig 1) [3] for example.

Enable compression htaccess

You can also add the following piece in your htaccess file, which will tell Apache to compress the corresponding files, providing the mod_deflate is activated on your server:

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For more details on Apache compression, please see the great articles about this subject on betterexplained.com [4] or www.cloudtech.ch [5].

For example, this allowed me to pass the Google PageSpeed [6] test Enable Compression [1] on a website, going up from a score of 72 on mobile (Fig 2) to 89 (Fig 3), and up from 79 (Fig 4) to 89 on desktop (Fig 5).

Frequently Asked Questions

How can website administrators verify if GZIP compression is enabled and working correctly on their websites, improving load times and efficiency?

Website administrators can check GZIP compression by using online tools like GTmetrix, Google PageSpeed Insights, or Check GZIP Compression. By entering the website URL, these tools analyze if the web server is correctly compressing resources with GZIP, providing insights and suggestions for optimization.