Quick Question about Website Providers Maintaining a Change Log

[Steve Stauning]

I've got a new client whose website has been slowing down (a lot) over the last year. Their current Average Page Load Time is north of 10 seconds, and when we asked their website provider to explain, they (of course) pointed to all the code on the site. (For whatever reason, this provider cannot have any specific code load last - something we were able to do at Reynolds Web Solutions more than 17 years ago, BTW.)

Given much of this code is resting in GTM tags, we asked for their Change Log so that we could determine who requested which GTM to be installed and when. (This way we could determine which code could be removed.)

They claim they do not keep a change log.

My question: Does this sound normal? (I would think they would keep a change log if for no other reason than to protect themselves when something breaks.)

 

[Ryan Everson]

I've got a new client whose website has been slowing down (a lot) over the last year. Their current Average Page Load Time is north of 10 seconds, and when we asked their website provider to explain, they (of course) pointed to all the code on the site. (For whatever reason, this provider cannot have any specific code load last - something we were able to do at Reynolds Web Solutions more than 17 years ago, BTW.)

Given much of this code is resting in GTM tags, we asked for their Change Log so that we could determine who requested which GTM to be installed and when. (This way we could determine which code could be removed.)

They claim they do not keep a change log.

My question: Does this sound normal? (I would think they would keep a change log if for no other reason than to protect themselves when something breaks.)

I would think most vendors should have a support case history.

Dealer Inspire, for example, keeps a change log history in the website backed that references ticket numbers for each change. And WordPress natively supports revision history tracking. They can also pull up salesforce and look up all open and closed support cases per client.

 

[Alex Snyder]

If the website provider (any provider) has been around for a while, they've run into enough issues where it made financial sense to build tracking into their backend.

If they're newer or have had a lesser client level for a long time, more significant fires could have taken priority.

 

[Joe Duchene]

I've got a new client whose website has been slowing down (a lot) over the last year. Their current Average Page Load Time is north of 10 seconds, and when we asked their website provider to explain, they (of course) pointed to all the code on the site. (For whatever reason, this provider cannot have any specific code load last - something we were able to do at Reynolds Web Solutions more than 17 years ago, BTW.)

Given much of this code is resting in GTM tags, we asked for their Change Log so that we could determine who requested which GTM to be installed and when. (This way we could determine which code could be removed.)

They claim they do not keep a change log.

My question: Does this sound normal? (I would think they would keep a change log if for no other reason than to protect themselves when something breaks.)

I just mentioned this on another thread! Tags are a big blind spot for dealers. Rather than a change log, ask for every single GTM and integration on the site. The integration part is important, because "adding a tag" and "enabling an integration" have the same result but different process. You can get this info yourself via tag assistant, but getting it from site provider can sometimes cut out the manual process below.

Now, this is where manual labor comes in. On the homepage, hit F12 and bring up the console. Hit Ctrl/Cmd + F and search for the GTM tags in your list. Go through the results, and you will normally find a portion of script that calls back to 3rd party's website.

If you want to prioritize by site speed impact, use that same F12 window to look for red errors. Often, when a 3rd party is canceled, it breaks their script. The site "hangs" while it tries to resolve the 404 in the script.

Lastly, if they don't even have a list of GTM and enabled integrations, it's time to set up demos with new providers. Matter of time before a catastrophic failure.

 

[CarlAutofusion]

They should have a support history log. We've helped many dealerships get their site speed faster and like Joe mentioned above, most of the time, the slowness comes from having too many widgets running on the page. A quick way to see if its' due to the website provider is by looking at the First Time To Byte (abbreviated FTTB) when you're running the speed test. If your FTTB score is low, it will almost always be due to the website provider.

 

[joe.pistell]

great thread!
Holy shit! My clients site Time to Interactive is 38 seconds???
https://pagespeed.web.dev/report?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reymore.com%2F (DealerOn )
That cant be right.

 

[joe.pistell]

Used SRP page FAILS?
PageSpeed Insights
Core Web Vitals Assessment: Failed

 

[Tony Giampietro]

I've got a new client whose website has been slowing down (a lot) over the last year. Their current Average Page Load Time is north of 10 seconds, and when we asked their website provider to explain, they (of course) pointed to all the code on the site. (For whatever reason, this provider cannot have any specific code load last - something we were able to do at Reynolds Web Solutions more than 17 years ago, BTW.)

Given much of this code is resting in GTM tags, we asked for their Change Log so that we could determine who requested which GTM to be installed and when. (This way we could determine which code could be removed.)

They claim they do not keep a change log.

My question: Does this sound normal? (I would think they would keep a change log if for no other reason than to protect themselves when something breaks.)

Many times I find that a dealers chat, SRP's and VDP's are the cause for this. I'm sure you know where to find out for sure in GA, but if not, let me know and I will help guide you.

 

[ASuave]

Many times I find that a dealers chat, SRP's and VDP's are the cause for this. I'm sure you know where to find out for sure in GA, but if not, let me know and I will help guide you.

Dont forget the trade valuation tool (or tools), the pop up visa gift card, the pop up trade in reminder, the accessibility icon, the social media floaters, etc etc its no wonder the sites load slower than watching paint dry.