Managing Third-Party Scripts for Performance

Learn how to manage third-party scripts without destroying performance. Covers auditing, loading strategies, and alternatives to heavy scripts.

third-partyjavascriptperformance

The Third-Party Problem

Third-party scripts for analytics, ads, widgets, and tracking often account for 50% or more of JavaScript execution time. Each script adds network requests, CPU usage, and potential blocking.

Managing Third-Party Scripts

1

Audit Your Scripts

List all third-party scripts. Remove any that aren't providing clear value.

2

Load Asynchronously

Use async or defer attributes. Never let third-party scripts block rendering.

3

Delay Non-Essential Scripts

Load chat widgets, social buttons, and other non-critical scripts after page interaction.

4

Self-Host When Possible

Self-hosting eliminates third-party DNS lookups and connection time for critical scripts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Use Chrome DevTools Performance panel to see script execution times, or the Coverage panel to see unused code percentage.
GTM is convenient but adds its own overhead. For performance-critical sites, directly including scripts you need may be faster.

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