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PLS by user type

PLS by user type without noise

Vasil Dachev avatar
Written by Vasil Dachev
Updated over a week ago


What is PLS by user type

PLS by user type lens breaks down Perceived Load Speed (PLS) across two audience segments: First-time visitors and Returning users. This helps you understand whether users who are new to your site experience it differently from those who’ve been here before.

First-time visitors often rely more on cacheless experiences, cold server responses, and full render passes — making them more susceptible to delays. In contrast, returning users might benefit from browser cache, stored assets, or improved personalization, which can result in faster perceived speed.

Since PLS reflects the moment when the page feels visually complete to a user, differences here often signal how well your site handles cold vs warm user states.



Healthy PLS by user type sample


Should you worry

A healthy PLS by user type lens will show both visitor types in the green. Even if returning users load slightly faster, the key is ensuring that first-time visitors don’t fall into the yellow or red zones — since they often make up the majority of ad traffic, SEO landings, and early funnel visits.

If your first impressions are slow, you risk losing users before they’ve had a chance to engage.

Unhealthy PLS by user type sample

An unhealthy PLS by user type often shows noticeably slower perceived speeds for first-time visitors. This may result from heavier initial payloads, lack of preloading, or unoptimized third-party scripts. These delays create friction right when user attention is most fragile — leading to more bounces and lower conversions.

Resolving unhealthy PLS by user type

Go-to action plan to resolve an unhealthy PLS by user type:

  1. Ask Uxi to analyze your PLS by user type and suggest improvements.

  2. Use Filters to focus on user type and examine other PLS lenses (such as page, device, or connection type) to identify compounding issues.

  3. Simulate LCP of the suspected lens to see if fixing it will resolve the PLS by user type. If yes, this is where the resolution focus should be.

  4. Use an automated optimization tool like Navigation AI to improve your PLS by user type.

  5. Once you’ve improved PLS, set an alert to be the first to know if it starts worsening again.

Try it yourself

Discover how your website performs with real user data.

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