August 7th. Circle it. Highlight it. Tattoo it on your forearm. (Just Kidding!)
Today we celebrate those stoic towers that have been keeping ships from becoming underwater décor for centuries. August 7th is National Lighthouse Day. Perfect timing to talk about the other lighthouse judging your website.
Google Lighthouse: Your Site's Report Card
Google Lighthouse scores your website 0-100 on speed and performance. Think of it as a very picky teacher:
- 90-100: Gold star student
- 50-89: Could do better
- Below 50: See me after class
For publishers, this creates a problem. You need engaging content, big images, videos, interactive maps, ad tech that pays the bills. All the stuff that makes sites worth visiting... and tanks your Lighthouse score.
The Reality Check
Here's what most people don't know: plenty of successful publishers have mediocre Lighthouse scores.
Why? Because Lighthouse only tells part of the story:
It's a lab test, not real life. Lighthouse simulates a slow phone on slow wifi. Your actual readers use all kinds of devices and benefit from caching that Lighthouse doesn't measure.
Content beats speed. Google prioritizes relevance over raw speed. A slightly slower page with killer content will outrank a lightning-fast page about nothing.
Engagement matters more. If readers spend 8 minutes on your Japan travel guide, that matters way more than shaving off 0.3 seconds of load time.
So no, a mediocre Lighthouse score doesn’t mean you’re off course. But it does mean you should think carefully about what gets added to your pages, especially when it comes to monetization.
👉 Curious how to add monetization without hurting your UX or performance scores? Book a quick chat with our team and we’ll show you how.
Which Brings Us to Nova...
You want to earn more revenue from your content, but not at the cost of slower load times, layout shifts, or frustrated dev teams. That’s where Nova comes in.
Nova is Stay22’s AI-powered booking assistant, designed specifically for travel publishers who want to earn more from existing content without torching their Lighthouse score in the process.
Why Nova Doesn’t Mess With Your Metrics
Here’s how Nova keeps your site clean, calm, and high-performing:
- Loads after user interaction (no extra page weight at load)
- No layout shifts (your content stays put)
- Device-aware (it works where your users are)
- Triggers only when needed (triggers for about 5% of readers, typically no more than once every 40 days per browser)
Put simply: Nova adds revenue, not chaos.
So What’s the Point?
Original lighthouses guided ships without getting in the way.
Google Lighthouse tries to guide UX decisions (sometimes aggressively). And Nova helps you monetize your site without breaking either.
Because not every tool needs to slow you down to be valuable. Some just need to not suck.
Happy National Lighthouse Day from Stay22. 🎉
And may your traffic be high and your load times low!
