The Core Web Vitals Google uses are metrics that form Google’s Page Experience signals. They provide developers with insight into the web page user experience; however, you don’t have to be a developer to get to know Core Web Vitals.
Website owners and managers can use this information to break down the user experience in real-world terms. With this in mind, what are Core Web Vitals, and how do they work?
Primary Google Core Web Vitals
The Core Web Vitals Google uses to determine the user experience are:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
- First Input Delay (FID)
Looking at each element provides somewhat of a picture of how people interact with a website. Of course, the user experience covers a wide area, but examining Web Core Vitals delivers a way to identify parts of a website that need improving. Plus, it shows technical issues that need fixing.
Let’s take a look at each component:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
LCP is a Web Core Vital metric that looks at the user experience in terms of how quickly the largest visual block renders. With the high speed of today’s internet and human attention spans getting shorter, it’s essential that it loads fast and displays in a user-friendly format.
Not only does this Web Core Vital metric provide user experience information, but it also ensures pages load promptly to improve their search engine ranking.
What Does the LCP Metric Measure?
This Web Core Vital looks at the load speed of images and text blocks. When a page loads, this metric measures the time it takes the different blocks on the page to appear. For the average person, this happens in the blink of an eye. However, there’s nothing worse than blocks loading at different speeds, as this affects the user experience.
The LCP metric only considers what’s happening above the fold, so anything below is not measured. Web developers and website owners should aim to achieve LCP within 2.5 seconds. Anything above 4 seconds is deemed poor performance.
How to Improve Core Web Vitals LCP
You can find LCP data in Google’s PageSpeed Insights, which provides a diagnostic of LCP and highlights any issues. To optimise LCP, there are a few steps to take:
- Reduce file sizes and get rid of any you don’t need
- Cache wherever possible, so loading is faster
- Use a local server, as information travelling over further distances takes longer to be transferred
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Another essential portion of the website user experience is the ability to interact with links and buttons. The CLS Web Core Vitals metric looks at these elements and identifies whether they’ve shifted after loading the page.
Overall, this information highlights any challenges users face when engaging with website functionality. For example, it’s frustrating when you’re scrolling a page and buttons or links start moving or shifting. It also makes users click away if the usability is poor.
What Does the CLS Metric Measure?
This helpful Web Core Vitals metric measures any changes between elements on the visible part of the page. In short, if blocks start moving around within the frame while the user is trying to interact with the website, this causes UX issues. If you’ve ever tried to click on a button that suddenly jumped to a new position and clicked on something else, you’ll understand the frustration.
Web developers and owners should aim to achieve CLS within 0.1 seconds. Anything above 0.25 seconds is classed as poor performance.
How to Improve CLS Core Web Vitals
You’ll find information on CLS in Google’s PageSpeed Insights. To optimise this metric, take a look at:
- Images – reserves spaces for images, so you don’t get the shift issue
- Fonts – keep a consistent font that loads as quickly as possible to avoid shifts
First Input Delay (FID)
Users expect the next page to appear immediately when they click on a page element, which is where First Input Delay metrics come in. Modern websites have various components that improve the user experience; however, some of these can hinder load times even by a millisecond.
Any delays, especially long ones, will result in the user clicking away. People don’t want to wait around for a browser to load, so ensuring FID is improved contributes to a better user experience.
What Does the FID Metric Measure?
When a user clicks on a link or button, FID measures the responsiveness of this action. This metric depends on a variety of variables, so it can be challenging to measure. Still, web developers and owners should aim to achieve FID within 100 ms. Anything above 300 ms is considered poor performance.
How to Improve FID Core Web Vitals
Information FID metrics are found in Google’s PageSpeed Insights. In most cases, web pages pass the FID diagnosis; however, if there are areas to work on, check the amount of JavaScript running and reduce this if possible. Other ways to improve this metric include code splitting and moving JavaScript – but you’ll need a developer to work on this to ensure other elements are not affected.
Are Google Core Web Vitals important for SEO?
Google uses over 200 ranking factors within its algorithm. Some carry more weight than others, but each has a part to play. Google’s Core Web Vitals appear to impact search engine rankings, even if only slightly. Still, it’s best to look at the metrics as an overall positive approach to making the user experience the best it can be.
Websites that engage users and deliver what they need tend to perform well in search rankings. As such, examining and testing your Google Core Web Vitals is a great step toward improving the bigger picture – especially from a Core Web Vitals SEO standpoint.
What Are The Best Web Core Vitals Test Applications?
Web Core Vitals are a helpful way to improve functionality for enhanced user experience. Although there are plenty of Core Web Vitals test tools you can use, it’s best to opt for field data over lab data options so you can see real-world information.
Some examples of Web Core Vitals tools include:
- PageSpeed Insights
- Web Core Vitals report within Google Search Console
- Chrome User Experience Report
- Web Vitals Extension
- Click Intelligence Core Web Vitals Checker
All of these tools may seem challenging at first glance, but once you’ve mastered them, they are invaluable when it comes to evaluating and improving your Web Core Vitals.
If your Core Web Vitals assessment failed, you can see exactly where you need to make improvements, enabling you to devise a strategic, data-driven plan that’ll boost your website’s user experience. A Core Web Vitals update to your website might involve making small, simple modifications, or it may even entail an entire overhaul. Whatever the case, your site’s user experience can only get better thanks to these helpful insights – as long as you implement positive changes.
