When the internet powerhouse Google announces an update, you have to prepare for what’s coming, because they don’t make changes without a specific purpose. One such update was the Core Web Vitals , which went into effect in mid-2021.
What are Core Web Vitals ? Core Web Vitals are a factor used to measure page experience or user experience. They measure the time it takes for a user to begin interacting with a web page.
In other words, Core Web Vitals are measurements that Google uses to assess the quality of a website’s navigation. This is true for users. It aims to ensure that the website offers the best experience, and that users perceive it as such.
The important Google Core Web Vitals update is based on three indicators or metrics known as LCP FID and CLS. These are used to analyze a website’s performance and user experience.
Core Web Vitals Metrics Group
Core Web Vitals are a collection of metrics that help Google define user experience through Web Vitals. In other words, they measure the satisfaction a website provides to visitors.
To do this, it uses a host of metrics known as the Core Web Vitals metrics group . Their primary function is to achieve a favorable experience for website visitors.
Therefore, website owners and digital marketing experts, especially those who manage SEO, must take every precaution to adhere to the Core Web Vitals .
Ultimately, what Google wants with Core Web Vitals is to guide websites through a guide to improving the user experience.
Although what I’ve said seems like it’s new (which it is), don’t forget that Google is known for providing tools to improve performance.
Therefore, you should ensure that your website meets Google’s requirements. This significantly improves your website’s visibility to your users.
With all that said, you don’t need to be a great expert, but you do need to understand what Core Web Vitals require to ensure your website ranks well. Ultimately, the goal is to help websites develop and measure these metrics.
And now it’s time to learn about the Core Web Vitals . It’s worth noting that each parameter represents a distinct segment of the user experience. For example, website loading, stability, and interactivity, among others. The LCP FID and CLS parameters will be broken down below:
1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
It’s the first metric that marks the work of Core Web Vitals . LCP, or Largest Contentful Paint, measures the time it takes for a web page and its longest or most important content to load above the fold, or what it takes to load first without having to scroll down.
That is, when a user enters a web page. The LCP is responsible for analyzing or calculating the total time from the moment the user enters until the site finishes loading.
LCP can be defined as the time it takes a website to load its largest or heaviest visible element. This is from the exact moment the user visits the website. These elements can include images, videos, or text.
When the heaviest portion of content, whether image or text, takes time to load, it results in a high LCP. However, if images load first, followed by the title and text, the result is a low LCP.
And if you’re wondering: What’s the perfect LCP score? For Google to rank highly for the first Core Web Vitals factor , the LCP must return a result under 2.5 seconds.
With this metric, Google analyzes the loading and rendering time of longer content. Therefore, you should be careful with any images, text, or videos on your website that may take a long time to load. This can result in a low score, which affects SEO ranking and, above all, reduces the opportunity to offer a good user experience.
2. First Input Delay (FID)
The second Core Web Vitals studies the time it takes a website to respond to the first user interaction.
FID, or First Input Delay, is the metric that calculates the time it takes for a web page to respond to a user’s click. In other words, it measures how fast the interaction was and how long the web page allows the user to interact with it.
Still not entirely clear? Let’s try this exercise: Imagine you’re a user and when you enter a website, it pauses for a moment. And of course, your patience runs out to the point where the wait seems like an eternity.
This is where FID comes into play: measuring the time it takes a web page to respond to clicks. Above all, it calculates the user’s time and experience. Whether they were happy with the interaction—especially if it seemed quick—or, on the contrary, frustrating.
Ultimately, the FID measures the minimum interaction time between a user and the website they visit. The faster the FID, the better the user experience.
For your website to have a good FID score, it must be responsive within 0.1 seconds or 100 milliseconds.
But if this exceeds the interactivity time by an average rate of 300 milliseconds, the score obtained will be poor.
3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
CLS, or Cumulative Layout Shift, is the third factor measured by Google and is responsible for analyzing the visual stability of a web page.
That is, it measures changes in the position of uncontrolled elements in a URL. These changes occur while the URL is loading, consequently hindering proper navigation.
In other words, CLS measures the movement of objects on a web page as it loads. This movement can be seen as “cluttered” on the user’s screen.
For example, if you access a web page and notice that the content has shifted up or down, or if the text that was loading is no longer there, and the layout has suddenly changed.
All of these changes, which are a bit confusing and happen cumulatively, create a poor user experience and lead to a poor CLS score.
To determine the CLS or visual stability metric, your website must score less than 0.1. This ensures a good user experience. An average score is between 0.11 and 0.25. A poor score is more than 0.25.
How does SEO affect Core Web Vitals ?
And with all of the above, it can be determined that Core Web Vitals impact the technical aspects of a website. Their goal is to establish improvements in the user experience through proper navigation on a website. Therefore, these parameters directly affect SEO.
However, Core Web Vitals are based on the pages themselves, not the domain. This means they aren’t the only factor Google uses to determine a search engine ranking.
Therefore, you should be aware of more traditional SEO metrics, such as quality content and architecture, as well as keywords and backlinks. This will help with SEO.
And of course, monitor Core Web Vitals , which are more technical metrics but will help improve the quality of the user experience. That is, the quality and optimization of your website’s user experience and the experience you offer your visitors.
It can therefore be said that Core Web Vitals and their associated LCP, FID, and CLS values do not directly affect SEO ranking. However, they gradually influence Google’s ranking, as user experience is an important factor in its algorithms.
Core Web Vitals in Google Search Console
As expected, on the Google Search Console platform you can obtain a report of the Core Web Vitals metrics .
You can go to the “Enhancements” section and then select “Core Web Metrics.” There you’ll see detailed graphs and analysis of LCP, FID, and CLS.
They are easily analyzed by color: Red = serious. Yellow = warning. Green = good.
How do I fix my Core Web Vitals ?
To improve your Core Web Vitals, you should prioritize optimizing technical aspects of your website, such as:
- Optimize image loading speed by taking into account their weight and size.
- Prevent image loading via JavaScript.
- Use a quality hosting.
- Remove any JavaScript elements that slow down the page.
- Optimize page loading speed.
- Specify the dimensions of the web page when structuring it.
