90% of your website’s effectiveness depends on how fast it can load to a user’s. In that sense, Google uses your website speed as a core web vital point to rank your content in the SERP. So, by perfectly optimizing Google’s core web vitals, your website will perform faster, rank higher, and provide a better user experience. This article will help you understand,
What are Google’s Core Web Vitals?
Google’s core web vitals can be described as some specific points that Google prioritizes to massage a website’s overall user experience. These matrices allow Google to focus on your site’s web performance and user interaction.
Core web vitals can have a great impact because they can influence search rankings and a website’s overall user experience. Moreover, a website with a good core web vital score will have better engagement and a low bounce rate.
3 Key Components of Core Web Vitals
Google Core web vitals are based on 3 metrics determining a website’s speed. There are some other new metrics that you can see in the Chrome browser, but they are not very important. The Key Components are,
i. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
This metric measures how much time it takes to load content. an LCP should happen within 2.5 seconds after the first-page load. This metric also depends on 2 other metrics,
- Time of the First Byte: This metric determines the speed at which the server will respond to an initial request for the HTML document.
- First Contentful Pain: This determines how long it may take for content to appear on a page.
ii. First Input Delay (FID)
Well, FID can be considered a user-centric performance metric that measures the exact time from when a user first encounters a web page to when the browser is able to respond to that interaction.
This can be clicking a link, tapping a button, or some other avaScript-powered control.
iii. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
This one works as a performance metric that indicates the overall visual stability of a web page. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) often quantifies on the contrary how often a user is experiencing unexpected shifts on layouts while scrolling a website.
Layout shifts are unexpected changes of image frames that can cause unexpected movements for web pages.
Remember, by contents, we mean text or images. Because of their size and quality, video files might take longer than expected.
What is Google Core Web Vital Test?
This test measures the three key metrics mentioned: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Each metric is used for different aspects, such as loading and visual elements.
If you have insights on these metrics, you can easily test from a user’s perspective and improve the website in different areas. To perform Google core web vital tests you might need help from tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, and Search Console.
Once in a while, go for Google Core web vitals test which can help you determine what changes your website might need. For example, after a test, you may see that your overall CLS score is not as expected, meaning you need to modify the overall website design.
Through continuous monitoring of Google Core web vitality, you can ensure your website’s optimal performance. Moreover, regular tests and updates can help you see changes in web standards and user expectations.
What is the Best Core Web Vital Test Score?
Google’s core web vital metrics depend on three basic indicators: “Good,” “Poor,” and “Needs Improvement.”
| Metric | Description | Good | Needs Improvement | Poor |
| Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | Measures loading performance | ≤ 2.5 seconds > | 2.5 seconds and ≤ 4.0 seconds | > 4.0 seconds |
| First Input Delay (FID) | Measures interactivity | ≤ 100 milliseconds > 100 milliseconds | and ≤ 300 milliseconds | > 300 milliseconds |
| Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | Measures visual stability | ≤ 0.1 | > 0.1 and ≤ 0.25 | > 0.25 |
These measurements will be applied to rank your website on Google. To rank higher, your website has to score “Good” in all the Google core web vital metrics. However, if your website continuously loses its efficiency and reaches the “Poor” threshold, then you can expect a gradual decrease of rank in Google.
3 Ways to Improve Your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
The first metric of Google core web vaitals will affect the rest of the metrics, so it’s crucial that you fix and improve it before making any modifications on the other two.
i. Optimize server response time
First thing you have to do is improve your server response time, because when the server responds faster it can process any requests quickly, hence rendering the largest content element sooner. Here are some ways you can achieve server response time more effectively,
a. CDN
You can use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) provider. A CDN is a group or network of multiple web servers that speeds up data loading for larger files. Cloudflare, GCORE, KeyCDN, and Akamai are some of the best CDN providers.
b. Perfect your site’s caching
Caching is a process that temporarily stores frequently used server-side data in the user’s browser. Implementing efficient caching strategies can help you optimize server response time more effectively. Use caching tools like Redis or Memcached to store and set dynamic content appropriately.
c. Use a faster and reliable web hosting service
Your web hosting service will store most of your website data to their servers. So, all your website goes through your provider and reaches your user. So, a better web hosting service that ensures high performance, good SSD storage, and redundant data centers can exceptionally reduce your server response time.
ii. Compress your website images
Well, images are the fundamental visual content that affects a website’s overall speed. Images and videos contribute to fast or slow loading, and their optimization can impact LCP.
There are a few methods you can try to modify your images according to your needs,
- Image formats: Use image formats like WebP or PNG, which are purposely made for web images and don’t lose their resolution even after compression.
- Image responsiveness: Try to make your images responsive by implementing, lazy loading, CSS, HTML5 Picture Element
- Image dimensions: Modify your image dimensions to website banner size.
iii. Minimize render-blocking resource on your site
Many render-blocking elements, like JavaScript and CSS, delay rendering LCP and negatively affect the user side. You can fix this issue by implementing async attributes that load non-essential JavaScript faster. Afterward, the user-side browser will render the main content before executing these scripts.
3 Ways to Improve Your First Input Delay (FID)
Now that you have fixed your LCP, it’s time to focus on First Input Delay (FID). This metric also plays a vital role making your overall core web vitals more effective and perfect.
a. Minimize your JavaScript execution
A big chunk of the Javascript bundle can block your main thread of contents and slow down any browser’s capabilities to respond to user interactions. Here are some ways you fix this issue,
- How about you try code splitting? This can include breaking down large JavaScript bundles into smaller ones because small chunks are more manageable for most browsers.
- You can also defer non-essential JavaScript codes that help the browser to render main array contents before executing these scripts.
b. Use Web Workers
Web workers is a web browser feature that helps you to run javascript in the background, independently of the main execution thread of a web application. Offloading this feature’s tasks like data processing or calculations can prevent them from blocking the main thread.
By doing so, the main thread will remain free to handle user interactions, resulting in a more responsive experience.
c. Reduce third-party scripts
Always try to reduce the use of additional third-party scripts, as they add additional loading and execution time to your website.
Third-party scripts are advertisements that come with advertising networks, social media widgets, or analytics tools. Avoid third-party scripts that are not essential for your website’s stability.
3 Ways to Improve Your Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
The final core vital metric is Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which will determine the overall visual output of your website.
1. Include Size Attributes for Images and Videos
Instead of just adding images or videos, try to add their size attributes as well. This way, your uploaded images will have predefined dimensions. To avoid this, you can include the height and width attributes of your HTML and CSS images and videos.
With height and width included, it will ensure that the browser allocates the correct amount of space while all the necessary resources are loading.
2. Reserve Space for Ads and Embeds
After a certain amount of website views, your website will automatically be eligible for ads. These ads can also cause significant layout shifts because of their unnatural size specifications and position.
The solution is pretty simple, just reserve specific places in your webpages, using placeholder divs with predefined dimensions. This involves allocating static space that will match the expected size of the ad, preventing it from pushing other crucial contents around while they load.
3. Use font display strategies
Web fonts can also be crucial for loading behavior patterns resulting in invisible text (FOIT) or a flash of unstyled text (FOUT). You can use font display strategies, like CSS with value fallback, or swap.
This control can fix the issue by controlling how any text or font is loaded, ensuring visibility and avoiding shifts in the text’s position. Also, by managing font load and display, you can maintain a consistent layout to make your visitors’ exploration more efficient.
Why Should You Care about Core Web Vitals?
It’s not why you should care about them, you have to care about your website’s core vital metrics because they can directly impact your website’s ranking. Practically, these matrices will help you achieve the ultimate goal of getting rank on Google.
1. Impacts your website SEO Rankings
One of the best parts of core web vitals is that it can directly impact any website ranking in days.
After configuring core web vitals, you might see a dramatic shift in your website’s ranking. Certain web pages’ ranking will go up in 2-3 days. Sometimes, this can only take a few hours, considering the improvement you made on core web vitals.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), it signals to search engines that your site offers a high-quality user experience, leading to a greater visibility in SRPs.
2. Better user experience
You definitely want to give your visitors a pleasant and smoother experience, when they visit your site.
The core web vitals that influence quick load time, website response to certain actions, and visible stability directly improve user experience. This reduces frustration and keeps users engaged longer.
Because visitors would love to have full control over their browsing without any interruptions.
3. Exceptional engagement from users
With a better user experience, users will surely want to see more from your website. They will gladly explore more pages, see more of your content, and complete desired actions such as signing up for newsletters or buying something from your stores.
Your users will have a better experience, and your website will have better conversion rates; it’s a win-win situation!
With core web vital enhanced, you ensure a great user environment and are likely to earn their loyalty in the future.
4. Your website will have a competitive advantage
Performance can be the key element for a website. A good-performing site will likely have better engagements and ultimately compete with other websites for dominance.
With enhanced Google core web vitals at your side, you can easily stay ahead of the game and remain there for a long time.
FAQ
How can I pass on Google Core web vitals?
To pass on Google core web vitals score, you have to perfect LCP, FID, and CLS,
- Largest Contentful Paint
- First Input Delay
- Cumulative Layout Shift
You must reduce network latency and minimize JavaScript execution. The more you enhance these metrics, the better your chance of passing on Google’s core web vitals.
Can Google Core web vitals affect SEO?
Yes, Google Core web vitals can easily affect your SEO. Improved scores can significantly boost your SEO, leading to higher rankings and increased organic traffic.
Ensuring a good user experience through optimized Core Web Vitals is crucial for maintaining and improving your site’s visibility.
What is the best page speed score?
A page speed score of 90 or above is considered the page speed score. Achieving this score can be incredibly tough considering many important aspects like network conditions, image comparison, quick loading time, and user experience.
How accurate is Google page speed data?
Google PageSpeed data can be pretty accurate. They combine real user metrics (field data) and lab data, providing an assessment of your site’s performance and areas.
How often should you test core web vitals?
Try to make your core web vitals more regular because consistent monitoring ensures optimal performance and quick issue resolution and maintains good user experience and SEO rankings.
Make Your Website Standout by Enhancing Google Core Web Vitals
Google core web vitals can be considered as a more effective practical form for SEO. Where SEO is the ultimate book for ranking, where core web vitals is a chapter.
By perfecting the 3 core metrics of Google’s core web vitals, you are not only making your website effective but also making it future-proof in many ways.
We hope the information we provided is all the answers you need for the Google Core web vitals test.