Google has introduced some important innovations among the ranking factors, which are closely linked to the user experience and the quality of the content.
It is about the Core Web Vitals, which are evaluated to score the Page Experience on your website.
Now let’s see better what it is.
What are Core Web Vitals
The Core Web Vitals are specific factors that Google considers particularly important.
It is on them, in fact, that the Page Experience score is based , i.e. the user’s experience on a given page.
The higher this score, the better the ranking.
Remember, however, that Google’s algorithm is very complex, so you will have to work on SEO at 360 ° to obtain appreciable results.
The new parameters introduced by Google, namely iCore Web Vitals, are these:
- Largest contentful paint;
- First input delay;
- Cumulative layout shift.
You can monitor these metrics within the Google Search Console, in the Enhancements> Essential Web Signals section .
Let’s analyze them one by one.
Largest contentful paint
The Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is the time it takes to load the main content of a page.
In summary, how long does a page take to load the essential elements that the user needs to view it.
This Core Web Vitals parameter is based on real data, that is, processed starting from the actual experience of the users.
Page speed analysis tools , for example, rely on simulated and therefore more approximate data.
Google believes that the Largest Contentful Paint must be less than 2.5 seconds to be considered a good score. Between 2.5 and 4 seconds, it is considered a value to improve.
If the LCP is greater than 4 seconds, performance is poor.
First input delay
The First input delay (FID) is the time it takes to interact with the page.
That is, it indicates the time that passes from its opening to the moment in which functions are available, such as clicking on a button or opening the menu.
It is a value that always concerns the loading time of the page but, specifically, it establishes the time necessary to be able to operate on it.
It is quite an important value on those pages where taking an action is the purpose of the page itself.
For a blog article, where mostly textual content and images are found, there are actually no actions to take.
On a login page, on the other hand, the possibility to enter username and password and click on the Login button should be available as soon as possible.
Cumulative layout shift
The value that determines the stability of a page is called Cumulative layout shift (CLS).
Have you ever loaded a web page, and after a few moments some element moves to its final position?
The more this phenomenon occurs, the higher the CLS. This is also a Core Web Vital that affects the experience on the page.
Core Web Vitals measurement
Based on the speed detected for these three parameters, your site can have a good rating, to improve or poor. In the table above ( source Google ) you can see that:
- The LCP values are good if lower than or equal to 2.5 seconds, they should be improved if between 2.5 and 4 seconds, they are poor if higher than 4 seconds;
- The FID values are good if less than or equal to 100 milliseconds, they should be improved if between 100 and 300 milliseconds, they are poor if they are greater than 300 milliseconds;
- CLS values are good if less than or equal to 0.1 seconds, they should be improved if between 0.1 and 0.25 seconds, and poor if greater than 0.25 seconds.
By consulting the Search Console, you will be able to find out the values relating to the pages of your site.
How to improve the values of the Core Web Vitals
After analyzing these parameters, you will surely find yourself with the question “And now how do I improve the score?”
To improve the performance of your site, there are some very practical actions that you can take right away. And if you can’t get the desired results, contact us and we will gladly help you improve your Core Web Vitals.
First, you need to know that the main cause of poor LCP is hosting, because it depends on too slow server response.
There are many other techniques to increase the speed of your site and thus improve the values of Core Web Vitals. For example, start relieving your pages of everything you don’t need, especially unnecessary scripts.
Check your plugins and uninstall any that you really don’t need . Remember that sometimes, some functions can also be performed by WordPress itself, without the need to add plugins.
It then optimizes the images , using appropriate sizes, compressing the files and using newer formats such as JPEG 2000, JPEG XR or WebP.
Also reduce the size of CSS and JavaScript files, through their minification and using Gzip compression.
Conclusion
The Core Web Vitals they are therefore three important parameters that contribute to the assignment of a Page Experience score.
They are based on the user experience on the page and are:
- The Largest contentful paint, which is about loading;
- The First input delay, which concerns the interaction;
- Cumulative layout shift, which concerns visual stability.
It is important to remember that other SEO factors affect the user experience, including the appearance of the site on mobile devices or the presence of https.
