Google announced that it would optimize its ranking algorithm in 2021 to include page experience. In doing so, the tech giant will emphasize user experience and website speed, and Core Web Vitals will be an important piece of that puzzle.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are a subset of factors that Google uses in determining the overall user experience of a page, including things like HTTPS, the lack of malware, the lack of pop-ups, and mobile-friendliness.
The three specific core web vitals are:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – How long it takes from a visitor’s point of view for a page to load.
- First Input Delay (FID) – How long it takes for a user to interact with your page.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – How stable a page appears when loading.
You can see them by accessing your Google Search Console account and going to the “Extensions” section.
While Core Web Vitals are expected to be essential to your Page Experience value, the fact that your values are up to date doesn’t guarantee you a top spot in the SERPs. Since Google uses around 200 factors to rank websites, it is still important to make sure that you have quality content and other parts of your website in the correct order.
Now that you know what the three Core Web Vitals are and what role they play in your rankings, let’s look at how you can improve each one.
How to Improve Your Greatest Contentful Paint (LCP)
As mentioned earlier, the LCP measures page load speed from a user’s perspective. Technically speaking, how long it takes to see most of a page’s content after a link has been clicked.
The faster your LCP, the faster a user can start interacting with your page.
How can you see your LCP score? You can use Google PageSpeed Insights as it shows where you can improve. The best thing to do, however, is to look at your LCP in your Google Search Console, as this data is displayed for your entire website versus page by page. That way, you can see where your site is missing in terms of LCP and attack those poor quality URLs.
To improve your LCP, try the following:
- Upgrade your web hosting to improve your load times and LCP.
- If your CSS is bulky, minimize it.
- Eliminate any large page elements affecting your LCP (Google PageSpeed.)
- Insights pinpoint the culprits for you).
- Eliminate unnecessary third-party scripts, as each can significantly slow down a page.
- Implement lazy loading so that images only load when a user scrolls down your page.
How to Improve Your First Entry Delay (FID)
The second core Web Vital, FID, measures the time it takes for a visitor to interact with your page. For example, the FID could tell how long it takes for someone to type their email address into a field, click a link, select a menu option, and so on.
Why does Google think the FID is important? Because it reflects how users interact with websites in the real world. With that in mind, FID is not that important on pages where you have pure content and the only interaction is scrolling, such as: B. a news article. On the other hand, if your site has a login area where this is the only function of the page, you can bet that the impact of the FID score will be huge.
Whether it’s a login page, a login page, and so on, here’s how to improve your FID score:
- As with the LCP tips, all non-essential third-party scripts have been eliminated.
- Move or minimize JavaScript around the page as users will have trouble interacting when a browser loads JS.
- Load content faster by using a browser cache.
How To Improve Your Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
The third core Web Vital is the CLS, which measures the visual stability of a page. When a page loads, you want it to be stable. If multiple items move while loading, it will result in high CLS and a poor user experience.
Why is a lack of visual stability so undesirable? Because it can negatively affect how a user interacts with the page. For example, if a page is unstable while loading, it could result in the user clicking the wrong link. Or it could force them to relearn where boxes, links, and images are, which could be confusing.
To improve your CLS, do the following:
- Reserve spaces for ad elements so they don’t suddenly appear on one page and move other content.
- Make sure your media has set size attribute dimensions so the visitor’s browser knows how much space an item takes up.
- Place all new UI elements below the fold so that they don’t surprise the user by moving content to a new place.
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