Select Page
Affiliate Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. When you click and make a purchase, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting our content.

Google Core Web Vitals and Website Performance: 3 Important Insights.

Feb 8, 2022 | Episode

Google Core Web Vitals and website performance. What do they mean and why do we care?

Google’s Core Web Vitals – A Guide for Marketers

This blog post explains the importance of Google’s Core Web Vitals for website performance, particularly from a marketing perspective. It explores what these vitals are, why marketers should care about them, and how they can be measured and improved.

https://web.dev/vitals/#core-web-vitals

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/07/08/what-are-googles-new-core-web-vitals–why-should-your-business-care-about-them/?sh=5987c5595989

Introduction to Web Performance and Core Web Vitals

Web performance refers to the speed and efficiency with which a website loads and responds to user interactions. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) establishes standards and metrics for web performance. While traditional metrics provide insights into technical aspects, Google’s Core Web Vitals initiative focuses on user experience.

These vitals are a set of quality signals that Google deems essential for a positive user experience. They were introduced in May 2020 and provide unified guidance for website owners and marketers.

Why Should Marketers Care?

Core Web Vitals are crucial for marketers because Google prioritizes websites that offer a good user experience in its search rankings. A website with poor Core Web Vitals may rank lower in search results, resulting in less organic traffic and potential customers.

The metrics provide insights into how users perceive a website’s performance, rather than just focusing on technical loading times. This user-centric approach is vital for understanding how visitors engage with a website and whether they have a positive experience.

Understanding the Core Web Vitals

There are three key metrics that make up Google’s Core Web Vitals:

  • Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures how long it takes for the largest content element on a page to become visible. A fast LCP indicates that users can quickly see the most important content, such as a product image or the main image of an article.
  • First Input Delay (FID): Measures the time it takes for a website to respond to a user’s first interaction, such as clicking a button or scrolling. A low FID means that the website feels responsive and doesn’t leave users waiting.
  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Quantifies the visual stability of a page as it loads. A low CLS score indicates that the page loads smoothly without unexpected content shifts.

Cumulative Layout Shift: A Deep Dive

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is particularly important for user experience. A high CLS score means that elements on the page shift around unexpectedly as it loads, which can be frustrating and disruptive for users.

A score of zero is ideal, indicating no layout shifts. While Google considers a score between 0 and 0.1 to be in the green zone, even minor shifts can negatively impact user experience.

Common causes of layout shifts include:

  • Ads or banners loading late and pushing content down.
  • Images without specified dimensions.
  • Dynamically injected content that alters the page layout.

To achieve a good CLS score, prioritize optimizing these aspects of your website.

Measuring and Improving Core Web Vitals

Several tools are available to measure and improve Core Web Vitals:

  • PageSpeed Insights: A free tool from Google that analyzes a webpage’s performance and provides recommendations for improvement.
  • WebPageTest: A free tool that allows for synthetic testing from different locations globally.
  • Real User Monitoring (RUM): Tools that collect data from actual user interactions, providing insights into real-world performance.

By using these tools, marketers can identify areas for improvement and track the impact of their optimization efforts.

Beyond Core Web Vitals: The Frustration Index

Tim Veerecke, a web performance consultant, has developed the Frustration Index, a metric that looks beyond individual Core Web Vitals and focuses on the overall user experience.

The Frustration Index considers the time differences between key loading milestones. For example, if the initial page load is fast but users then have to wait a long time for the main content to appear, frustration can build up.

This index highlights the importance of considering the entire user journey when optimizing website performance.

Tim Vereecke  – https://www.linkedin.com/in/timvereecke/ 

https://pagespeed.web.dev/

Frustration Index: https://calendar.perfplanet.com/2019/frustrationindex-mind-the-gap/ 

https://www.frustrationindex.com/

Conclusion

Google’s Core Web Vitals are essential for a positive user experience and improved search engine rankings. Marketers should prioritize optimizing these metrics to ensure that their websites are fast, responsive, and visually stable.

By using the tools and insights discussed in this blog post, marketers can create websites that not only rank well but also provide a delightful experience for their users.

Check out this other episode on web performance buddgets with Speedcurve.

🔥 Like and Subscribe 🔥

Connect with me 👋
TWITTER â–º https://bit.ly/3HmWF8d
LINKEDIN COMPANY â–º https://bit.ly/3kICS9g
LINKEDIN PROFILE â–º https://bit.ly/30Eshp7

Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee! https://bit.ly/3NadcPK

🔗 Links: