Google’s Web Performance Developer Advocate, Barry Pollard, has clarified how Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is measured.

CLS quantifies how much unexpected layout shift occurs when a person browses your site.

This metric matters to SEO as it’s one of Google’s Core Web Vitals. Pages with low CLS scores provide a more stable experience, potentially leading to better search visibility.

How is it measured? Pollard addressed this question in a thread on X.

For Core Web Vitals what is CLS measured in? Why is 0.1 considered not good and 0.25 bad, and what do those numbers represent?

I’ve had 3 separate conversations on this with various people in last 24 hours so figured it’s time for another deep dive thread to explain…

🧵 1/12 pic.twitter.com/zZoTur6Ad4

— Barry Pollard (@tunetheweb) October 10, 2024

Understanding CLS Measurement

Pollard began by explaining the nature of CLS measurement:

“CLS is ‘unitless’ unlike LCP and INP which are measured in seconds/milliseconds.”

He further clarified:

“Each layout shift is calculated by multipyling two percentages or fractions together: What moved (impact fraction) How much it moved (distance fraction).”

This calculation method helps quantify the severity of layout shifts.

As Pollard explained:

“The whole viewport moves all the way down – that’s worse than just half the view port moving all the way down. The whole viewport moving down a little? That’s not as bad as the whole viewport moving down a lot.”

Worse Case Scenario

Pollard described the worst-case scenario for a single layout shift:

“The maximum layout shift is if 100% of the viewport (impact fraction = 1.0) is moved one full viewport down (distance fraction = 1.0).

This gives a layout shift score of 1.0 and is basically the worst type of shift.”

However, he reminds us of the cumulative nature of CLS:

“CLS is Cumulative Layout Shift, and that first word (cumulative) matters. We take all the individual shifts that happen within a short space of time (max 5 seconds) and sum them up to get the CLS score.”

Pollard explained the reasoning behind the 5-second measurement window:

“Originally we cumulated ALL the shifts, but that didn’t really measure the UX—especially for pages opened for a long time (think SPAs or email). Measuring all shifts meant, given enough, time even the best pages would fail!”

He also noted the theoretical maximum CLS score:

“Since each element can only shift when a frame is drawn and we have a 5 second cap and most devices run at 60fps, that gives a theoretical cap on CLS of 5 secs * 60 fps * 1.0 max shift = 300.”

Interpreting CLS Scores

Pollard addressed how to interpret CLS scores:

“… it helps to think of CLS as a percentage of movement. The good threshold of 0.1 means about the page moved 10%—which could mean the whole page moved 10%, or half the page moved 20%, or lots of little movements were equivalent to either of those.”

Regarding the specific threshold values, Pollard explained:

“So why is 0.1 ‘good’ and 0.25 ‘poor’? That’s explained here as was a combination of what we’d want (CLS = 0!) and what is achievable … 0.05 was actually achievable at the median, but for many sites it wouldn’t be, so went slightly higher.”

See also: How You Can Measure Core Web Vitals

Why This Matters

Pollard’s insights provide web developers and SEO professionals with a clearer understanding of measuring and optimizing for CLS.

As you work with CLS, keep these points in mind:

• CLS is unitless and calculated from impact and distance fractions.
• It’s cumulative, measuring shifts over a 5-second window.
• The “good” threshold of 0.1 roughly equates to 10% of viewport movement.
• CLS scores can exceed 1.0 due to multiple shifts adding up.
• The thresholds (0.1 for “good”, 0.25 for “poor”) balance ideal performance with achievable goals.

With this insight, you can make adjustments to achieve Google’s threshold.

---

Featured Image: Piscine26/Shutterstock

We analyzed the organic growth of 1,600 SaaS companies to discover the SEO strategies that work best in 2024.

In this article, we’re looking at bootstrapped SaaS companies that gained the greatest amount of referring domains in the past year.

Bootstrapped businesses generally don’t have huge budgets to spend on marketing, so any strategy these small-but-mighty companies use to improve their organic growth is something that you can take inspiration from, too.

• We used the Ahrefs API to pull a list of live referring domains for each company in September 2023 and September 2024.
• Companies were ranked by referring domain growth as a percentage of their initial referring domains. We’ve set a minimum starting threshold of 1,000 referring domains.
• We’ve reported on referring domains instead of backlinks, because 1,000 referring domains are much, much harder to get than 1,000 backlinks.

Rank	Company	Referring Domains 2023	Referring Domains 2024	Referring Domain Growth	Change	Estimated Revenue
1	Elfsight	7,657	33,610	25,953	339%	$8.0M
2	Short.io	5,709	18,573	12,864	225%	$0.5M
3	Gymdesk	1,325	3,052	1,727	130%	$5.5M
4	Helpjuice	4,015	8,672	4,657	116%	$6.0M
5	AlsoAsked	1,602	3,343	1,741	109%	$0.5M
6	Stripo	2,304	4,420	2,116	92%	$5.5M
7	Clearscope	1,883	3,580	1,697	90%	$5.5M
8	Surfer	5,815	10,899	5,084	87%	$37.5M
9	Wordtune	2,877	5,347	2,470	86%	$1.0M
10	Crowdin	4,818	8,919	4,101	85%	$17.5M
11	Socialinsider	3,264	6,007	2,743	84%	$0.8M
12	SpyFu	8,101	14,821	6,720	83%	$2.0M
13	Pentest-Tools.com	1,543	2,779	1,236	80%	$5.5M
14	Canny	4,411	7,675	3,264	74%	$5.5M
15	Surfshark	13,898	24,056	10,158	73%	$20.0M
16	Sitebulb	1,232	2,093	861	70%	$0.5M
17	Seobility	3,496	5,900	2,404	69%	$5.0M
18	SpyCloud	1,192	1,987	795	67%	$14.0M
19	MxToolbox	10,718	17,736	7,018	65%	$9.0M
20	Shiftbase	1,077	1,780	703	65%	$17.5M
21	Signaturely	1,113	1,839	726	65%	$0.5M
22	Lemlist	1,613	2,654	1,041	65%	$6.0M
23	Sitechecker	5,938	9,732	3,794	64%	$6.1M
24	SavvyCal	1,272	2,070	798	63%	$5.5M
25	Statusbrew	2,750	4,470	1,720	63%	$14.0M
26	Wisepops	1,291	2,086	795	62%	$3.0M
27	Glassnode	5,041	8,123	3,082	61%	$5.5M
28	DeviceAtlas	2,765	4,442	1,677	61%	$19.0M
29	Float.com	1,021	1,638	617	60%	$5.5M
30	RTINGS.com	8,601	13,779	5,178	60%	$6.3M
31	Smallpdf	13,953	22,264	8,311	60%	$17.5M
32	Clockify	6,109	9,733	3,624	59%	$5.5M
33	Mailtrap	3,162	4,991	1,829	58%	$5.5M
34	BambooHR	8,511	13,410	4,899	58%	$237.8M
35	Setapp	13,178	20,696	7,518	57%	$15.0M
36	WebCEO	2,495	3,891	1,396	56%	$25.0M
37	Visme	10,354	16,135	5,781	56%	$1.0M
38	UpLead	1,823	2,833	1,010	55%	$17.5M
39	Slickplan	1,345	2,086	741	55%	$1.0M
40	Jotform	45,485	69,553	24,068	53%	$21.0M
41	Wiza	2,013	3,070	1,057	53%	$5.5M
42	Ahrefs	52,536	80,036	27,500	52%	$100.0M
43	Plausible Analytics	6,084	9,251	3,167	52%	$5.5M
44	Creately	7,816	11,844	4,028	52%	$12.0M
45	Homerun	2,040	3,068	1,028	50%	$38.4M
46	Yardi	1,928	2,880	952	49%	$5500.0M
47	Infinite Campus	1,029	1,534	505	49%	$56.0M
48	Filemail	3,829	5,694	1,865	49%	$1.0M
49	LiveAgent	4,740	7,034	2,294	48%	$5.0M
50	Semaphore	2,727	4,025	1,298	48%	$4.0M

Want to work out how virtually any company builds its best backlinks? Here’s how I do it in Ahrefs.

I usually start with the Overview report in Site Explorer to get a quick overview of the website’s referring domain growth. Here’s the chart for our #1 company, Elfsight: 

Impressive! Next, I use the Anchors report to quickly understand the types of links being built: are they all brand mentions, or links to blog content, or free tools?

In Elfsight’s case, the vast majority of their referring domains (well over 60%) have anchor text containing the word widget:

Looking at some of these links, it’s clear that the company offers free website widgets that also include a link back to Elfsight:

For some websites, anchor text won’t be so revealing. Here’s the Referring Domains report for a SaaS company I excluded from this article. At first glance, they seem to be doing well, with over 100,00 new backlinks acquired in the past year:

But digging into the most common anchor text, it becomes apparent that these are almost all spammy links (advertising Korean business massages).

You can exclude spammy links like these using our Best links filter. By default, the “Best links” filter will only show links that are:

• Dofollow,
• In the page content,
• On a referring domain with a DR of at least 30,
• With estimated organic traffic to the page of at least 500/m.

If you have different criteria for defining a “best” link, you can customize the filter yourself:

With the filter applied, if we run the Anchors report again, we can filter out all of those spam links, and get a clearer picture of the good quality links this website has acquired. Far, far fewer:

Lastly, I like to visit the Best by links report to see the individual pages that have acquired the best links.

Here’s an example from another one of our top 50 websites, Clearscope. Aside from common “utility” pages like their homepage, pricing page, and sign-in page, their most linked-to pages are all thought leadership blog posts—opinions, predictions, and research studies:

Not every company can build links by offering tons of free tools or widgets, but thought leadership content is a link-building strategy that’s much easier for other companies to emulate.

Final thoughts

We’ll share more of these data analyses in the coming weeks. Want us to include your company in the next analysis? Fill out this short Google Form.

Born between 1997 and 2012, Generation Z (Gen Z) is the first generation to have grown up with the internet, social media, and smartphones as part of their everyday lives.

More than just very demure and very mindful, they’re a complex demographic myriad businesses and industries are vying to target – with their own unique set of ideals, values, and interests that vary drastically from older generations.

For social media marketers, effectively reaching Gen Z requires more than injecting buzzwords and phrases into your messaging.

It requires a strategic approach that starts with obtaining a comprehensive understanding of this specific audience.

Unlike previous generations, Gen Z came into the world with the internet already having made a significant impact for both business and consumers alike.

Smartphones were well on their way to becoming a household necessity, with the first iPhone being introduced on June 29, 2007. Myspace was also about to become a phenomenon that would inspire and forever shape the social media technology movement.

Given the breadth of experience Gen Z has with smart devices, technology, and social media, it’s imperative for marketers to tailor their social media strategies to successfully capture and convert potential Gen Z customers.

As marketers, now is the time to uncover what motivates Gen Z and how to capture the largest market segment to improve return on investment, maximize your marketing efforts, and drive more qualified business.

Let’s unpack exactly who this generation is and proven strategies for increasing Gen Z engagement across numerous social media platforms.

Demystifying Gen Z: Who Are They Exactly?

Gen Z comprises a little over one-fifth (20.69%) of the U.S. population.

Gen Z is unique among current generations – not just for the social structure they have come up in, but also for their spending habits, which differ from other generations.

According to Statista, Gen Z isn’t as motivated to purchase a product after seeing an ad on TV, with only about a third of this demographic saying a TV ad has prompted them to make a purchase.

Social media’s influence, however, was proven to be much more profound.

Gen Z And Social Media

Two-thirds of Gen Zers say they’ve been influenced to make a purchase after seeing a social media advertisement.

Additionally, 33% of the Gen Z population is interested in buying from a brand founded by an influencer, a stark contrast from the minuscule 4% of Baby Boomers who expressed interest in doing the same.

Social media is woven into the fabric of their lives.

A 2024 report by Morning Consult found that 54% of Gen Zers favor YouTube over any other social media platform, with 80% spending their time on it. Instagram is another platform after YouTube, with 75% of Gen Zers gravitating towards spending time there. TikTok (69%) and Snapchat (63%) are also popular platforms for Gen Zers.

Furthermore, the same report indicates 35% of Gen Zers spend over 4 hours a day using social media, and only 4% spend less than 1 hour a day.

Knowing that Gen Z spends ample time on social media regularly highlights the need for marketers to focus their attention and efforts on this dominating channel.

This holds especially true for the social channels Gen Z frequents most, which are YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.

Gen Z’s Dual World: Online Convenience Meets In-Person Experience

When it comes to online versus in-person shopping, it’s more of a toss-up.

Gen Z is accustomed to the convenience of online shopping, but they value real-life experiences, as well as the ease of same-day pickup.

A Deloitte study in 2023 also found a 50/50 split between Gen Zers and Millennials who see online interactions as meaningful replacements to in-person experiences, and those who prefer the real thing.

All of this suggests that an omnichannel approach to the customer experience is best for Gen Z, but still poses an interesting conundrum for marketers.

We know where Gen Zers are spending their time and how to reach them, but what does it take to connect with them authentically? And what drives them to log off and shop in person?

Here are six social media best practices to consider when targeting a Gen Z audience.

1. Embrace Partnership With Creators

The concept of the traditional “influencer” – who does sponsorship deals, goes on brand trips, and sells an aspirational lifestyle attainable to their followers through the purchasing of products – dominated the 2010s.

But for Gen Z, that heyday is proving to be behind us. As they become savvier about when and how they’re being sold to, the creator economy is king.

In this new paradigm, authenticity and originality are lauded over aspiration.

TikTok creator Alix Earle jumps to mind as a prime example. Earle has seen rapid fame in just a few short months, surpassing 5 million followers today.

She has all the marks of a traditional influencer – the travel, high-end products, and aspirational lifestyle – but her unpolished and relatable tone is arguably what garnered her a massive audience, and what keeps them around as her lifestyle appears to become less attainable.

When she recommends a product to an audience, it feels organic, like a recommendation from a friend.

As a brand, encouraging, engaging with, and platforming this type of user-generated content (UGC) – where your product might not be the star of a scripted video, but a detail in a larger story – can be very effective with Gen Z.

2. Give The Brand A Persona Online

In addition to outsourcing content to creators with their own audiences, we’re also seeing the emergence of brands becoming influencers in their own right.

Some do this by bringing on a well-known creator to represent their brand’s social presence. For example, Kyle Prue, a TikTok creator with over 1.4 million followers, has become jointly known for the personal finance brand, Fizz.

Stylistically, the content for Fizz is virtually indistinguishable from his personal content – except for the fact that it’s about personal finance.

Others employ a character or a staff member to become the face of the brand online.

The popular language learning app, Duolingo, has amassed over 6.5 million TikTok followers making videos featuring its mascot, the Duolingo owl (and most of these videos have nothing to do with learning a language).

Another example with a different twist is the bag brand, Baboon to the Moon, which leverages a few of its Gen Z team members to make content that often features products prominently but feels snarky and off the cuff – a tone that tends to resonate well with the Gen Z audience.

3. Focus On Engagement Over Follower Count

Gen Z is far less brand loyal than its predecessors.

They’re frequently served content from social media main pages like TikTok’s For You page, Instagram’s Discover tab, and YouTube’s Recommended page.

An eye toward individual post engagement and visibility can be a better indicator of success than follower count by profile.

From a local experience (LX) perspective, this also means that there can be value in creating profiles for local stores to build a more personal connection with those locations.

Showing the location, offers, or events specific to that store and the people who work there could encourage more engagement.

For example, the TikTok profile for a Barnes and Noble location in Canton, Connecticut, has 15,600 followers and nearly 686,000 likes on its posts.

Democratizing content creation in this way can be a great way to generate more overall engagement, especially at the community level, and foster a sense of ownership with your staff.

4. Use Video To Your Advantage

Video marketing is a primary purchase driver for the Gen Z demographic. Not only does this audience like to watch videos, but they can also compel them to take action and purchase a product or service.

The previously cited report from Morning Consult found that over half (53%) of GenZers have purchased an item shown in a review video, and 40% have done the same from haul videos.

“Get Ready With Me (GRWM)” videos also inspire purchasing, with 37% of respondents saying this has led to a purchase as well.

The video purchasing trend aligns closely with the fact that Gen Z prefers to engage with platforms that allow for easy video creation, such as TikTok and Instagram.

When creating videos, it’s important for your business and any influencers you partner with to remain authentic and genuine.

Gen Zers are quick to abandon ship and take their money elsewhere if they feel a brand is being deceitful or if an influencer’s testimonial appears forced.

This is why it’s crucial to partner with influencers within your niche and who already have an understanding of your industry.

It’s beneficial to also examine the influencer’s reach and average post engagement to ensure your dollars are being well spent.

Scripts should also be avoided as this can appear inauthentic. Give influencers or your employees talking points to cover during their video, but stray away from regurgitating a word-for-word speech.

Your videos should be conversational, fun, and valuable for the intended audience.

5. Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Let’s say that you successfully build the authentic connection and positive association necessary to attract a Gen Z buyer.

At the local level, their experience begins when they open a new tab on their computer or switch apps on their photo to search for your brand – and there’s a strong chance that they are turning to Google to do that.

In a 2022 study of local consumer search behavior (Disclosure: I work for Rio SEO), we found that:

•  47% of Gen Zers said they very frequently use Google Search and Google Maps to find information about businesses in their area.
• 65% of the most frequently searched information on local business listings is the business address/directions – followed by reviews (56%), hours of operation (54%), and website (54%).
• 68% of Gen Zers conduct online searches a few times per day.
• 65% of Gen Zers want to travel 10 miles or less for a business’s products or services.

To progress your Gen Z leads from social media marketing into conversion, managing your LX and optimizing with your Google Business Profile (GBP) is key.

Your GBP should be optimized for mobile and up-to-date, with correct store hours and addresses with GPS directions, as well as quick visibility into in-store inventory, payment options, and other store highlights.

6. Create Short-Form Content

Capturing the attention of a Gen Z audience can be daunting as they prefer quick and short snippets of information. Gen Z isn’t interested in consuming cumbersome videos.

They crave content that’s easy to digest and gets to the point right away.

Businesses should focus on incorporating short-form content into their social media strategy, such as 10-, 30-, and 60-second videos on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.

Each of these formats is designed to entice the viewer in a short timeframe, ensuring they don’t tune out before your message is delivered.

Incorporating current trends can also help capture Gen Z’s attention.

A video from TikTok creator Jools Lebron gained lightning-speed traction when she modeled her “demure” workplace-friendly makeup. She quipped the look was “Very demure. Very mindful.”

The video’s popularity has since skyrocketed, prompting businesses and consumers alike to adopt and insert the phrase into their everyday jargon.

Businesses have since capitalized on the trend, adding the phrase into their own posts and videos to stay current with the Gen Z audience.

Popular, renowned brands such as Netflix, Zillow, and Lyft hired Lebron for marketing campaigns, where she uses her now iconic phrase “very demure, very mindful” in ads for the respective businesses.

While the demure trend may not last much longer before the next viral video steals the spotlight, it’s crucial for businesses to pay close attention to what’s trending to captivate Gen Z’s attention across their most visited social media platforms.

In Conclusion

The key takeaway is this: Gen Z social media marketing requires striking a balance between adaptability of medium and consistency of voice to bring in an engaged audience.

Optimizing online, social media, and local experience will equip brands to convert that audience into customers.

The brands that make both sides a priority will be the best poised to break through to this notoriously elusive generation.

More resources: 

---

Featured Image: DavideAngelini/Shutterstock