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What are Core Web Vitals and Why You Should Care?

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When it comes to optimizing your website, you do so for various reasons. It’s important that your site is set up to generate leads, optimized for SEO, encourages more email subscribers so you can grow your email list, and that it provides an optimal user experience.

You may not have heard of it before, but Core Web Vitals are especially important for increasing the experience of your users. Let’s dive into what Core Web Vitals are and what you can do to make sure your website has good Core Web Vitals.

What are Core Web Vitals

Web Vitals is an initiative by Google on how to provide a great user experience (UX) for the web. Core Web Vitals, a subset of Web Vitals, helps you to judge your website’s UX against a distinct set of UX metrics.

Google intends to evolve Core Web Vitals over time. However, as of 2021, the current set of Core Web Vitals focuses on the following three areas of UX: loading, interactivity, and visual stability.

These three areas are measured as Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

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Why Core Web Vitals Are Important

In May 2020, Google announced that Core Web Vitals would be incorporated into Google’s Search Ranking Signals. What that means is your website’s Core Web Vitals will influence how well your website ranks in Google Search, along with many other ranking factors.

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Google began introducing Core Web Vitals to Google Search in June 2021 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of August 2021.

Since 2015, Google has been increasing the importance of good website UX as a Search Ranking Signal. This puts more emphasis on website owners to ensure their website UX is excellent if they want to be rewarded with good Google search rankings.

How Can I Tell if My Website Has Good Web Vitals

Unlike most of the other Search Ranking Signals, Google has made it easy to know if your website has good or bad Core Web Vitals.

To get a quick overview of your website’s Core Web Vitals, you can use either Google PageSpeed or Google Lighthouse.

For a fast and simplified overview of your website’s Core Web Vitals, enter your website URL into Google PageSpeed and hit the Analyze button.

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To check your website’s Core Web Vitals as well as other user-experience metrics, you can run a Google Lighthouse audit from within Chrome DevTools.

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Although there are other ways to check your website’s Core Web Vitals, these two tools use field data wherever possible as opposed to lab data. Field data means data collected from real-life users that have visited your website in the past. Lab data means simulated data based on averages collected from other websites.

Google recommends using field data over lab data when testing a live website’s vitals as field data is more closer to what an actual website user would experience in the real world.

What Can I Do to Make Sure my Website has Good Web Vitals?

Ensuring your website is golden when it comes to Good Web Vitals isn’t necessarily a quick SEO tactic you can implement in just 15 minutes. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing.

Fortunately, Google has outlined what metrics you should aim for if you want to have good Core Web Vitals. They are as follows:

  • Largest Contentful Paint: within 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading.
  • First Input Delay: 100 milliseconds or less.
  • Cumulative Layout Shift: 0.1. or less.

If your website’s Core Web Vitals are not within the thresholds outlined above, the next section will tell you how you can improve them.

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Improving Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

The time it takes for a browser to receive content from your server can have an adverse effect on how quickly your website appears on the screen. A faster server response time improves page-load metrics, including LCP and time to first byte (TTFB). You can improve your TTFB by:

  • Cleaning up your server and ensuring it has enough resources
  • Implementing a content delivery network (CDN)
  • Ensuring all static website files such as CSS and JavaScript are cached
  • Making sure HTML pages are served cache-first
  • Establishing third-party connections early
  • Using signed exchanges (SXGs) wherever possible

Unoptimized WordPress websites are notorious for having poor LCP/TTFB metrics. That’s why investing in a high-performance WordPress hosting server is important if you want to achieve the best Core Web Vitals scores.

Another area that can drastically improve your LCP is optimizing the way your website loads static JavaScript and CSS files. Here are a few ways you can optimize your website CSS and JS file handling:

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  • Reduce/remove render-blocking JS and CSS
  • Compress and minify JS and CSS
  • Defer non-critical JS and CSS while making critical JS and CSS inline

Aside from CSS and JavaScript, your website assets (images, videos, and fonts, etc.) could be hurting your LCP. Here are a few ways to minimize the impact your website assets has on your LCP:

  • Remove unnecessary images
  • Optimize and compress all images
  • Use modern image formats such as JPEG 2000, JPEG XR, or WebP
  • Lazy-load website assets and consider using an image CDN
  • Preload any custom web fonts and use the WOFF2 format
  • Ensure GZIP is enabled on your web server or CDN

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Improving First Input Delay (FID)

FID measures the time from when a user first interacts with your web page to the point where they can actually respond. A real-life human interaction would be necessary in order to measure this response delay. That means lab tests will not work to simulate FID. If you are unable to test your website with field data, total blocking time (TFT) can be used as a fallback metric. Here are a few ways to improve your website FID and TFT metrics:

  • Remove or reduce unnecessary JavaScript
  • Break up long tasks into smaller asynchronous tasks
  • Optimize your web page for interaction readiness
  • Reduce reliance on cascading fetches and third-party JavaScripts
  • Consider on-demand loading for critical third-party JavaScript
  • Use a web worker for non-UI operations
  • Reduce JavaScript execution time by deferring unused JS
  • Minimize unused polyfills

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Improving Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

Have you ever gone to click a website button only for it to shift its position when the page finally loads? That’s an example of a website with poor CLS. The CLS metric measures how unstable your website layout is by summing up layout shifts that happen without user input. It also looks at how much visible content has shifted in view as well as the distance it shifted by. If your website has poor CLS, here are a few ways to improve it:

  • Always include width and height size attributes on your website images and videos
  • If your website has banner ads, statically reserve a space for the ad slots
  • Avoid placing non-sticky ads at the top of the viewport
  • Use a placeholder or fallback to reserve the space for iframes and embeds
  • Avoid pop-ups that shift the layout of your web pages when they are still loading
  • Avoid using animations that shift your website layout
  • Use the CSS transform attribute over attributes that can cause layout shifts such as box-shadow and box-sizing

Wrapping Up

Website optimization is crucial for success. Your site plays a key role in growing your email list and getting you new leads to engage with. It needs to be built successfully so it leaves an impression and delights your users.

Improving your Core Web Vitals will not only help improve your user experience but also your website’s ability to rank well in Google search.

Author:
James, Founder of jamesbanks.co, teaches entrepreneurs how to start and scale online businesses with search engine marketing. His content stems from growing over a thousand businesses over the last decade as a digital marketing consultant and agency co-owner.

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SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 27, 2024

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.


Google Local Service Ads is asking for more photos. SEOs, please don’t remove the contact us and about us pages. Hotels can remove pricing details from its Google listings. Google Local reviews is testing reactions. Google Analytics real time reporting had issues today. Google help documentation is testing using AI features.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:


  • SEOs, Please Don’t Remove Contact Us & About Us Pages


    Google’s John Mueller asked if it would be alright not to list a contact us and about us page on their website. The reason is, they would only add it if Google wanted it, but not for users. John Mueller responded, “I can think of good reasons for some sites to have these kinds of pages, but, after double-checking, there’s nothing in our search developer documentation that suggests this is needed.”

  • Google Local Service Ads Sends Email Asking You To Upload Photos


    Google is sending some Local Service Ads advertisers emails asking them to upload photos to their profiles. The email says, “Photos are coming to your Local Services Ads. Upload images to your profile to help your business stand out.” But don’t LSAs already contain photos?

  • Google Search Developer Docs Gain AI Generated Help Features


    A week ago Monday, March 18th, I noticed Google’s search developer documentation had generative AI features to help you find the answers to your question. This is in the form of an improved search, summary of the page content, a chat feature and more. I was told this was rolled out on some developer docs earlier in the year.



  • Google Local Reviews Reactions Notice


    In November 2023 we started to see Google allow reactions on local photos and some reviews. Well, it seems to be rolling out more widely now.

  • Google Analytics Real Time Data Lagging Today


    There are countless complaints across the forums and social media that Google Analytics real time data is lagging and not reporting accurately. It seems like those complaints are legit after checking a number of sites.


  • Google Cafe Cleaning & Delivery Robot


    You probably have seen these cleaning and delivery robots in some restaurants and lounges but have you seen them in the Google cafes? Here is one doing its thing at one of the cafes at the GooglePlex in Mountain View, California.



Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

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SEO

PPC

Other Search

Feedback:


Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.



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SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 26, 2024

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.


Google Search Console is testing an Android App. Google is testing places and places sites in the search bar menu. Google spoke about if a business should have a website and a blog. Google added 3D models to product structured data. Google Search does not support AVIF images, yet. Mikhail Parakhin stepped down as the head of Bing Search and Microsoft Advertising.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:


  • Google Search Console Tests Android App


    Google seems to be testing an Android App for Google Search Console. This comes several weeks after I reported that Google has no plans for a mobile app for Google Search Console.


  • Google Tests Places & Places Sites Search Bar Filter Tabs


    Yesterday we reported Google is testing products and products sites in the search bar tab in the European regions. Today, Google is testing places and places sites in the search bar tab in the European regions.

  • Google: Should Small Service Businesses Start A Website & A Blog?


    Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, was asked about if a business should always have a website and if so, should they also have a blog. Sullivan replied that he believes all businesses should have at least a basic website, but when it comes to a blog, that depends on what they have to say on that blog.



  • Google Adds 3D Models Markup To Product Structured Data For Linking


    Google has added new 3D models markup support to the product structured data documentation so that you can connect, associate or link your products to the appropriate 3D model.



  • Google Search Does Not Support AVIF Images Just Yet


    Did you know that Google Search does not support the AVIF image format? At least not yet. Google Search doesn’t list it on its supported image formats and Google Image Search simply won’t index them. But John Mueller of Google said on X, “I’m sure this won’t be necessary long term.”



  • Mikhail Parakhin Steps Down As Head Of Bing Search & Microsoft Advertising


    Mikhail Parakhin, the head of Bing Search and Microsoft Advertising, is stepping down from that role as Parakhin “decided to explore new roles.” We’ve quoted Mikhail Parakhin here countless times over the past couple of years, to hear that he is leaving the role makes me super sad. His transparency and willingness to listen to the community was amazing.



  • St. Patrick’s Day Dancers At Google Ireland


    Here is a video I found on Instagram from the Google Ireland office of dancers performing at the Google office in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. It looks like they call themselves the Golden Beats.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

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Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

Feedback:


Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

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Daily Search Forum Recap: March 25, 2024

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.


Google is begging SEOs to stop trying to show Google things and work on showing their users things. Google is testing the Search Generative Experience in the wild to a subset of US users. Google says publishing more content doesn’t improve site quality. Google is testing products and product sites in the search bar. Google shares how to remove a subdomain of a subdomain in Google Search Console.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:


  • Google Tests SGE AI Overviews In The Wild (Subset Of US Users)


    On Friday, Google began to test SGE-based AI overviews in the real Google search results. That means you may see AI overview snapshot answers in Google search results without being opted into the Google search labs experiment. This is being tested on a small subset of searchers based in the U.S., Google told me.

  • Google Begs SEOs To Stop Showing Google Things; Show Visitors Things Instead


    Google’s Search Liaison responded to a series of posts on Twitter, leading him to beg SEOs to stop trying to “show Google” things, explaining that the process of doing things to your site to rank better in Google is the opposite of the advice Google is giving. Instead, show things to your users/visitors that those people will like.


  • Google: Publishing More Content Doesn’t Improve Quality For Faster Indexing


    A couple of weeks ago, Gary Illyes and Lizzi Sassman of Google had Dave Smart as a guest on the Search Off The Record podcast and they spoke about crawling. In one part, they said again that the quality of your site can impact how fast and how much Google will crawl your website.



  • Google Tests Products & Product Sites Search Bar Filter Tabs


    Google is now testing placing “product sites” as its own search bar filter tab in the search results. Also, Google is testing replacing “Shopping” with “Products” in that search bar.



  • How To Remove A Subdomain Of A Subdomain Via Google Search Console


    Let’s say you have a subdomain of a subdomain, such as sub.sub.domain.tld, how do you remove sub.sub.domain.tld from Google while keeping sub.domain.tld in the Google search results. The answer is to verify the sub.sub.domain.tld property directly in Search Console and remove just that property.



  • Flock Of Geese At Google


    Here is a flock of geese near the new Google Bay View campus in Mountain View, California. I guess the geese are making its way from the GooglePlex to the Bay View campus?

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

Advertisement

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

Feedback:


Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

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