What are Google’s Core Web Vitals?
Web Vitals, or Core Web Vitals, is a new ranking factor that focuses on the performance metrics focus on page loading, interactivity, and visual stability. The Core Web Vitals are made up of three main interactions and page speed measurements: first input delay, cumulative layout shift and largest contentful paint.
Core Web Vitals provide a deep dive into page performance that affect a user’s experience.
Why Core Web Vitals?
Google has always focused on providing the best search results to their users. The Core Web Vitals are just another way for Google to interpret what search results to rank in its search results. This new change may also add specific labels in search results to indicate what results provide the best user experience. The focus on user experience has never been more important.
First Input Delay (FID) : Interactivity
The First Input Delay (FID) is the time it takes for a page to become ready for user interactivity. FID is important as can affect the way users interact with your website. Some interaction examples include menu’s, links, entering information into a field and even accordion text.
The faster the delay, the quicker and more responsive your website feels. A slow input delay can deter users and cause users to leave the website. Things that can slow down your website’s interaction include JavaScript, third-party scripts, and not using a browser caching on your website.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Visual Stability
The Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) refers to the stability of a page layout as it is loaded. This is when you load a webpage and see elements (content, links, images) moving around. These viewport shifts can occur from not setting dimension attributes. Some ways to fix this is by making sure any media have their size attribute set.
Another trick is to set new elements below the fold so that it does not push down content. Making sure your CLS is low will make your website look more professional, and provide a smooth loading experience.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) : Loading
This is the time it takes to fully loan a page until the largest object in the user’s viewport is fully loaded. In simple terms, it is the time it takes from clicking on a link to seeing the content on your screen. Some ways to improve LCP is to remove large page elements, use lazy loading, remove any unnecessary scripts. Hosting can also play a part in your load speed, so switching hosts may make a difference in loading speeds. The new update will focus on individual page experience, making it especially harder to get times lower or large web pages.
How Core Web Vitals Affect your rank
Google has now implemented the Core Web Vitals in Google Search Console, allowing website owners to see their current website performance. These new signals tie into search signals for page experience, meaning that the website experience will affect your rank. This new set of ranking criteria will add to previous criteria, such as HTTPS, and mobile-ready websites.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Core Web Vitals is the new update that we knew was going to come out sooner or later. These new page measurements will tie into the existing search engine signals for page experience. This change is yet to take effect in May 2021, you can read more about the update here.
This year is the perfect year to get started on optimising your website and ranking higher on Google! Book a session with me and let us help you with your website and your online presence!
