What are the Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are a set of specific metrics that Google uses to measure the user experience on your Web site. These metrics are designed to provide insight into how users experience your website in terms of speed, interactivity, and visual stability. As Google places increasing emphasis on improving website usability, Core Web Vitals have become an important part of the factors that determine how high your website will rank in search results(SEO).
The three most important Core Web Vitals are Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). LCP measures how fast most of the content on a page loads, which is important because it indicates how quickly a user can see and use the main content. FID measures how quickly the page responds to a user's first interaction, such as clicking a link or pressing a button. This is crucial for usability, as a slow response can cause users to become frustrated and leave the Web site. CLS measures how stable the page's content is as it loads, so elements don't shift unexpectedly and users accidentally click the wrong buttons.
Core Web Vitals are essential within SEO because Google uses them as ranking factors. This means that websites that score well on these metrics have a better chance of appearing higher in search results. To improve your Core Web Vitals, you can use tools such as Pagespeed Insights and Lighthouse. These tools provide detailed information about how your Web site is performing in terms of LCP, FID, and CLS, and offer concrete recommendations to improve them. For example, by optimizing images, reducing the use of heavy scripts, or ensuring that content does not shift unexpectedly while loading. By paying attention to the Core Web Vitals, you not only ensure a better user experience, but also increase the chances of your website performing better in Google's organic search results.
