Google’s Core Web Vitals are still vitally important to a website’s performance! Have you tested your site recently? A lot of factors could affect it. Learn what you can you to improve your score and SEO.
Before I started this business in 2011, I remember Google’s major “Panda” and “Penguin” updates. That changed how websites ranked or didn’t rank on Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP). With this major update, businesses who enjoyed being on the first page of Google — mostly by cheating the search engine with black-hat tactics — found themselves buried or kicked off of Google completely. It ruined businesses that depended on being on the first page.
Face it, if your website doesn’t come up on the first page for your major keywords, you might as well close up shop. No one goes past the top 15-20 spots of a Google search. So, all of your hard content marketing work will be for nothing!
Here’s What You Need to Know Now about Core Web Vitals
First, understand that Google has over 90% of all global searches, so, yes, you need to pay attention. (Source)
Second, a lot of this is technical stuff and you may need a web developer to help you. Now, if you are on a platform like Shopify or Etsy, it’s up to them to figure it out for you. If you’re on Wix, Weebly, or a site builder, they still may or may not have this figured out. In either case, they should have something about Core Web Vitals in their help system or at least inform you of what it means for your website. If not, it may be time to move your site to a self-hosted platform. Furthermore, the best one is WordPress. Ultimately, it’s preferred because you own it, you customize it, and you control everything — including updates. Plus, it’s not that difficult to learn! I can teach you how to BUILD (and manage) YOUR OWN WORDPRESS WEBSITE!
On the other hand, if you already have a hosted website — WordPress or other — you’ll need to test your site to see where it’s failing. Use Google’s Page Speed test.
The Three Vital Components of Core Web Vitals
Undeniably, the idea behind these is to have a better user experience (UX). In the long run, this will benefit you as potential customers are more likely to find you, stay on your page, and convert.
A bad UX will cost you sales!
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This is how fast a page loads on a mobile device. Here’s what may affect it…
- Slow server response time – this is at the hosting level. If after you run the test, this comes up as an issue, contact your web host.
- Java and CSS code and script in the back end of a page that blocks rendering (loading) – this is at the developer level. If you’re on one of the page builder sites, this may be a factor that cannot be remedied. On WordPress, changing your theme would be an option. This article from “Search Engine Journal” has some tips and SEO-friendly WordPress themes you can check out.
- Large graphics or videos – I know that the large graphics are cool, but if they take too long to load, they hurt you rather than help. I still recommend putting a video on your home page to help explain what you do or have to offer, but upload it to YouTube, and then just embed the link. That way the video is watchable on your site, but the load is on YouTube.
- First Input Delay (FID) – This measures how soon a visitor can interact with your page. Pop-ups, cookie banners, and other dynamic elements will hurt more than help. Especially on a mobile device. The most frustrating thing for me is trying to read an article on my tablet and a stupid popup blocks the whole screen. Sometimes, it’s so big that I have to turn the tablet so I can see the “x” to close it. That’s what this is all about. If this causes sites to remove popups, I’m all for it! Additionally, JavaScript can also hinder this. Unfortunately, that’s what most of these easy, DIY site builders use. Again, it may be time to upgrade to WordPress.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – This looks at the visual stability of each page. Previously, I had this problem on my site. When I redid it, I just uploaded the graphics to a slider on the home page and I didn’t pay attention to the sizes of the pictures. They were all different sizes. In other words, when the slider automatically showed the next graphic, it would move all the page text either up or down. I ended up removing the slider altogether. It wasn’t needed. Other elements that can affect this are…
- Advertisements of different sizes
- Cookie banners
- Notices or pop-ups
- Images, embeds, and iframes without dimensions – this will happen if your website hasn’t been updated in a few years.
- Certain web fonts. If you are using fancy web fonts, these also may be hurting your site.
In Summary, the Three Core Web Vitals cover…
- LCP – loading
- FID – interactivity
- CLS – visual stability
So, the first thing you need to do is run Google’s Page Speed Test. Then, review the results and show them to your webmaster to see how your site can be improved. Consequently, if you have a WordPress site, Google has a free plugin, Site Kit that connects to Google Analytics, Search Console, and the Page Speed Test. This is what came up for one of my clients. I have some work to do…
Ultimately, there’s no time to waste! These Core Web Vitals affect your website’s functionality and SEO ranking! If your website doesn’t effectively work for you, what good is it?
If you’d like me to test your website for you, click here to book a free 15-minute phone consult.
All in all, If you find that you need to change hosting providers and you want to go to WordPress, I recommend Lightning Base (affiliate link). It’s where I have this very site. Good tech support, loads fast on the sever side, and they only do WordPress. I wouldn’t be an affiliate if they weren’t great!
If you have a WordPress website that needs work, I recommend OnsiteWP (Affiliate Link). They can help you with tweaking an existing website, as well as creating a whole new WordPress website if you need to move from a site-builder platform.