A part of Google’s Page Experience signals, Core Web Vitals (CWV) is a set of quantitative performance and speed metrics to measure qualitative user experiences on a website. The vitals measure how quickly a page is visible, how long it takes before a user can interact with the page, and the visual stability of the elements included on the page.
In May 2020, Google said that page experience signals would become an organic ranking factor and that the algorithm would begin to measure—mobile friendliness, safe browsing, HTTPS, and content accessibility—to calculate user experience (a page’s overall UX). Later that year, it added Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), and First Input Delay (FID).
Components of CWV
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures loading time. In a sentence: It measures the time from clicking on a link to seeing the majority of the content on-screen.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures the visual strength of a page. If the elements on your website’s page move around as the page loads, then your page has got a high CLS, which is bad.
- First Input Delay (FID) measures the time it takes to interact, such as selecting an option from a menu, clicking on a link in the site’s navigation, entering your email into a field, and accessing “accordion text” on mobile devices.
Although these could change over time, one can find their website’s Core Web Vitals data in the “enhancements” section of their Google Search Console account. In the report, you will be able to see and analyze if your pages or URLs are good, poor, or need improvement.
Going deeper into the issues will give you a breakdown of page groups that are impacted.
Why are the core web vitals important?
Google is planning to make the page experience an official Google ranking factor, making CWV the biggest chunk and a crucial part of your page experience score. However, a great page experience score wouldn’t automatically push your website to the number one spot on Google. Google has pointed this out and stated that a page’s experience is one of several factors the company uses to rank sites in its search.
CWV helps web developers provide a great user experience, ensuring user satisfaction. They are also more likely to return and recommend your website to others.
At the same time, if pages are slow, unstable, or cluttered with popups, users will hesitate to return or even recommend them.
CWV doesn’t just improve your organic rankings, but it also provides your audience with a superior experience, translating into more engaged customers, higher conversion rates, and potentially other positive benefits.
How does CWV impact your SEO?
Websites with good user experience (UX) wouldn’t experience any impact. However, the SEO impact will be severe for websites with poor page experiences because Google still prioritizes the quality of the content on a page. One should focus on creating high-quality content that aligns with search intent and further focus on optimizing pages for CWV metrics for an upper organic lift.
Even though there are over 200 ranking factors, Google reps have referred to CWV as a tiny ranking factor. There are also some studies that have found a positive correlation between passing CWV and better rankings; a website that focuses on SEO tends to rank better. If your website is already focusing on CWV, other things must also have fallen into place correctly.
Final Thoughts!
The release of Core Web Vitals was a significant step in improving the web for more users. And, as part of Google’s ranking algorithm, it appears that these measures are set to stay.
If you expect your website to rank well in search engine results, you should definitely pay attention to the Google Core Web Vitals.
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