Understanding Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are an important tool in understanding the user experience of your website. Developed by Google, Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics designed to measure how well users interact with a web page. They identify performance issues and help developers create better experiences for visitors. Let’s take a closer look at why Core Web Vitals are important and how you can use them to improve your website.

They measure three key areas: page loading performance, ease of interaction, and visual stability. Each metric has its own threshold; if any metric falls below its threshold, this indicates an issue with the user experience on that page. Understanding your Core Web Vitals is essential for any webmaster who wants to provide an optimal user experience for their visitors.

Page Loading Performance

Page loading performance is one of the most important factors in providing a good user experience. Users expect pages to load quickly, and if a page takes too long to load, they’re likely to give up and leave without engaging with your content. The three primary metrics used to measure page loading performance are first contentful paint (FCP), largest contentful paint (LCP), and cumulative layout shift (CLS). These metrics measure how long it takes for the page to begin rendering, how long it takes for the page’s main content to appear, and how much the UI shifts while the page loads.

Ease of Interaction

The ease of interaction is another important factor in providing a good user experience. Users expect navigation elements such as buttons and links to be easy to use, so they can access different pages quickly and easily. The primary metric used to measure ease of interaction is total blocking time (TBT), which measures how much time passes between when a user interacts with an element on the page and when that element responds. If TBT exceeds its threshold, this indicates an issue with interactivity on that page. 

Visual Stability

Finally, visual stability measures how much elements on the page shift around as it loads; if elements shift too much or in unexpected ways, this can cause confusion for users and detract from their overall experience. The two primary metrics used to measure visual stability are layout shift score (LSS) and cumulative layout shift score (CLSS). Both of these metrics measure how much elements move around as the page loads; if either metric falls below its threshold, this indicates an issue with visual stability on that page.

Using Core Web Vitals To Improve Your Site

Once you have identified any issues with your site’s performance using Core Web Vitals, you can begin making changes to improve the user experience for visitors. This may involve optimizing images or code, improving server response times, or simply reducing the number of elements on each page so that it loads faster. Additionally, you should regularly monitor other aspects of user experience such as clickability and readability of text; these factors also play a role in providing an optimal user experience on a website. 

If you test your page and see something like on the image above, unfortunately you will be loosing some “brownie points”, but not all is lost. Results shown above are not impressive, but this website (Welding Superstore) still ranks pretty high for majority of keywords related to welding torches and accessories in Australia . Of course they could rank better if this was fixed.

Core Web Vitals offer valuable insights into the user experience on your website. By measuring three primary areas of performance—page loading performance, ease of interaction and visual stability—webmasters can identify potential issues with their websites and make changes accordingly to improve the overall user experience for visitors. Monitoring these metrics can help ensure that all visitors have a positive experience while navigating your site—which is essential if you want them to come back again!