Core Web Vitals are metrics (CLS, LCP, FID/INP) that measure page experience. Improve them by optimizing images, fonts, and resource loading to give visitors a smoother experience.
Stop Losing Customers: Master Your Core Web Vitals Today!
Are you watching your valuable visitors click away before your site even loads? It is frustrating to work hard on your website only to see people “bounce” because of a slow experience.
You are about to discover the secret to a faster, smoother website and better Google rankings: the Core Web Vitals. These three simple metrics from Google measure your site’s real-world user experience, and improving them is the key to holding onto your traffic.
Read on for a clear, actionable guide on how to boost your Core Web Vitals across different platforms and industries.
Understanding the Core Web Vitals: The Three Pillars of a Great Experience
The Core Web Vitals are Google’s way of measuring how a real person experiences your webpage, focusing on three areas: loading, interactivity, and visual stability.
When you focus on these metrics, you are making your website genuinely better for every user, which Google then rewards with higher visibility.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
LCP measures the time it takes for the largest image or block of text on your screen to load and become visible to the user.
You should aim for an LCP of less than 2.5 seconds to ensure visitors see your main content quickly and feel like your page is fast.
A good LCP score is crucial because it gives the user the immediate signal that the page is loading successfully.
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
INP measures the responsiveness of your page after a user action, such as clicking a button or tapping a link.
This metric observes the time from the moment the user interacts to the moment the browser paints the next frame on the screen.
You are providing a fast, snappy experience if your INP is 200 milliseconds or less.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
CLS measures the unexpected movement of elements on your page while it loads.
Unexpected shifts are annoying—think of trying to click a button that suddenly moves as an ad loads above it.
You are giving users a stable experience when you maintain a CLS score of less than 0.1.
Core Web Vitals on Popular CMS Platforms
The platform you use impacts how you improve your Core Web Vitals, but the goals remain the same.
Different systems offer different tools and levers for optimization, and you must know where to focus your effort.
WordPress
On WordPress, plugins are often the biggest problem, as too many slow down your site and hurt your Core Web Vitals.
You can use caching plugins like WP Rocket to dramatically improve your LCP and reduce render-blocking resources.
Additionally, you are helping your CLS by always setting specific dimensions for your images and videos.
Shopify (E-commerce)
Shopify’s core platform is quite fast, but your theme and third-party apps can drag down your Core Web Vitals.
You must carefully audit all installed apps and remove any that are not essential for your store’s function.
Optimizing product images is vital, as heavy, uncompressed images are the main culprit for a poor LCP score on e-commerce sites.
Wix and Squarespace
Wix and Squarespace handle much of the technical hosting for you, which means you have fewer controls but benefit from built-in optimizations.
You are responsible for the content you add, so avoid putting large videos high up on the page to protect your LCP score.
Always ensure you are using their native image optimization tools to keep your page sizes small.
Webflow
Webflow gives you greater control than template-based builders, meaning you are directly responsible for performance.
You can improve your INP by minimizing custom code and making sure your animations are smooth and efficient.
You are benefiting from a robust system when you are structuring your CSS and JavaScript correctly, which keeps loading fast.
Custom CMS
With a custom CMS, you are completely in charge, which means you can achieve incredible speed but also introduce the most issues.
A skilled developer can fine-tune the server response time (Time to First Byte or TTFB) which is a major precursor to a fast LCP.
You must prioritize clean code and server-side rendering to maintain excellent Core Web Vitals scores.
Core Web Vitals Across Different Industries
No matter what you sell or what service you offer, your customers expect a fast and smooth experience, and optimizing Core Web Vitals is non-negotiable.
However, different industries have different performance challenges you must be aware of.
E-commerce (Shopify, WooCommerce)
E-commerce sites battle huge numbers of high-resolution product images, which destroy LCP scores.
You are increasing your sales conversion rates when you ensure the images above the fold load instantly.
A fast INP on checkout pages is also critical because slow forms or buttons will lead to lost revenue.
Local Businesses and Service Sites
For local businesses, a fast LCP is key because a person searching on their phone needs information right now.
You are making a great first impression when your phone number and address appear immediately without a huge image blocking them.
Since these sites are often simple, you must be careful not to ruin performance with unnecessary visitor tracking scripts.
SaaS and Web Applications
SaaS applications rely heavily on a perfect INP score because users expect instant feedback when they interact with the tool’s interface.
A poor CLS is extremely damaging because shifting elements break a user’s workflow inside your application.
You are ensuring a sticky product experience when you prioritize quick, stable responses to every button click and data entry.
Blogs and News Sites
Blogs and news sites frequently use many ads, which are notorious for creating bad CLS scores.
You must reserve space for ad slots and embeds before they load to prevent content from jumping around the page.
Since your largest element is often the main article image, you are speeding up your LCP when you compress it perfectly.
Actionable Steps: How You Are Improving Your Vitals Now
You can take control of your performance right now by following a few expert steps.
These actions apply to almost every website and will give you a noticeable boost in your Core Web Vitals reports.
Fixing a Poor LCP
You are solving most LCP problems by compressing all your visible images into next-gen formats like WebP.
You must also check that no unnecessary CSS or JavaScript files are blocking the main content from rendering quickly.
Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) also helps because it serves your content faster from a server closer to your user.
Improving a Bad INP
You are making your site more responsive when you minimize or delay the loading of heavy JavaScript files that block the main thread.
It is important to break up long tasks into smaller pieces so the browser can always respond to a user’s click quickly.
You must audit third-party scripts, like chat widgets or social embeds, as these often cause hidden INP problems.
Solving CLS Issues
You are preventing layout shifts by always specifying the width and height attributes for every image and video element.
You must never insert new content, especially ads or banners, above existing content once the page has started to load.
For custom web fonts, you are ensuring stability when you use the ‘font-display: optional’ CSS property or pre-load them correctly.
Core Web Vitals FAQ
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are a set of three specific metrics from Google that measure how fast your page loads, how quickly it responds to user clicks, and how much its content unexpectedly moves around.
Do Core Web Vitals really affect my Google ranking?
Yes, Core Web Vitals are part of Google’s “page experience” ranking signals, meaning that if your scores are poor, your website may rank lower than a competitor with similar content but a better experience.
What is considered a “Good” score for each Core Web Vital metric?
A “Good” score means your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is under 2.5 seconds, your Interaction to Next Paint (INP) is under 200 milliseconds, and your Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is less than 0.1.
Which Core Web Vital should I fix first if all three are poor?
You should generally prioritize fixing your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) first, as this metric directly measures initial loading speed, which is the user’s first experience of your site.
Can I measure Core Web Vitals myself, and how?
Yes, you can measure them using free tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console, which shows you real-world data from your users.
