A set of metrics established by Google to measure the real-world user experience of a web page. They focus on three key aspects of a user's experience: loading speed, responsiveness, and visual stability. By optimizing your website for these Core Web Vitals, you can ensure a smooth and frustration-free experience for your visitors, which can also lead to better search engine ranking.
-
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This measures how long it takes for the largest piece of content on your web page to load, essentially reflecting the initial loading speed users experience. A large content element could be a hero image, a video, or a large block of text. Ideally, your LCP should be within 2.5 seconds of page load.
-
First Input Delay (FID): This metric wasn't included in the most recent (April 2024) update to Core Web Vitals, but it's still a valuable measure of responsiveness. FID measures the time it takes for a user to interact with your webpage after it's loaded, essentially reflecting how quickly the page becomes interactive. A good FID score is under 100 milliseconds.
-
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): This metric looks at visual stability, specifically how much the layout of your web page shifts around as elements load. A good CLS score minimizes unexpected layout jumps that can be frustrating for users. Ideally, your CLS should be below a score of 0.1.
By focusing on optimizing these three Core Web Vitals, you can significantly improve the user experience on your website. There are various tools and techniques to improve Core Web Vitals, such as optimizing image sizes, minimizing HTTP requests, using efficient code, and implementing lazy loading for images.
Synonyms: CWV