Core Web Vitals: Preparing for the Update

Posted on June 9, 2021

Key Takeaways

Page Experience Update

Understanding Page Experience

• “A set of signals that measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page”
• Uses real-world data as well as existing Search signals

 

When Does It Roll Out

• Beginning in “mid-June” and will be complete by the end of August 2021
• Will be a gradual rollout

 

How Will This Impact Rankings?

• “While page experience is important, Google still seeks to rank pages with the best information overall”
• “Great page experience doesn’t override having great page content”

 

Core Web Vitals – What Are They?

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

• How quickly a page loads the latest element
• More accurate measure of how a user perceives a page’s load time
• LCP score should be under 2.5 seconds
• Considers text, images, and videos (including backgrounds)

 

First Input Delay (FID)

• How long before a user can interact with your page
• Load time is great, but if they can’t do anything with your page, that’s a problem
• FID should be under 100ms
• How quickly can a user click a link, tap a button, or use a JavaScript control and have it respond

 

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

• Total amount of time of these layout shifts is your CLS
• Ever tried clicking something, only for it to move because something loaded late?
• CLS should be under 0.1
• Probably the trickiest to address if you have an issue
• Rely on the GSC report and tools like DevTools and Lighthouse to identify and address

 

Core Web Vitals – What to Do

Check Your Search Console Report

• If Google is telling you there’s a problem, fix it!
• Review your report and prioritize the pages that were listed as “poor”, then focus on “need improvement”

 

Use PageSpeed Insights

• Test the problem pages
• Gives you field data (what they’ve seen over the past few days)
• Gives you lab data – tested in that moment
• Provides opportunities to make the page faster
• Also identifies issues with Core Web Vitals
• Locate the issue and work with a developer to address them

 

Return to Search Console

• Report that the issue has been addressed (Validate the fix)
• Google will review and notify you when the issue has been resolved