Core Web Vitals (CWV) are a set of metrics that measure the actual experience that users have with web pages. These metrics focus on three fundamental aspects of the user experience: loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability.
Core Web Vitals Metrics
The Core Web Vitals are composed of the following metrics:
-
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): measures the time it takes to render the largest element on the page, such as an image or video.
-
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): measures the change in position of page elements during the loading process.
-
FID (First Input Delay): measures the time it takes for the page to respond to the first user interaction, such as a click or tap.
Examples of Core Web Vitals
We will now give some examples:
-
LCP: A web page with an LCP of 2 seconds takes 2 seconds to render the largest element of the page.
-
CLS: A web page with a CLS of 0.1 means that the elements of the page do not move more than 10% from their original position during the loading process.
-
FID: A web page with an FID of 100 milliseconds takes 100 milliseconds to respond to the first user interaction.
Core Web Vitals functionalities
Core Web Vitals have the following functionalities:
-
Core Web Vitals metrics are based on actual website usage data, which makes them more representative of the actual user experience.
-
In addition, Core Web Vitals metrics are easy to understand and interpret, making it easy for web developers and site owners to improve the user experience of their sites.
-
Also, Google has announced that Core Web Vitals will be used as a ranking factor in search results, meaning that web pages with better Core Web Vitals will be more likely to appear at the top of search results.
How to improve Core Web Vitals?
In addition, developers can take certain measures to improve Core Web Vitals. These measures include:
-
Optimise the size and quality of images and videos: Images and videos are the largest elements of most web pages, so optimising their size and quality can help improve LCP.
-
Use deferred charging: deferred loading allows page elements to be loaded sequentially, instead of loading them all at once. This can help improve LCP and CLS.
-
Optimise the code: poorly optimised code can slow down page loading. Developers can optimise code to improve LCP and FID.