The key to search engine optimization success is not just writing for the search engines but also optimizing it for the user's experience [UX Signals]. Undermining the effect of users on your SEO campaign is disastrous. According to Forbes, core Web Vitals was introduced by google on May 28, 2020.
This is a Google algorithm ranking factor that shows the report of a user's page experience on a web page.
Note, core web vitals reveals three essential metrics, which are the largest contentful paint [LCP], also known as total blocking time [TBT], first input delay [FID], and cumulative layout shift [CLS]. Those three metrics are crucial to SEO ranking.
I will share everything you need to know about CWV with you. Without wasting much of our time, let's get started.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core web vitals have gradually settled for a place as a determining factor in the google ranking algorithm. It is a factor that checks users' loading speed, visual stability, and interactiveness on a web page.
It tests for Mobile vs. Desktop, safe internet browsing with HTTPS Encryption, and lack of pop-ups on a web page. The primary goal of google CWV is to give users an easy browsing experience and ensure that their information is safe. That's an excellent idea for sure. Let's look at its importance and an insightful look at its metrics.
What are Core Web Vital metrics and why are they important?
Suppose your website is to beat online competition and rank on the first page of Google SERPs. Then, you need to pass the CWV assessment test. You have nothing to worry about; I have got you covered.
In this post, you will be opportune to actualize the user page experience factors to be considered. I will also share CWV metrics for ranking a web page.
However, let us start with the essential page experience factors to be checked to improve your core web SEO score.
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Loading speed or (LCP)
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Interactiveness or (FID)
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Visual stability or (CLS)
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Mobile-friendliness
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Safe browsing
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HTTPS Encryption
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No intrusive interstitials pop-ups
Bear with me; you have got a lot to learn here. Those seven factors are essential core web vital metrics and a critical ranking determinant for search engine optimization. We won't go too deep in this post. I will only discuss the first three factors as they are the most critical metrics.
So, let's unveil the three crucial CWV assets together; here is how all these metrics impact SEO.
Largest Contentful Paints [LCP]
This important metric is the time it takes for a web page content to load. It is as simple as that. It measures and makes sure that the content on a web page becomes visible. The DOM content load time is when it takes for the text blocks and images on your site to become visible to the user. However, you should note this; a gif will take longer to load than an image, so you should be smart about your choices—the lower your site speed equivalent to lower rankings and lower conversion rate.
According to WordPress, the best time to load a mobile device user for LCP is 3.3 secs, while the best time allotted for a desktop is 0.843s for desktop users. Thus, the factors determining load or page speed are a fast server (3G or 4G connections), an optimized website, and a fast Content Delivery Network (CDN). Those three factors are essential for your site or page speed score.
First Input Delay [FID]
This term is also called input latency. It is the act of measuring the time it takes for a user's first interaction on a website. The interaction might be to drop down the page, press a button, tap on a link, to have full control of the web page. The first impression matters a lot. FID measures the responsiveness and interactiveness of a website.
Online users are quite busy and have got a lot to do. They inquire about a piece of information from your site. So, according to research, when a site takes more than 100ms to 300ms to react. It is liable to lose traffic, which implies a bad google ranking for the website.
Cumulative Layout Shift [CLS]
The layout shift illustrates a bad user experience. Have you ever experienced an element shift in rendering a web page? It is quite a frustrating scenario that can make you lose your place due to a content shift. According to web dev, a good CLS score should be 0.1 or less, 75th percentile of a page load.
The importance of this web is to boost your search ranking and the user's overall experience. In addition, you can check your website CLS level in lighthouse, GTmetrix, and Pingdom. Thus, you can also ultimately make changes to improve it.
Common issues to address in your CMV metrics
As website owners are desperate to get their content visible right at the fingertip of their prospective clients. Thus, these six common CLS, FID, and LCP issues in terms of SEO will be briefed. Let's get started.
Optimise Images
The first step on my list is the optimization of images. It is a crucial factor for it helps to increase your page speed and load time. It also helps to reduce the bandwidth to download. There are two types of image compression. The first is lossless compression, while the second is lossy compression.
The latter does not reduce the image's quality but only reduces the size. While the formal comes with a near-zero loss in quality. You can optimize your image using plugins like Optimole, Tiny PNG, Light Speed Cache, and many more for a WordPress site.
Optimise Javascript
Unused or large JavaScripts cause nothing but harm to your website. JavaScipt file can be removed or rendered blocked to improve your site load speed. Thus, you can also preload critical assets to improve your load speed. Meanwhile, there should be a browser-level image loading for the web. It is advisable to minify and compress the network payloads.
Optimise Fonts
Chrome, bing, opera mini, firefox, and other web browser has a way of managing your font. Suppose your website has a customized font. When information is required from a browser, some browsers will use its default font and wait for your font to load, then switch it for the user.
In contrast, some browsers wouldn't use any font for you, while users have to wait while your font is being downloaded.
Optimise CSS
There are three types of CSS: Inline CSS, Internal CSS, and External CSS. Thus, large or used CSS has its disadvantage on your page speed score. You can improve your load time by loading the non-critical CSS synchronically. However, you should also minify, render or eliminate the cascading style sheet. To detect and solve this problem better. I urge you to contact your developer to rectify the problems.
Optimize and add a CDN on your server
You need to optimize your site for a dynamic content delivery network. The addition of a fast CDN will help skyrocket your website's performance. A good delivery network makes the page on your loads faster. According to thetilt, images, and CSS, loads 60% and 81% faster, respectively, faster than the original server.
Conclusion
You have learned all about core web vitals and how it is used to optimize your user experience. SEO optimization is not a one-day job. It requires a process to be done in sequence. There are some best sites out there that rank for some keywords. Meanwhile, they are still behind in page speed, meta description, and technical issues. What are you still waiting for? Hurry up and implement this post on your website. I will be waiting anxiously for your website's success.