Google defines the core elements of a webpage that enhance user experience as “core web vitals.” Core web vitals were introduced in Google’s page experience ranking update</a, which rolled out June–August 2021. And there is a strong indication that they will significantly impact SEO and how websites rank in Google.

In this article from our series on the page experience update, I’ll discuss core web vitals and how they factor into SEO.

• What are core web vitals? 
• How might core web vitals impact SEO and rankings? 
• Core web vitals and the ‘fast page’  label
• More on core web vitals
• FAQ: How do Core Web Vitals contribute to a better user experience and SEO?

What Are Core Web Vitals?

Core web vitals are a series of signals that help assess a webpage’s usability. These “vital signs” are page-quality signals that contribute to a good user experience. And that’s good for SEO.

Core web vitals cover things like page load time, responsiveness, and the visual stability of content. Google’s current set of core web vitals includes:

• Largest contentful paint (LCP): LCP measures how fast the webpage’s largest image or text block renders. And Google recommends that it happen within the first 2.5 seconds.
• First input delay (FID): FID measures load responsiveness. This refers to how quickly a webpage loads and executes so that the user can interact with the page.
• Cumulative layout shift (CLS): CLS measures unexpected layout shifts on a webpage. One example is when a button or link shifts on the webpage, causing a person to click on something other than what they wanted.

Each of these core web vitals has specific thresholds that your webpages must meet at least 75% of the time, which I’ll go into in more detail in future articles. Doing so can earn your webpage a slight ranking boost.

Image credit: Web Vitals, Google Developers

You can expect the core web vitals to evolve over time, but not without warning. According to Google:

… Core Web Vitals represent the best available signals developers have today to measure quality of experience across the web, but these signals are not perfect and future improvements or additions should be expected. … developers should expect the definitions and thresholds of the Core Web Vitals to be stable, and updates to have prior notice and a predictable, annual cadence.

How Might Core Web Vitals Impact SEO and Rankings?

Core web vitals help ensure the user experience with your site is fast, responsive, and smooth. This is already a goal of a good SEO strategy.

• LCP is one way to measure that webpages load fast. It helps your website visitors have a good user experience and stay on your site.
• FID plays into another good SEO strategy, to keep visitors on your site.
• CLS helps ensure that the experience is smooth for your mobile users, a key SEO strategy.

Google has not yet specified the percentage of rankings the new page experience signal impacts. We also haven’t heard exactly how core web vitals play into the overall page experience ranking update either. But we do know that earning “good” scores can help your rankings. According to John Mueller, page experience “is a ranking factor, and it’s more than a tie-breaker, but it also doesn’t replace relevance.”

Search Engine Land spoke to a Google rep and reported that Google would not discuss “how much each factor is weighted” but that “great content with a poor page experience can still rank highly in Google search.”

Perhaps a different view will help: If your site is slow, it cannot respond quickly to a voice search request. Will voice search become increasingly important? Of course. So overall speed is vital going forward.

It’s also suspected that Google’s AI, RankBrain, takes into account how users engage with the search results. RankBrain’s goal is to interpret search queries better and serve the most relevant search results. Specifically, RankBrain may look at the time spent engaging with a webpage when accessed from the search results.

Keep in mind that a fast site finds favor in Google’s eyes. It creates a better user experience, and that’s good for all. For that reason, page speed has been a ranking factor for years. The most recent news on this was the “speed update” for mobile that rolled out in 2018. The page experience update makes that more granular, with many metrics being tracked.

Core web vitals help ensure users are happy and stay on your site. This, in turn, can impact rankings. See an earlier article I wrote on SEO and the user experience.

Core Web Vitals and the ‘Fast Page’ Label

Is your website ready to pass the thresholds for core web vitals? If not, you’re not alone.

According to research by Screaming Frog published in August 2020, only 12% of mobile and 13% of desktop results passed the assessment.

A more recent study by Searchmetrics found even worse results. Less than 4% of the two million URLs they checked could pass all of the core web vitals tests!

It’s likely that Google knows the work that is ahead of website publishers, which explains why the search engine announced it a year in advance. Google also announced an added incentive: a “fast page” label that would be added to search results on Chrome for Android, starting in Chrome 85 Beta.

How can you earn that label for your webpages? Google says that “links to pages that have historically met or exceeded all metrics thresholds for the core web vitals” get the label.

(While Google says “all” core web vitals, it’s unclear how cumulative layout shift factors into the fast page label.)

That means that even though Google said back in May 2020 that “there is no immediate need to take action,” it tried to make core web vitals a little more enticing to get a head start on.

That’s because sites with a “fast page” label in the results can potentially garner more clicks. This is reminiscent of the “mobile-friendly” labels Google created back in 2014, when it wanted website publishers to start putting mobile users first.

More on Core Web Vitals

As we continue our series on core web vitals, I’ll highlight each of the factors — LCP, FIC, and CLS — and include frequently asked questions on how to prepare for the coming page experience update.

You can find out about each page experience factor in our series:

1. What’s the Page Experience Update?
2. How to Make a Mobile-Friendly Site
3. Intrusive Interstitials & Why They’re Bad for SEO
4. HTTPS for Users and Ranking
5. Core Web Vitals Overview
6. Core Web Vitals: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
7. Core Web Vitals: FID (First Input Delay)
8. Core Web Vitals: CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

Would you like help analyzing and improving your SEO strategy? Contact us for a free consultation today.

FAQ: How do Core Web Vitals contribute to a better user experience and SEO?

User experience and search engine optimization (SEO) are pillars of online success. The nexus between these two lies in Core Web Vitals – crucial performance indicators that encapsulate the essence of a website’s responsiveness, speed, and stability.

Core Web Vitals represent a set of performance metrics Google has identified as integral to a seamless user experience. Comprising Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), these metrics gauge a webpage’s load time, interactivity, and visual stability, respectively. By scrutinizing these aspects, search engines evaluate how effectively a site engages and retains visitors. A website that responds swiftly, allows quick interactions, and prevents unexpected layout shifts resonates more positively with users, thereby improving its SEO prospects.

User experience has become an increasingly pivotal factor for both users and search engines. In its pursuit of delivering the best results, Google factors in Core Web Vitals when determining the ranking of a webpage. A site that offers a smooth and expedient experience is more likely to receive favorable treatment in search engine results pages. Consequently, optimizing Core Web Vitals can yield a double benefit: it satisfies users by providing a better interface and enhances a site’s visibility in search results.

To grasp the impact of Core Web Vitals on user experience, consider their influence on page speed. The Largest Contentful Paint, measuring the time it takes for the largest element to load, directly affects how quickly users perceive a site as ready for interaction. Pages that load swiftly captivate and retain users’ attention, reducing bounce rates and contributing to longer dwell times – factors that search engines appreciate. This underscores the symbiotic relationship between user engagement and SEO.

One insightful tip for optimizing Core Web Vitals is to focus on efficient content delivery. Employ content delivery networks (CDNs) to distribute assets across multiple servers, ensuring users receive resources from the server closest to them. This technique minimizes latency, accelerating load times and positively impacting LCP. By prioritizing resource loading and leveraging browser caching, webmasters can significantly enhance both user experience and SEO performance.

Core Web Vitals are pivotal in shaping a website’s user experience and influencing its SEO rankings. Prioritizing these performance metrics isn’t just about meeting search engine requirements – it’s about delivering a website that resonates with users and keeps them engaged. By optimizing Core Web Vitals and focusing on strategies to enhance webpage performance, businesses and website owners can establish a strong online presence and foster better user interactions.

Step-by-Step Procedure: Optimizing Core Web Vitals for User Experience and SEO

1. Assess current Core Web Vitals metrics using Google’s PageSpeed Insights or other relevant tools.
2. Identify the web pages with suboptimal performance metrics.
3. Prioritize content delivery by utilizing content delivery networks (CDNs) for efficient asset distribution.
4. Implement lazy loading for images and videos to load resources only when needed, improving LCP.
5. Optimize server response times by utilizing caching mechanisms and minimizing server-side processing.
6. Minimize JavaScript execution time to enhance FID by removing unnecessary scripts and optimizing critical scripts.
7. Prioritize above-the-fold content to ensure faster rendering and improved user engagement.
8. Optimize CSS delivery by minimizing render-blocking resources and utilizing asynchronous loading techniques.
9. Address layout shifts by setting explicit dimensions for media elements and utilizing CSS properties.
10. Monitor Core Web Vitals regularly and track improvements over time.
11. Utilize browser caching effectively by specifying appropriate cache durations for different types of resources.
12. Optimize images and other media assets by compressing them without compromising quality.
13. Implement code minification and bundling to reduce the size of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files.
14. Leverage browser preloading to anticipate user actions and preload essential resources.
15. Implement responsive design to ensure smooth rendering across various devices and screen sizes.
16. When optimizing and testing third-party components and scripts to avoid performance bottlenecks.
17. Take advantage of modern web technologies, like HTTP/2 and HTTP/3, for improved server-client communications.
18. Continuously monitor server performance and uptime to prevent disruptions in Core Web Vitals metrics.
19. Conduct A/B testing to evaluate the impact of optimizations on user experience and engagement.
20. Stay updated with industry trends and Google’s guidelines to adapt and optimize Core Web Vitals accordingly.

The post Core Web Vitals for SEO: An Overview appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

There are many reasons to care about the speed of your website. For SEO and marketing impact, here are three: 1) Page speed and performance are Google ranking factors; 2) Page performance can directly impact your ability to keep users on your site; and 3) Page speed can directly impact your revenue.

But is your site fast enough? In this article, I’ll overview why website speed is important, site speed targets, common issues that impact page speed, and why and when to fix them. Feel free to jump ahead:

• Why is website speed important
• Why do page speed issues happen
• How fast should your website be according to Google
• How fast should your website really be
• How to speed up your website
• FAQ: Why is the speed of my website crucial for user experience and SEO?

Why Is Website Speed Important?

Fast websites are better for the end user. A slow site can cause visitors to bounce from your site and your business to lose revenue. Not only that, but you want the search engines to be able to move quickly through your site.

Consider this:

• One study showed that delays in accessing content produced the same level of stress in people as watching a horror movie alone or taking a math test (my Bachelor’s is in math, so I can appreciate that).
• Pinterest reported that reducing wait time by 40% resulted in a 15% increase in SEO traffic and a 15% increase in conversion rate to sign up.

A fast site is especially crucial for mobile users, who tend to search on the go and with varying internet connection speeds. Google says that:

Our data shows that while more than half of overall web traffic comes from mobile, mobile conversion rates are lower than desktop. In short, speed equals revenue.

Besides its importance for user experience and conversions, site speed also significantly impacts your rankings and organic traffic. Page speed is already a lightweight ranking factor. But speed and performance will gain focus in Google’s upcoming page experience ranking update.

In addition, if enough visitors quickly bounce back to the search results after clicking on your page due to a slow load time, it may also hurt your rankings via RankBrain.

Why Do Page Speed Issues Happen?

Optimizing your page speed is tricky. A lot of things that can impact page speed are out of your control as a website publisher. This includes the website visitor’s internet service provider and package, their device’s performance, and so much more.

However, there is a lot that is in your control, too. And this is what Google cares about. Common page speed issues fall into these three categories: cache, bandwidth, and server processing and rendering.

Remember, speed and performance go beyond just load time. It’s multifaceted. As Google points out, “Historically, web performance has been measured with the load event. However, even though load is a well-defined moment in a page’s lifecycle, that moment doesn’t necessarily correspond with anything the user cares about.”

Google goes on to illustrate how performance is relative:

• A site might be fast for one user (on a fast network with a powerful device) but slow for another user (on a slow network with a low-end device).
• Two sites may finish loading in the exact same amount of time, yet one may seem to load faster (if it loads content progressively rather than waiting until the end to display anything).
• A site might appear to load quickly but then respond slowly (or not at all) to user interaction.

So when talking about performance, it’s important to be precise and to refer to performance in terms of objective criteria that can be quantitatively measured.

In other words, load time counts, but there are a lot of metrics to address in order to improve common speed and performance issues. And the list is only going to grow — Google is introducing Core Web Vitals into the algorithm mix in its page experience ranking update (scheduled to roll out between June and August 2021).

To learn more about speed and performance:

• Read our overview on page speed issues for SEO.
• Read Google’s user-centered performance metrics.

How Fast Your Webpage Should Be, According to Google

Google once said that mobile sites should “deliver and render the above-the-fold (ATF) content in under one second.” However, Google research from 2018 found that there were different benchmarks for page speed performance per industry. (Note that these benchmarks have likely decreased since then).

Other Google data shows that as page load time goes from one second to three seconds, the probability of the searcher bouncing increases by 32%. And that number jumps to 90% when page load time goes from one second to five seconds.

Remember that each performance metric has its own thresholds. So the goal is to understand speed and performance metrics and individually optimize for them.

How Fast Should Your Webpage Really Be?

You want to make your website as fast as possible for your users within what is reasonable to do.

Keep in mind that these improvements can be time-consuming and expensive. When analyzing things like your PageSpeed Insights score, for example, have the professionals review it and then pick your battles. It may be really hard to improve it past a certain threshold and not worth the resources to do so.

So how fast is fast enough? As I’ve said many times before, SEO should beat the competition. So see what the norm is for your industry. Analyze the pages that are ranking on Page 1 of Google by running them through a page speed tool.

Remember that Google once said when referring to its page speed ranking signal that it uses “a variety of sources to determine the speed of a site relative to other sites.”

That means that if all of your top-ranked competitors have similar load times (even if they are slow), and your webpage load time falls into that range, it should be considered normal.

However, if you are an outlier (meaning your site is way slower), it could impact rankings negatively.

How to Speed Up Your Website

There are plenty of ways to analyze your webpages and improve their performance. Some basic best practices for webpage speed include:

• Compress the information between your web server and search engine browser
• Minify JavaScript
• Clean up and externalize CSS code
• Choose the best file formats for your images
• And many more

The trick is to identify the issues dragging down your performance metrics and then prioritize the work. You want to tackle the biggest culprits that will bring the greatest performance improvement first.

And if you haven’t started yet, it’s time. Here are some resources to dig deeper:

• PageSpeed Insights tool for measuring any webpage’s performance
• Documentation about PageSpeed Insights
• Google’s recommendations for Fast Load Times
• Complete guide to Google’s page experience update (e-book)

If you’re looking for answers to your technical SEO issues, we can help. Contact us for a free quote, and let’s talk.

FAQ: Why is the speed of my website crucial for user experience and SEO?

The load time of your website immensely affects user experience and search engine optimization (SEO). Furthermore, its speed can have an immediate effect on both aspects. A slow-loading site frustrates visitors and often leads to high bounce rates. In fact, studies have shown that even a mere second’s delay can result in a noticeable drop in conversions.

Search engines such as Google factor website speed into their ranking algorithms when assigning rank rankings to websites. Faster websites are generally favored in search results because they offer a better user experience. This means that sluggish loading times disappoint visitors and push your website lower in search rankings. In the competitive digital landscape, where every click counts, neglecting website speed can harm your online visibility.

Optimizing your website’s speed involves various strategies, such as efficient coding, image compression, and minimizing HTTP requests. Prioritize using browser caching and content delivery networks (CDNs) to distribute content across multiple servers, reducing latency. Streamlining your website’s code and scripts can significantly improve loading times, enhancing user experience and SEO. Regularly monitoring your site’s speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix can provide valuable insights and help you fine-tune performance.

Every second matters in the race to capture user attention and secure a prominent spot in search results. Beyond technical aspects, website speed is intertwined with psychological factors. Users perceive fast-loading sites as more trustworthy and professional, which bolsters your brand’s credibility. Additionally, the advent of mobile browsing amplifies the importance of speed, as mobile users often have limited bandwidth and less patience for sluggish websites.

The speed of your website serves as a linchpin for exceptional user experience and SEO success. Swift-loading sites attract and retain visitors, driving conversions and reducing bounce rates. Moreover, search engines reward fast websites with higher rankings, increasing organic traffic.

Step-by-Step Procedure: How to Optimize Your Website’s Speed for User Experience and SEO

1. Evaluate Current Speed: Use online tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix to assess your website’s current speed performance.
2. Optimize Images: Compress images without compromising quality using tools like Adobe Photoshop or online image compressors.
3. Minimize HTTP Requests: Reduce the number of elements on each page, including scripts, stylesheets, and images, to minimize HTTP requests.
4. Enable Browser Caching: Leverage browser caching to store static resources, allowing returning visitors to experience faster load times.
5. Utilize Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Implement a CDN to distribute your website’s content across multiple servers geographically, reducing server load and latency.
6. Prioritize Above-the-Fold Content: Ensure that content is visible without scrolling loads quickly, improving perceived load time.
7. Minify CSS and JavaScript: Remove unnecessary characters and spaces from code to reduce file sizes.
8. Use Efficient Coding Practices: Employ clean and efficient coding practices to streamline your website’s structure.
9. Leverage Gzip Compression: Enable Gzip compression on your server to reduce file sizes during data transfer.
10. Opt for Asynchronous Loading: Load non-essential resources asynchronously to prevent blocking of critical content.
11. Choose the Right Hosting Plan: Select a hosting plan that aligns with your website’s needs, considering factors like server resources and performance.
12. Reduce Redirects: Minimize URL redirects as they increase page load times.
13. Implement Lazy Loading: Employ lazy loading for images and videos, deferring the loading of off-screen content.
14. Optimize Fonts: Use web-safe fonts and minimize the number of font styles to improve loading speed.
15. Regular Maintenance: Continuously monitor your website’s speed and performance, making necessary updates and optimizations.
16. Update Plugins and Themes: Ensure all plugins and themes are current, as outdated components can slow down your website.
17. Limit Third-Party Scripts: Minimize the use of third-party scripts and services, as they can introduce delays.
18. Use a Lightweight Theme: Choose a lightweight and well-coded theme for your website to enhance speed.
19. Implement AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages): Consider using AMP to create stripped-down versions of your pages for faster mobile loading.
20. Test Across Devices: Verify your website’s speed and functionality across various devices and browsers to ensure a consistent user experience.

By following these steps, you can comprehensively optimize your website’s speed, thereby enhancing user experience and boosting your SEO efforts.

The post How Fast Should My Webpage Be and Why Should I Care? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..