How Google’s Core Web Vitals Impact Your SEO

Google Core Web Vitals. If you are in the search engine optimisation game (SEO), you need to have these firmly in your mind when plotting out your strategy. Without building around the Core Web Vitals, Google will not view your website as a relevant factor in their search rankings.

It’s harsh, but that is the reality in the current SEO landscape.

This guide takes a closer look at how SEO efforts are impacted by the Google Core Web Vitals, including how you can ensure it is a positive result for your site.

When Were The Core Web Vitals Introduced?

If you are only just becoming aware of the Google Core Web Vitals, you might be surprised the rollout for this was completed back in July 2021. We reported this at the time: Core Web Vitals – Rollout Complete: The Latest News

At the time, it was tricky to gauge just how important it would be for SEO. If the Core Web Vitals assessment failed, that was never going to be good news for a website. Yet as the months have gone on, and as more guides and #corewebvitals hashtags have appeared, it’s clear the Google Web Vitals are, well, vital.

What Are The 3 Core Web Vitals?

Before anything else, it is important you know what the 3 Core Web Vitals are. Here’s a quick summary:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)The largest contentful paint is a measure of the render time taken for the largest visible contentful area of a page to load.: This metric measures how fast a webpage’s main content loads. A “good” LCP SEO score is a page that loads in 2.5 seconds or less.
• First Input Delay (FID)First Input Delay measures the time between the user's initial input and when they see the result of that action on screen.: This metric judges the time it takes for a user to first interact with a webpage and the time it takes for the interaction to be processed. For example, this could be clicking a link. When you check core web vitals, a “good” FID score is 100 ms or less.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is a Google Core Web Vitals performance issue that can be detected by Google PageSpeed Insights.: This metric measures a webpage’s visual stability speed. A positive core web vitals check score should see the CLS at 0.1 or less.

These Google Core Vitals come together to determine the quality of your website’s user experience. In Google’s eyes, an acceptable page experience is one which delivers stable and smooth visuals, incorporates plenty of interactive features, and loads within 2.5 seconds.

If you’d like to learn more, make sure to read the following blog, which details each aspect in more detail: What Are Core Web Vitals?

Why Are Core Web Vitals Important For SEO?

Google uses over 200 ranking factors when judging a website. With that many aspects to think about, you might wonder: what’s the point of focusing so much on these Google Vitals?

Well, it’s fair to say that, when it comes to the Core Web Vitals, Google views these as more essential than other factors.

The reason is that they go beyond being a key element for technical SEO. They are also essential for the page experience. Simply put, if the experience isn’t a positive one for the user, they will quickly turn back and click on an alternative website.

For example, a slow-loading page is one of the most damaging for any SEO plan. Users don’t stick around. Google doesn’t appreciate that situation. The end result: your site plummets down into the land of search obscurity.

Pass the Google Core Web Vitals test, and your site is in a much stronger position from an SEO point of view.

Improve your SEO today: Could Your Website Benefit From Our SEO Audit Service?

How To Perform A Core Web Vitals Check

You know the importance of Google Core Web Vitals for your SEO efforts. However, how do you actually perform a test?

The good news: you don’t have to venture elsewhere. We offer a Core Web Vitals Checker, which is free to use. By using this Core Web Vitals Checker, you are able to measure all three components – LCP, FID, and CLS – on any webpage in seconds.

After using the Vitals Checker, you will be in one of two positions. The first – and most ideal – position is one where the SEO Core Web Vitals are all performing to a high level. The second is where work is required to get all of these Google Vitals up to an acceptable speed.

Core Web Vitals SEO Improvements

When you are checking the Core Web Vitals, the last thing you want to see is the following message:

Core Web Vitals assessment: failed

However, it’s not uncommon. A lot of websites struggle to achieve the Core Vitals Google have set out, particularly when they haven’t checked or paid close attention to them in the past.

Yet if your Core Web Vitals assessment failed, the next step is making the necessary improvements to get each element into the “good” category.

Another positive of using our Core Web Vitals Checker is that it highlights the existing issues that are holding back current performance. It’s then a case of making a checklist of these issues and attempting to correct them successfully. For instance, if speed is a problem and this is harming your LCP score, you will be told what to fix to avert slow load times.

Improving those Google Core Web Vitals can be a difficult task – particularly for those not well-versed in technical SEO. This is where it is recommended to use a Fully Managed SEO service. By letting a professional take care of the work, you know all SEO elements – including the latest Google updates – are sufficiently covered.

Don’t Underestimate Core Web Vitals

If you want your SEO campaign to be successful, the Core Web Vitals should be a central focus of your strategy. Aside from being among the most important ranking factors for Google, Web Vitals are crucial for your website’s user experience. That, on its own, makes it worth optimising these vitals.

To learn more about the subject, make sure to download our comprehensive free guide – the appropriately named Web Core Vitals: Your Complete Guide. You can also get in touch if you require direct help with this aspect of your website.