How to prepare your website for the Core Web Vitals Google Update

Dayana
May 14, 2021

Google takes user-friendliness to the next level

Google’s first big update for the year is about to roll out, and with it come a few (quite significant) changes to the algorithm. From a website owner’s perspective, the most crucial change is that the page experience ranking signals will be applied globally on all browsers on mobile devices.

If this sounds like a mishmash of SEO jargon, don’t worry because we’ll explain everything. And, it’s actually really easy to understand. You just have to look at things from Google’s perspective. They’ve always been all about ease of use and accessibility (as noted in their mission statement), and almost all algorithm changes aim to make the web more user-friendly.

Of course, in a perfect world, “search engine optimisation” wouldn’t need to exist. People would just create their content and websites in line with the standard from the get-go because they want to provide users with the best possible experience. However, web development trends aren’t there just yet. And, besides, making something functional is much simpler (and cheaper) than making something functional and user-friendly. That’s where SEO comes in.

What are these “Core Web Vitals” and why should you care about them?

Well, probably, because Google has been going on and on about the “major change that’s on the horizon” for the better part of a year? Besides, website owners who allow themselves to get blindsided by this update are very likely to lose many positions.

Here’s a quick summary:

Google wants to point users to safe, secure, mobile-friendly and user-friendly websites. The update places a big emphasis on usability. Websites that are easier to browse will have an easier time ranking higher. Good user experience has always been a significant factor, but now, they’re taking it to the next level.

And don’t worry, because, in their own words,

“Good page experience doesn’t override having great, relevant content.”

So, if two websites have the same score, the one with the better content will still have the upper hand. All inline with Google’s original goal. They want to help users find the most relevant, easily accessible and interesting content that’s available out there. Annoying delays, slow loading speeds, insecure websites, repetitive content, and everything of the sort should be a thing of the past.

Core Web Vitals – The Three Metrics

LCP – Largest Contentful Paint (yes, that’s a word!)
FID – First Input Delay
CLS – Cumulative Layout Shift

The first metric – LCP – is all about response time. And it’s pretty self-explanatory: you want your pages to load as fast as possible. This includes everything from server response time and scripts to specific resources like images and video files. The longer the users have to wait for your page to load, the higher chance they’ll get bored and go to your competitor. Google wants the LCP to take less than 2.5 seconds from the moment it starts loading.

The second metric – FID – is focused on input delay. Or, you can view it as “yet another” speed metric. Basically, you want the website to respond to the user’s taps or clicks as quickly as possible. The big delays usually come from big scripts or other elements loading in the background, which prevents the browser from responding in a timely manner (and usually creates frustration in the user). Google is looking for a delay of 100ms or less.

The final metric – CLS – has to do with layout shifts, ads, dynamic content, and weird fonts. You know how, sometimes, the website’s layout shifts or changes a couple times after the page is done loading? This is one of the major sources of frustrations for mobile users because you’re always forced to wait a couple of seconds before interacting with your screen unless you want to risk clicking on something that just seemingly appeared out of nowhere. And, what’s even worse is that the user has no choice in the matter – the issue is present regardless of your connection speed or device specs. Google understands the frustration and wants to limit (or, ideally – eliminate) the shifting layout practice.