What are Core Web Vitals?

What Core Web Vitals measure

Core Web Vitals are three Google metrics. They measure the quality of user experience on a site. Google has used them as a ranking factor since 2021.

The three main metrics

Here is what each metric measures:

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): the time to load the main content. Google wants this under 2.5 seconds.
• INP (Interaction to Next Paint): the speed of response to clicks. It should be under 200 milliseconds.
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): the visual stability of the page. Elements should not shift during loading.

Why they matter for your site

Google uses Core Web Vitals to decide where to rank your site. A slow site loses positions. But there is an even more direct effect.

A slow site drives people away. If the page takes more than 3 seconds, half the users close it. Those who leave don't become customers.

How to improve them

You can improve your scores with these actions:

• Optimise images: use WebP format and compress before uploading.
• Choose fast hosting: server speed has a major impact on LCP.
• Reduce scripts: every plugin added slows down the page.
• Use a CDN to distribute files close to your users.

How to measure them

Use Google PageSpeed Insights. It is free. It gives you a score from 0 to 100. It also shows you the specific issues to fix. You can also use Google Search Console, under the "Page Experience" section.