Optimize Web Design Using Google Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are a set of real-world, user-centered metrics that quantify key aspects of the user experience. … Core Web Vitals are not set in stone – which means they may change from year to year depending on what users expect out of a good web page experience. Google

 

While this program is not due to hit full force until next year, Google has started to educate web developers about the changes that will affect search engine optimization practices. The user experience is getting more and more important in the areas of load time, interactivity, and the stability of content as it loads.

Right now, it is known as the “Page Experience Signal,” which includes Core Web Vitals. They are in addition to other experience metrics you may be familiar with, that are currently part of the algorithm, like these two:

Mobile-friendliness – a few years ago Google added this ranking signal when mobile phones surpassed desktop computers for search. It became important to make sure your website was easy to see on a phone without stretching and growing the content.  Web designers needed to change websites to be responsive on all screens.

HTTPS-security – web designers began putting security on websites on those that gathered personal information, but now it is suggested to be on all websites to keep the hackers at bay.  You can determine if your pages are safe if you have the little lock icon in the browser address bar.

New Page Experience Signals

As mentioned above, Core Web Vitals include a set of metrics related to speed, interactivity, and visual stability. They will measure the user’s perception of their experience while interacting with a web page. Having these new optimizations on your website will make the web more enjoyable for users, especially mobile users. Using tools provided by Google and third-party developers, these signals will be able to be seen in real-time, making it simpler for web developers to make needed changes.

Load Time – Have you ever left a site because it takes longer than 5 seconds to load?  You are not alone.  Core Web Vitals will measure perceived load speeds and mark the point in the page timeline when the page’s main content has likely loaded using the metric called Largest Contentful Paint. An ideal LCP measurement is 2.5 seconds.

Interactivity – Using the metric, First Input Delay, web developers will be able to measure the responsiveness of the site while it quantifies the experience users perceive when trying to first interact with the page. For example, when they click a link or hit a button.  It will measure how long it took to respond to the action. An ideal measurement is less than 1000 seconds.

Stability – The metric used for stability is Cumulative Layout Shift, which measures the visual stability of your website and then quantifies the amount of unexpected layout shift of visible page content. This means it measures how much visible content shifted in the viewport as well as the distance it moved.  An ideal measurement is less than 0.1

A good page experience doesn’t override having great, relevant content. However, in cases where there are multiple pages that have similar content, page experience becomes much more important for visibility in Search. Google

Content relevance will still be the best goal and will outrank any of these other page experience signals, but if you are interested in showing up, it is recommended you follow suggestions just like we did when mobile-friendliness and security web vitals were introduced.  Soon you will be able to use a plugin for the Chrome browser that will quickly evaluate your Core Web Values.

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