The Importance of Web Core Vitals in SEO and CRO
It has been a while since Google introduced Core Web Vitals, to exact this happened in May 2020, however the official implementation in the algorithm related to mobile devices took over an year, June 2021. And another 6 months to happen for search results related to desktop devices.
For a number of very good reasons, Google has been placing attention on website speed and user experience (UX) as a ranking factor. This is because Google understands that users are more likely to click and spend more time on a website that load fast, in comparison to slow websites.
Core Web Vitals, a set of three metrics that measure the user experience of a web page. The metrics are:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures the time it takes for the largest element on a page to render.
- First Input Delay (FID) measures the time it takes for a user to interact with a page after it has loaded. It was officially announce that FID will be replaced with the Interaction to Next Paint (INP) metric in March 2024, for more accurate representation of user experience.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures the amount of visual instability that occurs as a page loads.
Core Web Vitals are important for SEO because they directly impact the user experience of a web page. Pages that load quickly and respond smoothly are more likely to be ranked higher in search results.
In addition to SEO, Core Web Vitals are also important for CRO. Analysis and strudies have shown that there is a deep correlation between good Core Web Vitals scores and increased conversion rates. This is because users are more likely to convert on a website that is easy to use and navigate.
If you want to improve your website’s SEO and Conversion Rate Optimization, it is important to optimize your Core Web Vitals scores. There are a number of things you can do to improve your Core Web Vitals, such as:
- Minifying your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. This will reduce the size of static content and help the faster loading. Ideally the number of unused CSS and reducing the number of plugins (in case of WordPress website), can play very important part of speeding up the website.
- Using a content delivery network (CDN). A CDN will deliver your pages from servers that are closer to your users, which will also improve loading speed.
- Optimizing your images. Properly sizing images and using new web image formats like WebP, for smaller (in size) and correct resolution images.
- Improving your page’s code structure. This will make your pages more efficient and easier to load.
By following these tips, you can improve your website’s Core Web Vitals scores and boost your SEO and CRO.
Here are some additional benefits of improving your Core Web Vitals:
- Increased user satisfaction. Users are more likely to be satisfied with a website that loads quickly and responds smoothly.
- Reduced bounce rate. Users are less likely to bounce from a website that loads slowly.
- Increased time on page. Users are more likely to spend more time on a website that loads quickly and responds smoothly.
- Increased conversions. As mentioned earlier, there is a correlation between good Core Web Vitals scores and increased conversion rates.
If you’re not sure where to start, there are a number of tools available to help you measure and improve your Core Web Vitals. Google Lighthouse is a free tool that can be used to audit your website’s performance. You can also use the PageSpeed Insights tool to get a score for your website’s Core Web Vitals. One of my favorite online tools is GTMetrics that also covers most important aspects of website speed.
Improving your Core Web Vitals is an important step in improving your website’s SEO and CRO. Depending on the technology, themes and visual appearance, the task require a wide range of skills necessary to achieve high score, fast loading speeds and better user experience. The outcome of optimizing Core Web Vitals is higher traffic from organic search, more time spend on the website and higher conversion. If you would like us to check your website, please do not hesitate to contact us.