Core-Web Vitals: How To use these 3 scores to boost performance

With the increasing need to prioritize user experience, there is a growing demand for websites to be responsive and load quickly. Core-Web Vitals are one way of measuring this responsiveness and performance. In this article, we will discuss what Core-Web Vitals are, why they matter, and how you can use them to improve your user experience. So let’s get started!

What are Core-Web Vitals?

Web Vitals are a set of real-world, user-centric metrics that measure key aspects of the user experience. They include things like load time, interactivity, and visual stability. These are a subset of these metrics that Google has identified as being particularly important to the user experience. They are Largest Contentful Paint(LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Before going into detail about each metric let us look into how to measure them.

How to measure Core-Web Vitals?

Google provides several tools to measure, including:

1. Google Search Console: This tool provides an overview of your website’s performance.
2. PageSpeed Insights: This tool measures the CWV of a specific page and provides suggestions for improvement.
3. Lighthouse: This tool measures the CWV of a specific page and provides an in-depth report of the page’s performance.

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

LCP measures how long it takes for the largest content element on a page to load. The larger the content element, the longer it will take to load, and the more important it is to load quickly.

Google has found that pages with a slow LCP can cause users to abandon them, leading to lost traffic and potential customers. They recommend that pages have an LCP of fewer than 2.5 seconds. Studies have shown that even a small improvement in LCP can lead to a significant increase in conversions.

There are a number of ways to improve LCP, including:

– Optimizing images and other large content elements so they load faster
– Reducing server response time
– Minimizing JavaScript execution time
– Deferring non-critical JavaScript until after the page has loaded

First Input Delay (FID)

FID measures the time from when a user first interacts with a page (i.e. clicks a link, taps on a button) to when the browser is actually able to respond to that interaction. A fast FID is important because it ensures that users are able to interact with the page as quickly and smoothly as possible.

A slow FID can be caused by a number of things, including heavy JavaScript execution or rendering blocking CSS. To improve your FID, you should focus on reducing the amount of time your page takes to process user input. This can be done by optimizing your JavaScript code and using efficient CSS selectors. You can also use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to help identify and fix potential issues.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is a new metric in Google’s Web Vitals initiative, which measures the stability of a page. A high CLS score indicates that a page is constantly shifting, which can be frustrating for users and lead to them leaving the site. Google recommends that pages have a CLS score of less than 0.1.

There are several ways to improve your CLS score, including:

-Reducing the amount of content above the fold
-Lazy loading of images and videos
-Preventing web fonts from causing FOIT/FOUT
-Using animation wisely

How Do I Improve My CWV Score?

Improving Core Web Vitals requires a combination of technical and non-technical fixes. Here are some possible solutions:

1. Improve server response time: if your server is slow, it will take longer for your website to load. Consider upgrading your hosting plan or optimizing your server settings.
2. Optimize images: large images can slow down your website. Use an image optimization tool to compress your images without losing quality.
3. Use a content delivery network (CDN): a CDN can improve loading times by caching your website’s content on servers located around the world.
4. Minimize JavaScript and CSS files: large JavaScript and CSS files can slow down your website. Minimize them by removing unused code and compressing them.
5. Prioritize above-the-fold content: above-the-fold content is the content that is visible on the screen without scrolling. Prioritizing this content can improve the perceived loading speed of your website.
6. Avoid large layout shifts: layout shifts can be caused by ads, images, or other dynamic content. Avoid them by reserving space for ads and images and using CSS animations.

Conclusion

By following these best practices, you can ensure that your website loads quickly and efficiently, providing a better experience for your users.

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