Google’s New Ranking Factors: Core Web Vitals

Google has added three user experience metrics that have become new ranking factors for search engines. These metrics, known collectively as Core Web Vitals, measure the loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability of web pages. Along with factors like mobile-friendliness, security e absence of pop-ups, these new signals are used to evaluate the overall page experience and influence its position in search results.

The evolution of user experience metrics

Core Web Vitals are the result of Google’s long research to find reliable metrics for measuring the user experience perceived while interacting with a web page. Over the years, the search engine has tested numerous metrics for this purpose, each getting closer to the desired outcome without fully achieving it. Until now.

Google claims that this new combination of three user experience metrics is finally able to quantify the first impression a web page conveys to the user. Furthermore, the company states that websites that meet the benchmarks for a positive first impression are 24% less likely to lose users during page loading.

The three key metrics of Core Web Vitals

The three indicators that make up Core Web Vitals are:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

This metric evaluates loading performance and measures the time it takes to render the largest content element (text, image, or video) on the screen. LCP represents the user’s perception of when the page has actually loaded.

First Input Delay (FID)

FID measures the page’s responsiveness to the user’s first interaction (click, tap, or key press). Unlike the other two metrics, FID can only be measured in the field, with real user interaction, while in the lab it is replaced by the Total Blocking Time (TBT) metric.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

CLS evaluates the visual stability of the page, i.e., the phenomenon of content shifting even when the page appears to be fully loaded. A high CLS score indicates poor visual stability, which can cause the user to click on the wrong content.

Tools for measuring Core Web Vitals

There are several tools available to web developers for measuring Core Web Vitals:

• PageSpeed Insights
• Chrome UX Report
• Search Console
• Chrome DevTools
• Lighthouse
• Web Vitals Chrome Extension

These tools differ in the type of data they use (field data vs. lab data) and the level of technical expertise required for their use. For example, Search Console offers a website-level overview, while DevTools and Lighthouse are more suitable for in-depth analysis and page-level optimization work.

The impact of Core Web Vitals on ranking

Google has stated that page experience signals, including Core Web Vitals, have been used as additional ranking factors since 2021. This means that, with equal content and relevance, pages that meet performance and user experience benchmarks are more likely to rank higher in search results.

Furthermore, Core Web Vitals will replace AMP as a requirement for accessing the Top Stories section in Google search results. This way, the search engine can extend the benefits of pre-rendering and privileged positioning to non-AMP pages that offer an equivalent user experience.

Optimizing for Core Web Vitals

To improve Core Web Vitals scores, SEO experts suggest focusing on the following aspects:

• LCP: Speed up server response times, load resources faster, reduce JavaScript and CSS code that blocks rendering, and optimize client-side rendering.
• FID: Speed up page loading through techniques like code splitting and reduced use of JavaScript.
• CLS: Include the dimensions of images and videos, and avoid inserting new content above already present content.

While optimizing for Core Web Vitals is important, it should not be prioritized over other fundamental factors such as content quality, relevance to user queries, and page authority.