• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Hot Dog Marketing

Hot Dog Marketing

Brand Builders for Service-Based Businesses

  • Our Team
  • Our Expertise
    • Growth Strategy
    • Branding and Design
    • Websites
    • Strategic Marketing
    • Multimedia Marketing
  • Our Work
  • Our Process
  • Blog
    • Free Marketing Templates
  • Blogcast
  • Contact Us

Core Web Vitals: What they are and why they’re important for your website’s success

You are here: Home / Blog / Core Web Vitals: What they are and why they’re important for your website’s success

November 18, 2020 by Tom Snyder

What do Core Web Vitals mean for your website?

How can you use them to improve the user’s experience on your website?

Google is constantly updating its algorithm and searching for new ways to serve users the best and more relevant content. While there are over 200 different ranking factors (according to Google), one undeniably important factor is user experience.

But how can an algorithm measure a user’s experience of a website?

This puzzle has long perplexed the tech giant, but their recent release provides simple metrics for website owners to understand and improve upon.

In summer 2020, Google launched a new set of website page experience metrics called “Core Web Vitals.”

“Web Vitals is an initiative by Google to provide unified guidance for quality signals that are essential to delivering a great user experience on the web.” –Google

The goal is to present uncomplicated metrics that relate to a user’s experience of a web page so that website owners know how they can improve the experience of their site.

What are Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals (CWV) consists of three metrics:

  1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – Measures loading performance of a page.
  2. First Input Delay (FID) – Measures interactivity between user input and a web page.
  3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – Measures the visual stability when viewing content on a web page.

Core Web VitalsLargest Contentful Paint (LCP)

Largest what now?

LCP is a fancy term that simply means how fast your website loads. This metric is important because we all know how terrible it feels when we navigate to a slow website. That impatient feeling we encounter is a clear signal of poor user experience.

In fact, there are numerous studies that show shocking statistics of how many people navigate away from slow websites.

Walmart.com found that for every 1 second of page speed improvement, they increased their conversion rate by 2% 

(see the infographic here)

Having a website isn’t enough – it needs to be fast enough to provide a pleasant experience that doesn’t keep users waiting at every page.

First Input Delay (FID)

Ever heard of “rage clicking?”

You know when you click on a link and it doesn’t open right away, so, in frustration, you click on it 20 more times? (Then proceed to close 20 new tabs)

Well, that is called “rage clicking” and it’s one potential repercussion from a slow FID.

When a user interacts with a web page, whether that means filling out a form field, clicking a link or button, or expanding an accordion menu, the speed at which the web page registers their input affects the user’s experience.

This is a great metric because it measures the interactivity of your website. A beautiful website that loads fast is great, but if it’s difficult to navigate, it’ll ultimately disappoint users.

Consider how login pages would suffer from a long FID. Users expect to be able to input their credentials quickly and login to get to the stuff they really want to see. Delays at this stage are so annoying.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

This is my biggest website frustration.

It drives me up the walls when a website’s CLS is terrible.

For example, let’s say I navigate to a web page with a recipe I’m cooking. Of course, the recipe isn’t easily visible at the top of the page, so I need to scroll down until I find it. Then, just when I’m starting to read the recipe, it disappears! Pushed further down the page by elements above it finally loading. Ah! *visible steam coming out of my ears*

Okay, I’ve finished my rant.

A poor CLS can provide a terrible user experience, as I just illustrated. CLS is when the content on a page shifts because larger elements had a delayed load time.

Even worse than simply annoying, poor CLS can cause users to click on the wrong link or button. This could lead to a seriously bad experience. Hopefully, you never have an occurrence like the person in this gif!

Why should I care about Core Web Vitals?

Learning what Core Web Vitals are is great, but who cares?

Well, Google cares. In fact, they care a lot.

Like I mentioned earlier, Core Web Vitals are page experience metrics. They’re useful for website owners but Google also uses them to inform their page rank algorithm.

These metrics tell Google how much friction a user might encounter on a web page, thus informing their experience. Since Google wants to serve searchers great content, they pay attention to these metrics and give priority to well-performing sites.

Core Web Vitals will become a significant ranking factor in 2021

Google has stated that they’re going to use Core Web Vitals as one of their ranking factors beginning in 2021. Possibly, a primary ranking factor.

That means that Core Web Vitals will impact every site indexed by Google. Improving these metrics and providing a positive user experience will be an essential part of website SEO in the near future.

How Do I Check My Core Web Vitals?

Now that you know what CWV are, you’ll need to know how you can measure them for your website.

Google Search Console

Google Search ConsoleCore Web Vitals are displayed in Google Search Console, meaning that you’ll need to have an account set up. If you don’t have one yet, it’s fast and simple. You simply log in to your website’s DNS provider and add a TXT record. The record should verify within minutes and you can get started using Google Search Console.

Google Search Console Tab

Once you’re logged in, you’ll see a tab on the left labeled “Core Web Vitals,” this is one we’re talking about.

After opening up that tab, you can see a quick glance at the CWV health of your website including how many of your URLs are good, poor, or need improvement.

Further Core Web Vitals Insight

Opening the Pagespeed Insights will analyze your website and give you a full breakdown of how your homepage performs in each metric.

In addition to diagnostics, the PageSpeed assessment will also provide you with recommendations for improvement. They even go a bit further and give you a possible solution and insight into how much load time it could save.

How can I improve my Core Web Vitals?

Woohoo! You’ve learned about CWV and now want to improve them for your website. You don’t have to be a web developer to tackle many of these issues, though to get the most out of your optimization it would be helpful to enlist one.

One major factor that slows down many websites is having images that are larger than necessary. Often, this comes down to properly sizing images for where they’re going to be used. There are also WordPress plug-ins that can compress image sizes to help with this, too.

Core Web Vitals Fix SuggestionsThere are many other ways to improve CWV, like removing unused Javascript and using lazy load, that you’ll want to loop in your developer to handle.

Continually Optimize with Ongoing Hosting and Maintenance

Search engine algorithms are constantly changing to improve user experience, find the newest, best results, and close loopholes. To keep up with these shifts, having an ongoing hosting and maintenance plan is crucial. Beyond just updating plug-ins and security issues, hosting and maintenance with SEO will ensure that your website is progressing.

Interested in getting on a hosting and maintenance plan? Contact us at Hot Dog Marketing to get started.

 

Tom Snyder

Tom Snyder is a business-minded writer creating compelling content that helps business owners understand the digital side of their business and engage with their audience. Constantly intrigued by learning new things, he is fascinated with tech, business, and sci-fi. In his spare time, you can find Tom building his own business (coffee roasting) or making music.

Related

About Tom Snyder

Tom Snyder is a business-minded writer creating compelling content that helps business owners understand the digital side of their business and engage with their audience. Constantly intrigued by learning new things, he is fascinated with tech, business, and sci-fi. In his spare time, you can find Tom building his own business (coffee roasting) or making music.

Footer

facebook marketing partner badge hubspot certified partner badge
wp engine agency partner member badge
Careers at Hot Dog Marketing
Hot Dog Marketing
Hot Dog Marketing
4.9
Based on 43 reviews
powered by Google
Cedar Park Fun
Cedar Park Fun
22:31 04 Feb 20
We have worked with Hot Dog Marketing on a couple different projects and are still amazed at how easy they are to work with. They expedite the... process without cheapening the product. They are affordable, efficient, and have provided us with the guidance and insight we needed for our marketing. We are very happy to be working with them!!read more
Elizabeth Youmans
Elizabeth Youmans
18:00 12 Jan 20
Hot Dog Marketing recently completed the launch of my new business's website and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! They truly listened to... my vision and made it a reality. The design team was so impressive that I chose to also have them design and print my business cards and other print marketing material. My local pet care company, Delighted Paws Pet Care, now has a cohesive and professional (but still fun!) look and brand. Hot Dog was also able and willing to work within my limited budget. They were transparent from the beginning of what they could and could not accomplish within my financial means and executed very much to my satisfaction! Thank you Jessica, Melissa, Brandon, and the entire team at Hot Dog!read more
Ana Alv
Ana Alv
13:36 17 Dec 19
Sadly the person that contacted me asked me first what my budget was and if it was between 3,000 to 5,000. When I said no she said I want not their... ideal client.read more
Pat Hubbard
Pat Hubbard
18:35 17 Nov 19
Awesome casual place...the chili is the bomb
Matt Baker
Matt Baker
14:31 30 Oct 19
The entire team at Hot Dog Marketing is very professional and exceptional at customer service. Its refreshing to work with a company that works hard... and clearly wants to do their best each and every time. We highly recommend Hot Dog Marketing if you want to see your company reach its next level of potential! Matt Baker, Realtor/Owner of Baker Realtyread more
Williams Innovation
Williams Innovation
23:25 29 Oct 19
Jessica and her team are AMAZING to work with. I don't know they take the jumbled up notes and conversations and build an entire design and messaging... strategy out of it. They were spot on every time they presented an idea. We will continue to work with them and urge anyone else looking for design, messaging, or marketing to USE THEM!!read more
Lauren Candela
Lauren Candela
17:20 14 May 19
Our website re-brand with HDM went smoothly and successfully. They were accommodating with each of our requests, and kept us informed with regard to... completion timelines and project goals. We look forward to working with the HDM team again.read more
Pamala Marley
Pamala Marley
15:01 18 Apr 19
An amazing team of creative professionals to collaborate with! They took the time to really understand and become part of the essence of my vision. I... love my amazing website!read more
Kevin Aderholt
Kevin Aderholt
21:20 06 Feb 19
Hot Dog has served the Austin area small business community well! They provide amazing services to both start-ups and established companies, and I... would recommend them to anyone.read more
Shannon Black
Shannon Black
16:15 25 Jan 19
I am so VERY happy with the content that the team at Hot Dog Marketing creates every week for my preschool business. From what they write and... articles they choose for my ads/posts as well as the pictures of our students they choose to highlight, they are outstanding on every metric that matters. It's night and day compared to the last company I hired. They are charging me less for doing MUCH better work! Our Google ranking, which was near the bottom of the first page, is now landing on the top half. We are showing up on maps when we weren't before. I've been in business for 12 years and other businesses much younger and smaller than ours were getting better results, but no longer! At our second meeting, they even gave me suggestions for the website, which I have since implemented, like starting a blog, to help drive more traffic to it. If I have a question or don't like something (no matter how small), they are incredibly responsive. And as we grow with more locations, they will grow with me, which I can't wait to experience. I am absolutely THRILLED they are handling my account and am incredibly grateful I found them.read more
Colvin Electric
Colvin Electric
14:18 30 Nov 18
We are extremely happy with Hot Dog and what they have been able to do for us! We went from not having any online presence at all to being found on... Google, Facebook and everywhere else we need to be and have seen an increase in call volume within the first few months. We highly recommend Hot Dog for all your digital marketing needs!!!read more
Catherine Allen
Catherine Allen
22:56 06 Dec 17
Working with Hot Dog Marketing has been the most stress-free amazing experience ever! Jessica and her staff members, Alexa and Brandon, are very... gracious, easy to work with, and extremely responsive. They all listened to me and what I, as a small one-man business, needed from the very beginning. I love my new slink, professional looking, website.read more
Jennifer Gardner McMorris
Jennifer Gardner McMorris
21:30 09 Aug 17
Hot Dog Marketing was professional and fun to work with from beginning to the end. They really listened to what my vision was and did a great job of... bringing it to life. I would highly recommend them for website, branding or marketing needs. If you want to work with a small business that loves what they do and does an amazing job, then Hot Dog Marketing is for you!read more
See All Reviews

Sign-Up for Our Newsletter

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

100 E. Main Street, #201, Round Rock, TX 78664 | 512-537-6575 | info@hotdogpr.com
Copyright © 2021 · Privacy Policy · Request Data · Log In
Equal Opportunity Employer