Core Web Vitals Update: What You Need To Know

Google is constantly updating its algorithm to ensure the best content gets in front of the right audience. The 2021 Core Web Vitals Update aims to ensure the sites with the best page experience rank highest. This update, scheduled for June 2021, will greatly affect your site’s ranking. Luckily, Google has provided advanced notice of this update, allowing many businesses to make changes to their sites in preparation for the update. In this blog, we’ll explore what core web vitals are, what we know about the update, and our tips for making sure you’re ready for it.

What Is the Page Experience Update?

In the past, Google has measured page experience using the following signals:

• Mobile-friendliness
• Safe browsing
• HTTP-security
• Intrusive Interstitials (popup ads that block most or all of a page)

The Page Experience Update will add three additional metrics to a site’s page experience score, focusing on the following indicators:

• Loading performance: How fast does your page load?
• Responsiveness: How fast do the elements of a page react to the user?
• Visual stability: Do things move around on the screen while it’s loading?

What Are Core Web Vitals?

To measure a site’s page experience, Google introduced three corresponding metrics they call the Core Web Vitals:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This metric measures loading performance. Your score is based on how long it takes for a page’s main content to load. An ideal LCP score is 2.5 seconds or less
• First Input Delay: This metric tracks the responsiveness of your site. Your score is based on how long it takes a page to become interactive, and the ideal time is less than 100 ms
• Cumulative Layout Shift: This metric tracks your site’s visual stability by measuring the amount of unexpected layout shift as your page loads. The ideal score is less than 0.1

To help users select user-friendly sites from the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs), Google may add a visual indicator or label to draw attention to pages with great page experience.

Preparing For The Core Web Vitals Update

Like any Google update, there’s no quick fix to help your site rank higher. However, there are some things you can do to ensure your site traffic isn’t negatively impacted by these changes:

• Focus on improving the mobile version of your site first since mobile will be impacted first
• Optimize images and stabilize loading by making room
• Preload key resources and above-the-fold content to deliver information faster
• Secure your site by ensuring forms and resources are served on HTTPS
• Utilize Google’s Lighthouse tool to test the quality of your pages
• Remove any unused Javascript
• Continue to create great content following SEO best practices.

Need some help ensuring your site is ready for Google’s next update? Contact Fruition today. Our marketing and development teams will work with you to ensure your site is properly prepared.

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