Core Web Vitals: New UX Indicator and Strong Trend for 2021

Core Web Vitals: The New UX Indicator for 2021

As a leader in search engines, Google continuously updates its services to provide impeccable quality. This led to the implementation of the Core Web Vitals program on May 5, 2020. It is an additional tool to optimize website performance. Led by the Chrome browser team, this program is essential for page managers who want their content among the top search results. What is the Core Web Vitals program? What are its specifics? What changes does it bring to existing SEO processes? These are the questions you will find answers to here.

What is Core Web Vitals? What are its objectives?

Core Web Vitals is an initiative by the Mountain View company aimed at simplifying the measurement of website performance. Literally, it can also be called in French “Vital Elements of the Web”. This program aims to lighten the tasks of page managers, who can now focus on other more important tasks.

Therefore, it is no longer necessary to seek knowledge in Page Speed Insight before achieving your goals.

Indeed, this program is now one of the trending SEO practices of 2021. It will take effect in May. It particularly emphasizes the UX indicator, which is nothing more than a ranking factor. In other words, this new update adds user experience to existing SEO criteria. Our LLRedac writers explain the Core Web Vitals program to you.

Like previous updates made by the search engine giant, Core Web Vitals has its own operational principles. Indeed, there are three of them, namely:

• the time or speed of page loading;
• the interactivity of sites;
• the visual stability of site content.

Google evaluates these three principles through three factors integrated into the program.

The Largest Contentful Paint

The Largest Contentful Paint is the performance measurement factor for the loading speed of a page. It aims to be different, but especially more effective than outdated classic metrics. It evaluates the loading duration of a page's content on the user's screen. That said, to have your content appear among search results, it must be displayed in record time. This should be no more than 2.5 seconds from the loading of the page to the display of the content. Below 4 seconds, your chances are very slim, if not nonexistent, to feature in the results. You can thus understand that a site ensuring a better customer experience is one that has a fast LCP.

The First Input Delay (FID)

The First Input Delay is a measurement factor of user interactivity with your site. More explicitly, it evaluates the responsiveness time of your page when a user clicks on a link on your page or your CTA. For a good browsing experience, the FID should indicate less than 100 milliseconds. With this speed, the user does not waste time looking for satisfaction. Below 300 milliseconds, your page may not be usable. Consequently, Google cannot consider it in the results presented to the user.

The Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

As mentioned earlier, the Cumulative Layout Shift is the factor indicating the visual stability of a site. It is an undeniable metric, as all site managers face it every day. Moreover, Google places significant importance on this measure because it is crucial for the quality of user experience.

It helps address the disappearance of text or images while the user is actively using the site. Indeed, the CLS allows determining the frequency at which users may experience unexpected layout changes. For a better user experience, Google mandates compliance with a CLS score lower than 0.1.

What changes does this program bring?

The Core Web Vitals program from Google brings some changes to SEO. It is worth noting that it does not replace existing practices for SEO.

On the contrary, it adds to these practices to optimize your chances of appearing in the best search results. You can thus understand that it is about a combination of speed and optimization. Appropriately, the California firm has decided to consider this update as a ranking factor.

This adds to the positioning factor and the existing metrics.

Furthermore, compliance with Core Web Vitals requirements does not preclude the consideration of other measurement factors for user experience. Among others, we can mention Mobile Friendly, the HTTPS protocol, secure navigation, etc.

What to remember?

Core Web Vitals is a new algorithm that takes into account user experience. Although this indicator is not decisive in the SERPs, it contributes to better visibility for your site. The faster your site and the more readable your content, the more you increase traffic.

And if it were about user experience? What is it about?

Google has revised its algorithm once again. The Core Web Vitals are making their entry. Page Rank (or the SEO value of a website) represents the major concerns of marketers regarding natural SEO. Google's algorithm measures the popularity of web pages. The main goal is to achieve the top position on search engines.

What do these new indicators measure?

The Google teams have already introduced a large number of criteria into its algorithm and continue to refine it to provide increasingly relevant search results to its users.

What are Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals represent a set of criteria that Google deems important in the overall user experience (UX) experienced by users on a website. However, this score alone is not enough to elevate a website to the top position on the Google search engine. Core Web Vitals encompass three metrics: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) for loading time, FID (First Input Delay) for interactivity, and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) which measures visual stability.

How to track Core Web Vitals?

In May 2021, a new metric will join the list of criteria. This is Core Web Vitals. Its main role is to measure the user experience on websites. To track Core Web Vitals, it is important to monitor the new indicators on PageSpeed Insights. This tool allows analyzing one page (URL) at a time. However, we recommend using Google Search Console instead.