Search engine optimization (SEO) is not only about crafting keyword-optimized content and using social media. You also need to rely on an experienced digital marketing agency to implement technical changes and upgrades so your website meets some of the most challenging Google ranking criteria: the Core Web Vitals.
Let us understand what they are and how they influence your SEO efforts.
What Are Core Web Vitals?
Google introduced the Core Web Vitals in the sweeping Page Experience Update in 2020. The reason behind this major change to the ranking factor is that users want websites that load fast, display well on all types of screens, and offer the best browsing experience on any device.
Google defined the most important page experience factors as the three Core Web Vitals.
1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
The Largest Contentful Paint measures the loading performance of a website. Specifically, it measures the time between the moment when the user clicks on a link or types in a URL and the moment when the largest element on the web page loads.
This element can be:
- The website header
- The hero image
- The home page video.
The LCP values are measured as follows:
- Good: 2.5 seconds or less
- Needs improvement: up to 4 seconds
- Poor: over 4 seconds.
2. First Input Delay (FID)
This Core Web Vitals element measures the interactivity of a website. More precisely, it represents the time between the moment when the user clicks on a page link and the moment when they can interact with it (play a video, or browse a website).
The ideal FID value is under 100 milliseconds. Also, it is important to know that in March 2024, this factor will be replaced with the Interaction to Next Paint (INP) factor.
3. Cumulative Layout Shift
Finally, the CLS factor measures the stability of the web page. As the page loads, the elements shift into place. CLS measures how much these elements shift until the page becomes stable and ready to browse.
The Cumulative Layout Shift has the following values:
- Good: 0.1
- Needs improvement: up to 0.25
- Poor: over 0.25.
Why Are Core Web Vitals Important for SEO?
Google is increasingly selective in the websites it displays as search results. The focus is not only on quality, reliable, and accurate information but also on user experience. Since 2021, the Core Web Vitals have been among the most important Google ranking factors along with the EEAT criteria (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness).
How to Improve the Core Web Vitals on Your Website
The professionals at our digital marketing agency apply the best practices to get the green light on all three Core Web Vitals for your website. We start by testing your website with the Google PageSpeed Insights tool to understand its current values for the three factors and know where we need to make changes.
One of our top priorities is to ensure your website is mobile-friendly, which is now a basic requirement for ranking on Google. Also, we will go through the entire media library on your site and optimize all images and videos. This involves compressing their size, without compromising quality, to make each web page load faster.
Other actions we usually take are:
- Reducing the use of third-party plugins and scripts
- Cleaning up the website code to eliminate redundant elements
- Using a content delivery network (CDN) to improve loading speed
- Finding a lightweight website theme, that loads fast even on slow internet connections.
Our Digital Marketing Specialists Will Optimize Your Site!
EverConvert is a boutique digital marketing agency, with extensive experience in the legal industry. We know how to create content that attracts potential clients to your law firm’s website. And we also know how to tweak your website to meet the ideal Core Web Vitals values.
Stop losing potential clients because your website is slow-loading. Call us today to schedule an appointment with one of our digital marketing experts!
