seo_cvw_bhoost
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Core Web Vitals are a series of specific metrics that Google considers important on a web page, in terms of user experience. These metrics directly influence a page’s ranking in Google search results, so they have a significant impact on SEO. This article explores each of these metrics in detail and how they affect SEO.

How does Google rank your site’s speed?

Your site’s ranking in Google Search is influenced by Google’s page experience ranking system. As we have seen in our articles on Google Core Web Vitals, Google collects data related to Core Web Vitals, looking at how real users interact with the website. This data is then reported to its servers and is very different from the data that is generally collected as “lab data”. In fact, the data collected by Google is real data, collected from real users. And this is precisely what makes the difference.

What affects Google’s ranking?

Google Search considers your website’s user experience as a ranking factor. Core Web Vitals are metrics that measure this experience, comparing your site’s performance to others.

What is also taken into consideration is the relevance to the query It is the quality of the content, because they are essentially fundamental factors for the user experience. In essence, the experience on the page can decide who is the winner. Working on Core Web Vitals allows you to achieve better and more quantifiable results.

Besides that, improving Core Web Vitals improves user experience, which drives conversion.

How to view your site’s Core Web Vitals

The authoritative data source regarding overall app performance for page experience ranking is Google Search Console. By entering a website’s URL, you can get all of the information about the metrics that Google is currently using for its reasoning.

The screenshot below shows a site where the Core Web Vitals assessment is performed and passed. But in addition, there is other interesting information about it.

You can also use our tool, Speed Test by Bhoost which can immediately give you some useful information on the metrics and performances dedicated to them. Furthermore, you can request a personalized consultation to best optimize these metrics and thus your site.

What the three main Core Web Vitals metrics are:

  1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures how quickly a web page loads its main content. The ideal time is within 2.5 seconds. A good LCP score means the page loads fast, keeping users engaged and reducing abandonment rates.
  2. Interaction to Next Paint (INP) is a metric that measures the speed with which the user can interact with the page after it has been loaded. In other words, INP measures the time between the moment the user presses a button or performs an action and the moment the action is actually performed. This element is fundamental because it is a direct measure of the responsiveness of the website. INP replaced the FID metric, First Input Delay.
  3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): This metric measures how much a page’s layout shifts as it loads. A good CLS score should be less than 0.1. A low CLS indicates that the page is stable, which is essential for the user experience. A stable layout prevents frustrating experiences like accidental clicks on elements that move as the user tries to interact with the page.

Any of these metrics has a direct impact on SEO. If your page scores low in one of these Core Web Vitals, its ranking in Google search results is likely to suffer as well. Conversely, improving these metrics can help your page rank better on search engines.

Core Web Vitals metrics have become a key element in Google’s ranking algorithm, which rewards pages with a high-quality user experience. Putting effort into Core Web Vitals pays off. You can expect better search rankings, more website traffic, and ultimately, a thriving online presence.

Laboratory data: Lighthouse

In the second section of PageSpeed ​​Insights, called “Diagnose performance problems“, Google simulates your application’s performance within Lighthouse.

This is a completely separate section from the field data scores above and is intended as suggestions for improvement. They are essentially recommendations that can be followed if you have not met Google’s standards for real users.

Interpreting Lighthouse scores

Lighthouse provides useful information, such as:

  • Performance: If your Core Web Vitals are outside of an acceptable range, Lighthouse reports possible issues, such as linking scripts that may block the main thread for too long.
  • Accessibility: Lighthouse catches common errors like unnamed links or unlabeled form fields. It can also capture elements that don’t have a high enough contrast ratio or links that don’t have enough room to touch.
  • Best Practices: This Lighthouse category is a bit of a collector of suggestions that improve the security and usability of your applications. The information here helps browsers analyze code more easily and helps prevent some (but not most) common vulnerabilities like XSS.
  • THIS – Lighthouse offers advice here on the technical part of your SEO: the technical ways to help search engines crawl your site. These checks can be very helpful in checking why your site may not be ranking as expected, but they are far from comprehensive in addressing all factors that may be affecting your app’s SEO.

Conclusions

Essentially, Core Web Vitals must be optimized to have a positive impact on your website’s positioning. This optimization indeed affects the user experience.

Optimizing Core Web Vitals is a great start, but for top ranking, you’ll need a comprehensive SEO strategy.

A fast-loading, responsive website with stable visuals is key to a positive user experience. Remember, happy users are more likely to stick around. This means a lower site abandonment rate and a good chance of success for your online business.

Source: Vercel

That’s it, folks! Check out our blog for more information.

image-size-importance
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Images are one of the most important elements of a website or e-commerce. However, they can often create some loading and speed issues. The size of the images can have a significant impact on website performance, both in terms of SEO and user experience.

In this article, we will talk about the importance of image size for SEO and for the performance of a website or e-commerce.

SEO

The size of the images has a direct impact on the SEO of a website, we have just said this. When the search engine analyzes the image file, it tries to figure out what it is and what the content is. The images with a small size can be analyzed faster, which means that the search engine can understand the image content more accurately. Furthermore, images with reduced dimensions may load faster, which can improve the website speed and then improve SEO.

Images with small dimensions not only affect SEO, but also image search. When people search for images on Google or other search engines, the results appear as thumbnails. If the images are small in size, they can be viewed faster, which can improve the user experience and the likelihood that the user will click on the image thumbnail.

Performance

The image size has a direct impact on website performance. Images often represent the bulk of a website’s data, which means that their load can significantly slow down the website. Larger images take longer to load, which can result in a higher website latency.

Also, large images can slow down the page loading speed. If images are not optimized for performance, they can take a long time to load, which can lead to a diminished user experience and an increased likelihood of the user leaving the website.

How to optimize images for SEO and performance

To optimize images for SEO and performance, there are a few best practices that can be followed. Here are some tips on how to optimize images:

Compress the size of images

Use a tool image compression to reduce the size of images without losing image quality. There are many online and offline tools available that can help compress images.

Use the right format

Use the right format for pictures. For example, JPEG for photographic images and PNG for images with transparency. Choosing the right format can help reduce the size of your image without compromising its quality.

Reduce the size of the images

Reduce the size of the images to a minimum necessary for display on the website. Images should not be enlarged unless necessary. Also, it’s important to remember that the smaller the image size, the faster it can load.

Use alt text

Use the alt text for images in order to accurately describe the content of the image. Alt text can also help improve SEO image and website.

Conclusion

Why is the size of the image important for SEO? Large images can damage SEO and website performance. Following best practices for optimizing images for performance and SEO is essential to ensure a positive user experience and to improve your website’s visibility on search engines.

Also, keep in mind that reducing the size of your images can only be part of the solution to improving website performance. Other factors such as code quality, server speed, and use of a content delivery network can also affect overall website performance.

That’s it, folks! Check out our blog for more information.

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