Core Web Vitals are how Google measures real-world user experience. They reflect how people actually experience your site, not technical metrics for their own sake.
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
How fast the main content loads—typically the hero image or headline.
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint)
How quickly the site responds when someone clicks, taps, or interacts.
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
How stable the layout is while loading. Text or images jumping around hurt CLS.
Why Core Web Vitals matter
Good Core Web Vitals support:
- Better rankings
- Higher conversion rates
- Lower bounce rates
- Stronger mobile experience
Google and other systems prefer sites that load quickly and respond well.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
LCP measures how long it takes for the main content to appear, typically the hero image or headline.
How to improve LCP:
- Optimise hero images (size, format, compression)
- Use faster hosting (TTFB matters)
- Lazy load content below the fold
- Reduce heavy scripts that block rendering
INP (Interaction to Next Paint)
INP measures how responsive your site feels when someone clicks, taps, or interacts.
How to improve INP:
- Reduce unnecessary JavaScript
- Use efficient scripts and avoid blocking the main thread
- Limit heavy animations and plugins
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
CLS measures how much things “jump around” during load. Text shifting, images popping in, or ads pushing content down all hurt CLS.
How to improve CLS:
- Set width and height on images
- Avoid dynamic ads that resize content
- Load fonts properly to prevent layout shifts
- Reserve space for content that loads later
How these connect
Core Web Vitals overlap with speed, caching, hosting, and code quality. Improving one often helps the others.
For a broader view, see Website speed and the Technical SEO checklist.
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