A set of Google metrics measuring real-world user experience: loading speed (LCP), interactivity (INP), and visual stability (CLS).
Core Web Vitals are a set of specific metrics that Google uses to measure the user experience of a web page. As of 2024, the three Core Web Vitals are:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures loading performance. The largest visible element should load within 2.5 seconds. - Interaction to Next Paint (INP): Measures interactivity. The page should respond to user interactions within 200 milliseconds. INP replaced First Input Delay (FID) in March 2024. - Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures visual stability. The page should have a CLS score below 0.1, meaning elements should not shift around unexpectedly as the page loads.
Core Web Vitals are a confirmed Google ranking factor as part of the broader "page experience" signals. While their direct ranking impact is modest compared to content quality and links, they serve as a tiebreaker between otherwise similar pages.
More importantly, poor Core Web Vitals directly hurt user experience and conversion rates. A page that takes 5 seconds to load or shifts around while the user tries to click will lose visitors regardless of its search rankings.
A blog article has an LCP of 4.2 seconds because a large hero image loads slowly. After converting the image to WebP format and adding width/height attributes to prevent CLS, LCP drops to 1.8 seconds and CLS improves from 0.15 to 0.02. Both metrics now pass Google's thresholds.
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