Google updates its algorithm and makes UX even more decisive for positioning in the SERP. Core Web Vitals are now crucial. In this article, I’ll explain what they are.

In November 2020 Google announced that the Core Web Vitals would become factors of ranking SEO, Ranking refers to the position in the ranking of search engines such as Google. Get a good ranking for relevant keywords for … within a UX update.

It’s no longer the time to speak in the past tense as this change is set for May 2021, just as Google Search Central stated on Twitter :

“We’re announcing that page experience ranking signals for Google Search will launch in May 2021. This will combine Core Web Vitals and previous UX-related signals.”

There is no more time to ignore this algorithm evolution, it’s time to understand what Core Web Vitals are.

The Topic Of This Post

• 1 Web Vitals 2021: what changes?
• 2 What are the Core Web Vitals?
• 3 Core Web Vitals are nothing new or almost

Web Vitals 2021: what changes?

Core Web Vitals, often referred to simply as Web Vitals, are essential metrics for measuring the usability of a website.

It has been said for some time that the User Experience (UX) is fundamental for ranking, but now Google leaves no room for doubts and even invites six months in advance to adapt to the new classification parameters.

The search engine leader will perform the  Page Experience Update and you will likely see the changes SERP: acronym for Search Engine Results Pages, literally “search engine results page”. SERPs are web pages served to users when precisely because the algorithm will carefully examine everything that determines the quality of the user experience within a site.

In each article dedicated to the Search Engine Optimization (search engine optimization): the set of strategies and practices to position websites or web pages in the organic results of the engines. we read that the optimization of the web pages must not be done only thinking about robots in computer science. a robot (or simply “bot”) is a set of coded commands or instructions that indicate to a mechanical device and system … but also (above all) considering the needs of the person who sails.

Now this methodological approach that focuses on the user is no longer just advice but becomes a rule to be followed carefully if you want to get the first page of Google without buying paid spaces.

What are the Core Web Vitals?

Among the metrics defined Web Vitals Google, in this update, indicates three main ones, precisely “Core”, which are represented by the following acronyms:

• LCP
• FID
• CLS

In summary, these parameters measure the loading speed of the site, the degree of interactivity, the stability of the web page that the user views.

Let’s look in more detail at each of these vital signs that have become essential to have a good ranking.

LCP

The three initials stand for Largest Contentful Paint and represent a technical feature that affects the display of the largest element in the web page that loads.

The Search Console Guide states that the metric LCP is:

“The time is taken to display the largest content item in the visible area from the time the user requests the URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. Colloquially called a web address, it is a reference to a web resource such as a site, page, or file. This is usually an image or video, or a large block-level text element. This data is important because it makes the user understand that the URL is being loaded ”.

This suggests that Google sees the heavier content as the main one, so it discourages layouts with popups that immediately invade the screen, large images that are not the heart of the page, videos that require long loading times.

The user should enter the site page and view the main content within 2.5 seconds. This speed of loading returns a good initial experience that leads to staying on the page.

FID

First Input Delay are the three words behind the FID abbreviation and which Google describes as:

“The time elapsed between a user’s first interaction with your page (clicking on a link, tapping a button, and so on) and when the browser is an application program that provides a way to look at and interact with all information on the World Wide Web such as web pages, responds to the interaction. This measurement is derived from any interactive element that the user clicked on first. This value is important for pages where the user has to act because that’s when the pages become interactive. “

If in the first seconds of loading the user can only look and wait, then he begins to interact with what he sees on the screen and here the FID comes into play.

Google examines this parameter because the speed with which the site responds to the first click made by the user determines the idea that the person has about the degree of interactivity and, therefore, the quality of the web platform they are visiting.

The standard defined for the First Input Delay is 100 milliseconds or less to return a good user experience.

CLS

CLS stands for Cumulative Layout Shift  and measures the visual stability of the load because it:

“… Measures the total of all individual layout change scores for each unexpected layout change that occurs during the entire life of the page. The score is between zero and any positive number, where zero indicates no change, and the larger the number, the more significant the layout change on the page. This data is important because the variation of the elements of the pages, while a user is trying to interact, constitutes a negative user experience. “

The sudden movement of content within a web page can become harmful because the user becomes annoyed or disoriented due to this unpredictable change. This is why CLS is important in determining the quality of UX.

To be even clearer I want to give an example. I click on a link in the SERP, I land on a page that I think gives me the answer I am looking for, and as I am starting to read the text moves or the button I want to click disappears. My instinctive reaction is to leave the site.

User experience is considered good when the CLS score reaches a maximum of 0.1.

Core Web Vitals are nothing new or almost

The more experienced know that in reality, the only factor that turns out to be a real novelty is the last one we talked about in the previous paragraph, the CLS.

LCP and FID are metrics known by webmasters and SEO Insurance  specialists and for this reason, it makes us reflect the attention placed by Google on these two elements.

The conclusion is always the same: websites must be created to meet the needs of users.

If you have doubts about the performance of your website, trust who can perform an analysis and optimize it to make it an excellent marketing