Since mid-June 2021, Google has added three additional indicators to rank websites on its search engine. The goal ? Improve the user experience through adequate and relevant research results. For this, Google regularly updates its ranking algorithms. At Optimum Circle, we have already discussed some ranking criteria. These are what we can call the core web vitals. Today, we’re getting back to you to explain the three new ones!
What are the three new “core web vitals” since June 2021?
The loading time of your website pages
The first criterion intended to improve the user experience is called “LCP”. This acronym stands for “Largest Contentful Paint”. This can be reflected in the load time performance of your site. Therefore, the faster your site, the better it will rank. The speed of a site depends on its host, the quality and the size of its media … It is also advisable to compress
images from a website. Also, the speed of a site is increased on your pages are divided by topic. This allows the pages to be individually loaded less and therefore lighter to load.
Therefore, Google recommends a loading speed below 2.5 seconds. If this is the case with your website, then its LCP will be positive and allow it to rank well. Several tools exist to test the speed of your website. This is particularly the case with PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.
The stability of your web pages
Note that this parameter is abbreviated “CLS”. It can be translated as “Cumulative Layout Shift”. This judges the timing of the display of items on your pages. If all of your content is not displayed at the same time, playback may be disrupted. Indeed, a new element can shift your texts and thus hinder the Internet user in his navigation. Also, poor stability can lead the user to click next to what they want. These little wasted seconds for him will be frustrating and he will prefer to find his information on another website.
For this indicator, Google recommends a score below 0.1 second. The closer your page is to 0, the better the synchronization of its elements will be. In order to promote this score, we advise you to provide blocks of the right size for each of your content. This will allow for a smooth display and a better user experience.
The responsiveness and interactivity of your website
First of all, this data, entitled “FID” refers to “First Input Delay”. Understand here that the FID corresponds to the fluidity with which the Internet user can interact with your site. Interactions can be in different forms. With just a click from your menu to entering information … All of these actions constitute a kind of “conversation” with your website. If this conversation is not smooth, the interlocutor will be bored. For the experience to be enjoyable, the responses on your pages should be smooth. This parameter therefore depends on the time elapsed between the user’s action and the reaction of your site. Again, Google is advised that this take less than 0.1 seconds. The best way to achieve this score is to avoid any outside script.
How do you know if your site meets these criteria?
Core web vitals, the most comprehensive tool to help you
We covered it quickly, PageSpeed Insights is one of the tools that will help you the most! On its own it will give you an idea of what is correct and what needs to be reviewed on your site. It will give you your LCP, CLS and FID score. In addition to that, this tool gives you advice on how to improve your site based on the vulnerabilities found. So you have a personalized analysis and report. A saving of time for you and a simplicity that you will not find on any other performance measurement tool.
Core web vitals, the bonus tool to complement PageSpeed Insights
In order to complete your analysis, you can also use Google Search Console. This tool set up by Google makes it possible to evaluate the performance of your site thanks to the 3 parameters discussed. Thanks to its “core web vitals” functionality, you will have a detailed view of the problems encountered on your various pages. Thus, these pages will be divided into three distinct categories: slow; improvements needed; good.
Finally, you might now know why your site has undergone traffic changes since June. If this is the case, you now have the information and tools you need to remedy it.
Remember that all of this affects the ranking of your website. However, an SEO drop is always recoverable! It’s your turn !