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Core Web Vitals explained
Three measurements describe how fast a page feels, how quickly it responds and how still it stays. Here is what they mean and what is usually worth doing.
Start a projectThe three values and their limits
| Value | Measures | Good | Poor above |
|---|---|---|---|
| LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) | When the largest content is visible | up to 2.5 s | 4.0 s |
| INP (Interaction to Next Paint) | How quickly the page responds to input | up to 200 ms | 500 ms |
| CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | How much content jumps while loading | up to 0.1 | 0.25 |
What counts is the 75th percentile of real visits: three out of four visits should be in the green. INP replaced the older FID value in March 2024.
Lab and real users
PageSpeed Insights shows both. At the top is field data from real Chrome users, if your site has enough visits. Below is the Lighthouse test, a single simulation. Field data is what counts for Google. The Lighthouse score helps with debugging but is not the goal. Search Console shows field data grouped by similar pages.
Improving LCP
The largest element is usually a hero image. The usual fixes:
- Serve the image at a suitable size, in WebP or AVIF
- Do not delay the hero with
loading="lazy"; load it early - Check the server response: hosting or a missing cache is often the first brake
- Reduce render-blocking CSS and JavaScript
- Load web fonts sparingly and preload them
Improving INP
INP suffers when too much JavaScript blocks the main thread. On business sites the main causes are rarely your own code, but third-party scripts: tag managers, chat widgets, tracking bundles or page builders.
- List the scripts and remove anything nobody uses any more
- Load heavy widgets only on click
- Split long tasks into smaller pieces
Improving CLS
- Give images and videos
widthandheight - Reserve space for ads, embeds and cookie banners
- Do not insert content at the top later
- Load fonts with matching fallbacks so text does not jump
How much do they matter for ranking?
Google counts page experience among its signals, but also makes clear that good values alone do not mean a top ranking. Relevance still matters more. So it makes sense to get pages out of the red. It is rarely worth spending weeks improving a value that is already good. It matters for your visitors too: people who have to wait are more likely to leave.
The order for your site
- Check field data in Search Console
- Start with the templates that get the most traffic
- Clean up images and third-party scripts, which often achieves the most
- Measure again. Field data covers 28 days, so it reacts slowly.
If you want your site built this way from the start: Web design with tob-apps. Speed is just one point on the SEO checklist.
Related articles
- Web designWebsites and online shops that load fast, are easy to understand and are built for search engines from day one, in English, German and Spanish.
- How much does a website cost?Why website quotes differ so widely, which factors really set the price, and which running costs often get forgotten when comparing offers.
- Website relaunch without losing rankingsHow to move your website without losing visibility: URL inventory, redirects, pre-launch tests and follow-up checks in Search Console.
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