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Google only has one goal in mind—to match users’ queries with the most accurate and helpful results possible. Back then, this process was only easy until Google decided to step up their game.

 

In early February 2022, Google mentioned they would commence their desktop ranking system rollout. If you want your site rankings to heighten up, the key is to play your cards right and optimise the Core Web Vitals and its three metrics: LCP, FID, and CLS.

 

Core Web Vitals is one of the key technical frameworks that Google utilises. These metrics help website owners and developers access the technical side of SEO. This set of specific factors can significantly affect a webpage’s overall user experience. Whether you’re working with an SEO specialist in Singapore or not, the three metrics of Core Web Vitals are something important to take note of.

 

This 2023, Google is set to make yet another change in how it ranks web pages. Read on to learn more about Core Web Vitals.

 


 

I. WHAT IS CORE WEB VITALS?

 

Core Web Vitals is what Google utilises to assess a webpage’s overall user experience (UX). These are part of Google’s strategy to improve the UX and, at the same time, evaluate your website’s entire performance. As an SEO specialist in Singapore, you need to maximise all possible techniques and factors aligned with SEO.

 

The three vital elements and user interaction measurements of Core Web Vitals include Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) and First Input Delay (FID), all of which affect your site’s SEO rankings.

 

Each element has its own unique thresholds that leave a significant impact on a web page’s UX. Besides mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, less amount of interstitial pop-ups, and HTTPS, these three metrics make up the biggest chunk of a website’s overall page experience scores.

 

To enhance your site’s SEO, let’s take a deeper look at the elements of Core Web Vitals and how they affect your rankings.

 

Core Web Vitals Elements

(Source: Search Engine Journal)

 

II. WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF CORE WEB VITALS?

 

1. LARGEST CONTENTFUL PAINT (LCP)

 

Also known as the loading speed, Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) simply pertains to the average loading time before a user sees the main content and largest element on a page.

 

Currently, half of all websites have problems related to this factor. Back in 2018, the average load time took around 15.3 seconds. This 2023, considering that there is fibre-optic internet, 5G Wi-Fi, and all that, the average time has changed. Ideally, it should take around 0-2.5 seconds to load a page.

 

LCP Scores can range from:

  • 0.25 seconds: Good
  • 2.5-4.0 seconds: Needs Improvement/Average
  • 4.0 seconds and above: Poor

 

ALSO READ: Web Development Maintenance: How To Improve Your Site’s Speed

 

2. FIRST INPUT DELAY (FID)

 

First Input Delay (FID) focuses on the interactivity of your website. This pertains to the time it takes for the website to respond to such users’ actions, say, adding a product to the cart, clicking a link, tapping a button, etc.

 

When it comes to your site’s FID, it should take at least 100 milliseconds for a web page to become interactive for users.

 

FID Scores can range from:

  • 0-100 milliseconds: Good
  • 100-300 milliseconds: Needs Improvement/Average
  • 300 milliseconds and above: Poor

 

3. CUMULATIVE LAYOUT SHIFT (CLS)

 

Also considered as your site’s visual stability, Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) pertains to the movement of a visible element from one frame to another. All layout shifts not caused by a user’s interaction will affect a page’s CLS score.

 

Focus on achieving a score below 0.1 as much as possible.

 

CLS Scores can range from:

  • 0-0.1: Good
  • 0.1-0.25: Needs Improvement/Average
  • 0.25 and above: Poor

 

As a general rule of thumb, you should aim for the following scores:

  • LCP: 0-2.5 seconds
  • FID: Less than 100 milliseconds
  • CLS: Less than 0.1 second

 

III. WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF CORE WEB VITALS FOR SEO

 

The purpose of integrating Core Web Vitals into Google Search is to give users the best search engine experience possible. Technically, having a good page experience does not necessarily place you in the top spots in different search engines. The magic does not start there. However, according to an analysis, these three metrics and thresholds can highly impact users.

 

Core Web Vitals are important as they can affect website abandonment. Optimising them can result in 22% less abandonment for news sites. For shopping sites, on the other hand, this changes to 24% less abandonment.

 

Google and its Core Web Vitals encourage you to kick your SEO techniques in Singapore to a notch. By properly and efficiently improving them, you can improve your site’s performance and rankings and then reach your target audience.

 

Core Web Vitals can serve as your guide to enhancing your website’s performance and page experience scores. They are the most visible performance signals. Utilise the metrics to your advantage so your website can rank higher in search engines.

 

THE 5
ADVANTAGES
OF OPTIMISING
CORE WEBSITE
VITALS

Better User Experience

Improved Search Rankings

Increased Conversion Rates

Competitive Advantages

Reduced Development Cost

 

IV. WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF OPTIMISING CORE WEBSITE VITALS

 

Beyond SEO and web design in Singapore, there are actually many benefits of optimising your website’s Core Website Vitals. Below are some of the advantages you may encounter.

 

BETTER USER EXPERIENCE

Optimising Core Web Vitals means a better user experience. Slow pages are such a drag, and frankly, nobody likes these problems. Users are more into websites that load quickly, respond to user input promptly, and do not jump around as content loads. You can use your Core Web Vitals to your advantage, driving increased engagement, lessening bounce rates, and ultimately, improving business outcomes.

 

IMPROVED SEARCH RANKINGS

Core Web Vitals is a set of page experience signals Google has been using since 2020. And the given three metrics—LCP, CLS, and FID can impact your search engine rankings. Optimise these three to provide your users with a good user experience. That way, you can rank higher in search results and get more organic traffic.

 

INCREASED CONVERSION RATES

A better user experience can lead to increased conversion rates. Whether you run an E-commerce, portfolio, membership, or no matter your website type, users tend to take action with a good, positive site visit. Expect them to make a purchase, subscribe to a newsletter, book a service, or fill out a form.

 

RELATED: 20 Tips For Increasing Conversions On Your E-commerce Website

 

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Not all websites optimise their Core Web Vitals. Some of them are not aware of web development in Singapore. Remember, a website with a good user experience that loads quickly is more likely to be revisited. Sooner or later, you can benefit from increased customer loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals.

 

REDUCED DEVELOPMENT COSTS

Optimising Core Web Vitals can also lead to reduced development costs in the long run. Website owners and developers will seldom or less likely need expensive optimisations down the road, thus, saving time and money in the future.

 

V. HOW TO CHECK THE CORE WEB VITALS SCORE FOR YOUR WEBSITE?

 

To optimise Google’s Core Web Vitals, website owners and developers must learn to measure these metrics accurately. Here are the two best free tools you can utilise this 2023 to help measure Core Web Vitals:

 

1. Google Search Console

 

Google Search Console is a free tool that helps website owners monitor and maintain their website’s presence in Google search results. This can come in handy, whether your site has been long-established or just starting up. It provides Core Web Vitals with how your website’s pages are performing in terms of the three metrics. Google Core Web Vitals provides data for both Mobile and Desktop users.

 

Google Search Console is very user-friendly. You can get information without any hassle. It includes a 1) list of your URLs or accounts, 2) a navigation bar, 3) a report name, 4) a search or inspection toolbar, 5) a help section in case you don’t understand how to navigate through the tool, 6) user settings, and 7) message panel to see how many unread messages you have.

 

Google Search Console

(Screenshot from Google)

 

Once logged in, you can see the graph reports for each device. It also provides detailed data for groups of URLs. You can see which URLs have poor, needs improvement, or good ratings.

 

Google Search Console Graph

(Screenshot from NitroPack)

 

Google Search Console Rate

(Screenshot from NitroPack)

 

LEARN MORE: How Can Google Search Console (GSC) Improve Your SEO

 

2. Google PageSpeed Insights

 

If you run a website and are well-versed in SEO in Singapore, PageSpeed Insights probably rings a bell already. This tool by Google analyses a website’s performance. It measures Core Web Vitals and then provides suggestions for improvement. All you need to do is enter the URL of your site and click Analyze. The tool provides a score out of 100, along with recommendations for improvement.

 

Google PageSpeed Insights

 

From there, you may also see your ranking for each metric. In this image, for instance, the user is asking for Core Web Vitals for their website, and here is the assessment of PageSpeed Insights:

 

Google PageSpeed Insights Core Web Vitals

 

logo

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR

CORE WEB VITALS?

numbers

Work with A reliable,
Trusted SEO Agency

Integrate Lazy Loading
Into Your Website

Properly Size And
Optimise Images

Implement A Caching
Solution

Optimise Your
Website Fonts

 

VI. HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CORE WEB VITALS?

 

Now that you know the different ways and tools to measure your Core Web Vitals this 2023, here comes the challenge—improving your site’s Core Web Vitals. No worries, let us guide you! Here are a few ways to enhance your site’s Core Web Vitals.

 

1. WORK WITH A RELIABLE, TRUSTED SEO AGENCY

 

The most guaranteed way to improve your site’s Core Web Vitals is by working with an SEO and web maintenance agency in Singapore.

 

Due to the sudden changes brought by Google, the Core Web Vitals now affect SEO as part of the page experience signals. And unfortunately, not all websites have high or good rankings. Some receive poor rates from CWV metrics.

 

An SEO team in Singapore can help you optimise the technical audit of your website, including the page speed, mobile responsiveness, and server response time. They can also help work on improving your website’s user experience. This ranges from the navigation, and pop-ups, to ads and overall accessibility of your website.

 

Even with maximising Google Search Console or PageSpeed Insights, you need the expertise of an SEO and web maintenance agency. They can do regular performance monitoring checks to ensure your Core Web Vitals are good, not poor and not average. They can monitor your website’s performance and track its progress over time. This process can help identify any issues that may be affecting your CWV and allow for adjustments, changes, and updates to be made as necessary.

 

2. INTEGRATE LAZY LOADING INTO YOUR WEBSITE

 

Did you know that just a one-second delay in your load time can already cost you thousands of fortunes? It can cut conversions by 7 per cent. This figure was backed up by Amazon’s research. Slow loading times are detrimental to your site’s rankings. Fortunately, you can avoid this problem by integrating lazy loading into your website.

 

Lazy loading is a method that allows your website to load quickly by focusing on the most crucial elements first. It helps your website appear fully loaded and lets users navigate more conveniently.

 

Not all websites need lazy loading. So, how would you determine whether your site needs to utilise this method or not? Again, you can maximise the resources listed above. Use PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to conduct an in-depth analysis and evaluation of your site’s speed and performance.

 

3. PROPERLY SIZE AND OPTIMISE IMAGES

 

Compressing your site’s images should improve your SEO rankings and web visibility in many ways.

 

For instance, you can improve your site’s loading times simply by compressing its images. Not only that, but your website will become significantly lighter, thus affecting your LCP score positively.

 

A simple image compression tool should do the trick. Try utilising TinyPNG. These image compression tools let you significantly compress the file size of the photo. But the good thing here is you can do this without the expense of worrying about a loss of quality. There are also other plugins that can help compress your image properly without sacrificing its quality, such as ShortPixel, Imagify, and Smush.

 

TinyPNG

 

DISCOVER: Image Specs & Sizes: How To Format Images For Website & Social Media

 

4. IMPLEMENT A CACHING SOLUTION

 

Cache up. One web development technique in Singapore that is commonly used is caching—this process reduces the load on your server by storing your site’s information on a user’s device. This hack can ultimately give your page load speed a boost, thus, improving your Core Web Vitals, specifically, the LCP.

 

If your website is using WordPress, one of the most used and well-known plugins is W3 Total Cache.

 

5. OPTIMISE YOUR WEBSITE FONTS

 

One key web design tip in Singapore that companies should follow is optimising web fonts. Like with image and video content, your fonts can also affect your Core Web Vitals, most specifically, the loading time or LCP. Try maximising the fonts available on your website because they are much smaller in file size, thus, speeding up the page load time.

 

FINAL REMARKS

 

Since 2020, Google’s Core Web Vitals has already played a significant role in the world of SEO and E-commerce, and that did not stop until 2023. If you want a definite method to rank high in SERPs, improve your website’s Core Web Vitals. Meet the metrics. If you need help, feel free to get in touch with an SEO agency.

 

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