[FAQ]

Hi,

I got an email from Google Search Console telling me I have a bunch of URLs with “Poor” Core Web Vitals. It’s mentioning things like LCP, CLS, and FID or INP.

I’m a bit lost, to be honest. I thought my site was pretty fast, but these reports are saying otherwise, especially on mobile. I understand this is important for user experience and my Google rankings, but I’m not a developer and I don’t know what to fix.

What do these scores actually mean in plain English, and what are the most common things I can fix on my website to improve them? I suspect my images might be part of the problem.

Thanks for any pointers.

[Jeff Bullas]

This is a core part of modern user experience and a key ranking factor.

Short Answer: Core Web Vitals are Google’s metrics for a site’s real-world user experience, measuring how fast your content loads, how stable it is, and how quickly it responds.

Improving these scores is all about optimising your content assets so the user perceives the page as fast and smooth.

To improve your scores, you need to focus on how your content formats are loaded. First, the LCP or Largest Contentful Paint, which measures loading performance, is almost always affected by a large hero image or video poster file. You must compress this image file aggressively and ensure it’s saved in a modern format. Second, the CLS or Cumulative Layout Shift, which measures visual stability, is often caused by image and video elements that load in and push your text content down the page. The fix here is to ensure all your image and video embeds have their dimensions specified in the code, so the browser saves the correct amount of space for them before they load. Finally, INP or Interaction to Next Paint, which measures responsiveness, can be harmed by heavy embedded media or complex audio players that slow down the page’s ability to react to a user’s click. Optimising your text by preloading your fonts can also prevent your layout from shifting unexpectedly.

Cheers,
Jeff

[Author]

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