Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are Google's metrics for real-world user experience: loading speed (LCP), responsiveness (INP) and visual stability (CLS).
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics Google uses to measure the real-world user experience of a web page. They are part of Google’s page experience signals and are measured with data from real Chrome users. There are three metrics, each with a threshold for a “good” rating:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How quickly the main content loads. Good: 2.5 seconds or less.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How quickly the page responds to clicks, taps and key presses. Good: 200 milliseconds or less. INP replaced First Input Delay (FID) in March 2024.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How much the layout jumps around while loading. Good: 0.1 or less.
Core Web Vitals are a ranking factor, but a relatively light one: relevant, high-quality content still matters more. Their bigger impact is often on conversion rates, because fast and stable pages keep visitors engaged.
For international websites, performance should be checked per market. Visitors far away from your server experience slower loading times, which a content delivery network (CDN) can reduce. Mobile network quality and typical devices also differ between countries.