Core Web Vitals are a confirmed Google ranking factor and a direct conversion lever. Here's what they are and how to improve your scores.
Core Web Vitals sound technical, but the idea is simple: Google measures how fast and stable your website feels to real users, and uses it as a ranking factor. Here's what they are and how to fix them.
The three metrics
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) — how quickly the main content loads. Aim for under 2.5 seconds.
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint) — how responsive the page feels when users interact. Aim for under 200 milliseconds.
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) — how much the layout jumps around while loading. Aim for under 0.1.
Why they matter
Two reasons. First, Core Web Vitals are a confirmed Google ranking signal — poor scores can hold you back, especially in competitive niches. Second, and often bigger, they directly affect conversions: slow, janky pages lose customers before they ever see your offer.
How to improve your scores
- Optimise images — compress them, use modern formats (WebP/AVIF), and set width/height to prevent layout shift.
- Reduce and defer JavaScript — heavy scripts are the usual cause of poor INP.
- Use caching and a good host — server speed underpins everything.
- Reserve space for ads, embeds and banners to stop layout jumps (CLS).
- Trim plugins and bloat — especially on WordPress, fewer is faster.
💡 Check your scores free in Google PageSpeed Insights and the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console — they show real-world data from actual visitors, which is what Google uses.
A quick reality check
You don't need a perfect 100 score — you need to be in the ‘Good’ range and faster than your competitors. Focus on the biggest wins (usually images and JavaScript) first; they deliver most of the improvement for the least effort.
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