Core Web Vitals are Google’s way of measuring how a page feels to real visitors. They are part of the page experience signals used in search.
The three metrics
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): how quickly the main content appears. Aim for under 2.5 seconds.
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint): how fast the page responds when someone clicks or taps. Aim for under 200 milliseconds.
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): how much the layout jumps while loading. Aim for 0.1 or less.
How to improve them
- Compress and properly size images
- Preload your main image and fonts
- Reserve space for images and ads so content does not jump
- Reduce heavy JavaScript
- Use fast hosting and a CDN
Where to check
Use PageSpeed Insights for quick tests and the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console to see real-world data for your whole site.