{"id":1240,"date":"2021-08-04T20:48:38","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T20:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/?p=1240"},"modified":"2021-08-12T20:45:47","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T20:45:47","slug":"core-web-vitals-the-new-seo-ranking-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/blog\/core-web-vitals-the-new-seo-ranking-factor\/","title":{"rendered":"Core Web Vitals: The new SEO Ranking Factor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1379\" height=\"913\" src=\"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/cwv-laptop.jpg\" alt=\"laptop showing analytical data\" class=\"wp-image-1241\" srcset=\"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/cwv-laptop.jpg 1379w, https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/cwv-laptop-768x508.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1379px) 100vw, 1379px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Before discussing Core Web Vitals, we must establish what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Search Engine Optimization?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO is a strategic technique commonly employed by marketers to gain more visibility and increase the presence of an online website or webpage. This means that your website will show up at the top of the search result when internet users key in the right keywords. Having a high SEO ranking means that your company can get more views, clicks, and conversions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO itself was already a thing around the late 1990s. Who knew that SEO would become one of the marketing essentials today? However, due to the rapid development and innovation which the technology and digital sector undergo, SEO standards are ever-changing. Search engines are always updating and improving their algorithms to provide a better user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To achieve excellent SEO in the past, all you needed were a few targeted keywords incorporated on your website. But <em>today<\/em>, we need much more than that to gain steady organic traffic from the Internet. One particular recent development in the SEO industry is the introduction of <strong>Core Web Vitals<\/strong> by Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, we\u2019ll be going in-depth on this new update, and how it should change your SEO technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is Core Web Vitals and how does it work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1379\" height=\"1034\" src=\"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/cwv-google.jpg\" alt=\"phone screen showing google icon\" class=\"wp-image-1242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/cwv-google.jpg 1379w, https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/cwv-google-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1379px) 100vw, 1379px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Core Web Vitals<\/strong>, or simply <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/web.dev\/vitals\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Web Vitals<\/a><\/strong>, is a program introduced by Google as the new approach to SEO. Moving on from targeted keywords and backlinks, Google announced that Web Vitals is going to focus and prioritize user experience (UX). It consists of three factors that are used to determine the rank of your site:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Largest Contentful Paint (Loading)<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>First Input Delay (Interactivity)<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Cumulative Layout Shift (Visual Stability)<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Largest Contentful Paint<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Large Contentful Paint (LCP)<\/strong> measures how fast your website and its main content are loaded from the moment someone clicks on your website link. Google\u2019s standards indicate that any website which loads less than 2.5 seconds hits the mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Google can sound pretty demanding, LCP measurements actually help your website too! With the average person\u2019s attention span shorter than that of a goldfish, you won\u2019t want impatient viewers clicking away too quickly. With LCP, you can better understand the loading speeds of your webpages, and how you can improve them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">First Input Delay<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>First Input Delay (FID)<\/strong> measures how fast your website becomes interactive to anyone who visits your site. According to Google, a good website would be interactive at 100ms or less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Making your website interactive isn\u2019t just about having stunning user interfaces. In fact, it\u2019s more about communicating to your viewers through the website. Integrating a chatbot, pop-up notifications, and even engaging games count as interactivity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cumulative Layout Shift<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)<\/strong> emphasizes visual stability, where Google measures how complete the elements of your webpage load. For instance, if the blocks on your webpage load in chunks and one by one, that would incur a bad ranking as it is considered to have low visual stability. Google considers anything less than or equivalent to 0.1 to be good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In essence, Google looks at how the layout of your webpage shifts unexpectedly. This can be minor formatting errors, or costly mistakes which jumbles up your site\u2019s content. Some common culprits are unformatted images and code-heavy embeds, so keep an eye out for them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By using these metrics, Google can accurately assign each website to its corresponding ranking. If you want to get a higher ranking and be seen by more internet users, these three aspects are crucial to your SEO strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the purpose of Core Web Vitals?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1379\" height=\"841\" src=\"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/cwv-analytics.jpg\" alt=\"Google Analytics dashboard\" class=\"wp-image-1243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/cwv-analytics.jpg 1379w, https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/cwv-analytics-768x468.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1379px) 100vw, 1379px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The main reason why Google decided to introduce the Web Vitals program is to simplify the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, any website developer, owner, and marketer can easily improve their SEO ranking by enhancing the users\u2019 experience. In Google\u2019s words, they envisioned Web Vitals to be a <em>\u201cunified guidance \u2013 essential <\/em><em>to delivering a great user experience on the web\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Previously, there was an overwhelming number of tools and guidelines made available to consumers for SEO. Well, you only need to know the 3 criteria of Web Core Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this simplicity, beginners and professionals alike can obtain a higher ranking for their websites by harnessing these three metrics. As such, Google makes it clear what they want from websites, in turn offering coveted spots on the search engine\u2019s home page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this most recent update, it seems that Google is prioritizing user experience above all else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the implications of Core Web Vitals?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to recent data, only the top two or three ranking sites are capable of meeting the requirements imposed by Web Vitals. This also suggests that some 96% of websites on the Internet fail to be fit within Google\u2019s expectations of a \u201cgood\u201d website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, research conducted by Searchmetrics, which measured up to two million sites across United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, reached similar conclusions. Their results demonstrated that there was a strong, positive relationship between high-ranking sites and sites that fulfill the requirements of the Web Vitals\u2019 metrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hence, it is evident that Google\u2019s Web Vitals program is not easy to satisfy or game. It\u2019s extremely important to both existing and future website owners. After all, the top spots on Google\u2019s front page are only reserved for those who meet the three metrics of Web Vitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another perspective to view the implementation of Web Vitals is to acknowledge the ultimate goal of Google: to prioritize their users\u2019 experience. By introducing these regulations of having website owners enhance and improve their site\u2019s UX, Google is heading in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One day, the top websites will not show spammy and disorganized content. Instead, viewers will be guaranteed a smooth, streamlined, and uninterrupted experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The New Game Plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Core Web Vitals is an initiative taken by Google in an attempt to reform the current complex and disorderly SEO guidelines. By offering more simplified guidance, Google hopes that more webpage developers and owners will improve the UX of their website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A website that fully utilizes and leverages Web Vitals\u2019 criteria will stand the largest chance of getting a high SEO rank on the Google search engine. So, what\u2019s the new game plan?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You should definitely start putting more attention on your website\u2019s user interface! Keep the three metrics of Web Vitals in mind, with a solid focus on how your website looks to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you get too invested in improving the UX of your website, don\u2019t forget that the previous SEO criteria are still relevant, and should be adhered to!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Outro<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In conclusion, Web Vitals certainly is one of the more important upcoming guidelines to comply with. If there\u2019s one thing to take away from this article, Web Core Vitals is the new SEO strategy \u2013 which you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you can complement traditional techniques with an amazing user experience, your website will shoot to the top of Google\u2019s front page in no time! <a href=\"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/contact\/\" title=\"Contact Us\">Reach out to us here <\/a>at Minerva for assistance in reaching the top.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before discussing Core Web Vitals, we must establish what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is. What Is Search Engine Optimization? SEO&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1240"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minervawebdevelopment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}