The Core Web Vitals are a new set of performance indicators that measure user experience on websites. Google has defined these indicators as important signals for a good user experience and plans to introduce them as a ranking factor. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at the Core Web Vitals and discuss how they can be optimised for OXID eShop.
What are the Core Web Vitals?
The Core Web Vitals are a collection of performance indicators that focus on three key areas: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Each of these indicators measures an important aspect of the user experience, such as how quickly a page loads or how responsive the page is to user input.
What is Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)?
LCP measures the time it takes to display the largest visual element on a page. This can be an image or a paragraph of text. A poor LCP score may indicate that a page is loading too slowly or that the visual experience is not optimal.
What is First Input Delay (FID)?
FID measures the time taken between the moment a user touches a page and the moment the page can respond. A long FID can cause users to become frustrated and leave the page before they can complete their task.
What is meant by Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)?
CLS measures the unstability of layout elements on a page. If layout elements are shifted while the page is loading, this can cause users to unintentionally click on incorrect elements.
How are Core Web Vitals measurements determined?
Core Web Vitals are automatically collected through the Chrome User Experience Report API. Users can also use tools such as PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse to collect their own metrics.
How can you improve Core Web Vitals measurement results?
There are a number of measures that can be used to improve Core Web Vitals metrics, including:
Optimise your page load time by shrinking images, reducing code bloat and using faster hosting solutions.
Use lazy loading to ensure that only the most important content on a page loads.
Avoid unintended layout shifts by guaranteeing that all resources are fully loaded before the layout is displayed.
Use the PRPL (Push, Render, Preload, Lazy Load) pattern to ensure a fast and responsive user experience.
Summary
Core Web Vitals are important indicators of a good user experience. Since Google wants to introduce them as a ranking factor, it is important that online shops like OXID eShop optimise their metrics. By implementing measures such as optimising load time, using lazy loading and avoiding layout shifts, you can ensure that users have a positive experience on the website and that the ranking is not affected.