Google's Web Core Values have become critical to SEO and user experience
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 10:58 am
There are many tools available on the internet to do this. My advice is to use multiple tools to compare results (after all, they are still tools and error in judgment is always around the corner).
There are many options available, just consider the well-known GTMetrix, Pingdom Tools and WebPageTest.org. They are all very useful and can give you a unique perspective based on their proprietary analysis algorithm.
Regardless of the solution you choose, you will still have to deal with Google's opinion of your site, so crawling with PageSpeedInsight becomes crucial to your optimization activity.
Pagespeed tool by Google
This tool is especially useful when you want to test a site that is under development, perhaps still blocked locally or to external access.
Finally, you can check out the “Experience” tab in Google Search Console, which will give you a broader overview of your website, not just a single page.
Experience tab of Google Search Console
Once you have determined which analytics tool is right for you armenia mobile phone numbers database keep in mind that each site requires different action, so it is not possible to define in advance how you should proceed.
However, there are some situations that are common to almost all sites and therefore should always be analyzed regardless of the technology used.
The main areas to focus on when optimizing for Core Web Vitals are:
Images
CSS and JavaScript
Font
Images
Some of the most important optimization practices for images include:
Make sure they are always loaded when needed by using a technology called lazy loading. This way, you prevent all the images on your page from arriving for no reason at the first stage of rendering, even if they are not yet visible in the viewport.
To provide the same experience to users but significantly reduce load times, it is essential that your site can provide images in compressed and modern formats. Popular formats include WebP and Avif, but keep in mind that not all browsers support both technologies. Therefore, you will need to make sure that alternative versions are provided for older browsers. You can always check caniuse.com to find out which browsers (and which versions) support certain technologies.
As with other HTML elements, it is good practice to make the length and width values of images explicit to avoid increasing CLS as much as possible.
CSS and JavaScript
Follow these CSS and JavaScript tips:
Make sure to shrink the files as much as possible to reduce their size.
Test the combination of files to determine if loading times are sped up while maintaining functionality.
Extract critical CSS from stylesheets and serve it first. There are many tools that can help you identify what part of the code is being used. Alternatively, you can use the Coverage feature in Chrome Inspector.
Delay the execution of unnecessary scripts as much as possible by using the delay or defer commands or simply moving them to the footer.
Preload critical resources when necessary using preload, prefetch, or pre-connect commands.
Font
Fonts are also a very important factor in improving performance:
If you want to optimize (and also be fully GDPR compliant) you should host your fonts locally (especially if your site uses Google fonts).
Choose variable fonts over static ones to have more functionality with less loading time.
Make sure text is always visible, even before fonts are loaded, using the font-display CSS property.
Of course, there are dozens of other micro-optimizations , but if you focus on these points, you will have already done 95% of the work!
Core Web Vitals: An Upcoming Update
Google is committed to continually improving its algorithms and the experience on the web.
In this context, important news was announced.
Let's see what happened together.
Goodbye FID, Welcome to INP
Starting March 2024, a new parameter will replace one of the Core Web Values.
Initial Input Delay will actually be replaced by Interaction to Next Paint (INP).
The new Interaction to Next Paint
Conclusion
Monitoring and optimizing your CLS, LCP, and FID metrics will help ensure your website ranks well in search results and delivers a quality user experience.
Use Search Console and other analytics tools to identify issues and implement solutions that will help you improve your website's performance and ultimately your position in search results.
There are many options available, just consider the well-known GTMetrix, Pingdom Tools and WebPageTest.org. They are all very useful and can give you a unique perspective based on their proprietary analysis algorithm.
Regardless of the solution you choose, you will still have to deal with Google's opinion of your site, so crawling with PageSpeedInsight becomes crucial to your optimization activity.
Pagespeed tool by Google
This tool is especially useful when you want to test a site that is under development, perhaps still blocked locally or to external access.
Finally, you can check out the “Experience” tab in Google Search Console, which will give you a broader overview of your website, not just a single page.
Experience tab of Google Search Console
Once you have determined which analytics tool is right for you armenia mobile phone numbers database keep in mind that each site requires different action, so it is not possible to define in advance how you should proceed.
However, there are some situations that are common to almost all sites and therefore should always be analyzed regardless of the technology used.
The main areas to focus on when optimizing for Core Web Vitals are:
Images
CSS and JavaScript
Font
Images
Some of the most important optimization practices for images include:
Make sure they are always loaded when needed by using a technology called lazy loading. This way, you prevent all the images on your page from arriving for no reason at the first stage of rendering, even if they are not yet visible in the viewport.
To provide the same experience to users but significantly reduce load times, it is essential that your site can provide images in compressed and modern formats. Popular formats include WebP and Avif, but keep in mind that not all browsers support both technologies. Therefore, you will need to make sure that alternative versions are provided for older browsers. You can always check caniuse.com to find out which browsers (and which versions) support certain technologies.
As with other HTML elements, it is good practice to make the length and width values of images explicit to avoid increasing CLS as much as possible.
CSS and JavaScript
Follow these CSS and JavaScript tips:
Make sure to shrink the files as much as possible to reduce their size.
Test the combination of files to determine if loading times are sped up while maintaining functionality.
Extract critical CSS from stylesheets and serve it first. There are many tools that can help you identify what part of the code is being used. Alternatively, you can use the Coverage feature in Chrome Inspector.
Delay the execution of unnecessary scripts as much as possible by using the delay or defer commands or simply moving them to the footer.
Preload critical resources when necessary using preload, prefetch, or pre-connect commands.
Font
Fonts are also a very important factor in improving performance:
If you want to optimize (and also be fully GDPR compliant) you should host your fonts locally (especially if your site uses Google fonts).
Choose variable fonts over static ones to have more functionality with less loading time.
Make sure text is always visible, even before fonts are loaded, using the font-display CSS property.
Of course, there are dozens of other micro-optimizations , but if you focus on these points, you will have already done 95% of the work!
Core Web Vitals: An Upcoming Update
Google is committed to continually improving its algorithms and the experience on the web.
In this context, important news was announced.
Let's see what happened together.
Goodbye FID, Welcome to INP
Starting March 2024, a new parameter will replace one of the Core Web Values.
Initial Input Delay will actually be replaced by Interaction to Next Paint (INP).
The new Interaction to Next Paint
Conclusion
Monitoring and optimizing your CLS, LCP, and FID metrics will help ensure your website ranks well in search results and delivers a quality user experience.
Use Search Console and other analytics tools to identify issues and implement solutions that will help you improve your website's performance and ultimately your position in search results.