Decoding Core Web Vitals: A Simple Guide for Filipino Business Owners

Google is always updating its algorithm to provide a better user experience, and one of its most important recent updates is the focus on "Core Web Vitals." It sounds technical, but the concept is simple: Google wants to rank websites higher that provide a smooth, fast, and stable experience for users. As a business owner in the Philippines, understanding these vitals is key to your SEO success.

1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How Fast Does Your Page Load?

LCP measures how long it takes for the largest piece of content (usually a big image or a block of text) to become visible on the screen. In simple terms, it's about perceived loading speed. If a user clicks on your site and just sees a blank white screen for several seconds, that's a bad LCP. Google recommends an LCP of 2.5 seconds or less. Large, unoptimized images are the most common cause of a poor LCP score.

2. First Input Delay (FID): How Quickly Can Users Interact?

FID measures the time from when a user first interacts with your page (like clicking a button or a link) to the time when the browser is actually able to respond to that interaction. Have you ever tried to click on something on a website, but nothing happens for a moment? That's a high FID. It's usually caused by the browser being busy executing a lot of heavy JavaScript code. A good FID is crucial for making your site feel responsive and not "laggy."

3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Is Your Page Visually Stable?

CLS measures the visual stability of your page. It's that annoying experience when you're about to tap on a button, and suddenly an ad loads and pushes the button down, making you tap the ad instead. This "layout shift" is a frustrating user experience, and Google penalizes it. This is often caused by images without defined dimensions or ads that load in after the rest of the content.

Optimizing for Core Web Vitals is a key part of my SEO and maintenance services. By focusing on these three metrics, we can create a website that is not only loved by your customers but also by Google.