Published on

Understanding Web Vitals: Improving User Experience

Authors
  • avatar
    Name
    Hieu Cao
    Twitter

Introduction

Web Vitals are a set of metrics introduced by Google to measure and ensure the quality of user experience on websites. They focus on key aspects like loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability. In this blog, we’ll explore what Web Vitals are, why they matter, and how you can improve them for your website.

What Are Web Vitals?

Web Vitals are part of Google’s effort to quantify user experience and consist of three core metrics:

1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

  • What it Measures: Loading performance.
  • Goal: LCP should occur within 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading.
  • Key Example: The time it takes for the largest visible content (e.g., an image or text) to fully render.

2. First Input Delay (FID)

  • What it Measures: Interactivity.
  • Goal: FID should be less than 100 milliseconds.
  • Key Example: The delay between a user clicking a button and the browser responding.

3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

  • What it Measures: Visual stability.
  • Goal: CLS should score less than 0.1.
  • Key Example: Prevent unexpected shifts in layout that cause users to click the wrong button.

Why Are Web Vitals Important?

  1. Improved User Experience: Better Web Vitals mean smoother, faster, and more stable websites.
  2. Higher SEO Rankings: Google uses Web Vitals as part of its ranking algorithm, so optimizing them can improve your site’s visibility.
  3. Increased Engagement: Faster and more stable websites lead to lower bounce rates and higher conversions.

How to Measure Web Vitals

1. Google PageSpeed Insights

Provides detailed insights into Web Vitals scores and recommendations.

2. Lighthouse

An open-source tool built into Chrome DevTools for performance audits.

3. Web Vitals Chrome Extension

A browser extension to monitor Web Vitals in real time.

4. Search Console Core Web Vitals Report

View aggregated performance data for your site directly in Google Search Console.

Tips to Improve Web Vitals

Optimizing LCP

  • Use fast hosting and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs).
  • Optimize and lazy-load images and videos.
  • Minimize render-blocking resources like CSS and JavaScript.

Reducing FID

  • Minimize JavaScript execution time.
  • Use browser caching.
  • Avoid long-running tasks to ensure quick responses to user input.

Enhancing CLS

  • Include size attributes for images and videos to prevent layout shifts.
  • Avoid inserting content above existing content without proper spacing.
  • Use stable web fonts that don’t cause reflow.

Common Tools for Optimization

  1. Image Optimization Tools:

  2. JavaScript Bundling Tools:

    • Webpack
    • Rollup

  3. Lazy Loading Libraries:

  4. Monitoring Services:

    • Google Analytics
    • New Relic

Conclusion

Web Vitals are critical for both user experience and search engine optimization. By understanding and optimizing these metrics, you can create a website that is not only high-performing but also delightful for users. Start analyzing your Web Vitals today and make improvements to stay ahead in the competitive digital landscape.