How the Google Core Vitals update will affect your auto repair website
First things first, if you already have an Optimize Social Media website, you won’t need to worry about any of this! We build all of our sites with Core Web Vitals in mind and are already optimizing our pages to make sure Google scores our websites highly.
If you have a different website provider or are building your own, here’s what you need to know about the Core Web Vitals update and what you need to prepare for.
Starting mid-June, Google will implement Core Web Vitals, their new metrics for measuring website performance. Sites that score well on Core Web Vitals will have an edge over other sites, enjoying improved SEO while giving visitors an outstanding experience.
The purpose of Core Web Vitals is to give website owners a better way to measure how users experience speed, responsiveness and visual stability of a webpage.
Here are the three Core Web Vitals Google will use to rank your site:
Largest Contentful Paint (How fast does your page load?)
This is the initial time it takes for a page’s main content to load. Google wants to see your LCP measurement at 2.5 seconds or faster. If your main content loads any slower, your page performance will suffer.
First Input Delay (How quickly can a user interact with your page?)
This is the time it takes for a page to become interactive for users. Your page should be interactive in less than 100 milliseconds.
Cumulative Layout Shift (Does your content move around while loading?)
This is the amount of unexpected layout shift of visual page content. If you’ve ever gone to a site and tried to click a button, but that button moves right when you try to click, you know how frustrating that can be! This is Google’s way of measuring that frustration level for users.
How do I know if my website has good Core Web Vitals scores?
Since Google is specifically looking for site owners to improve these scores, it’s important that website owners know how to see if their website is performing well.
Here are some tools you can use to measure your Web Vitals:
PageSpeed Insights is a free tool from Google that analyzes the content of a web page, then generates suggestions to make that page faster. You can check out any URL’s stats just by entering it through the link above.
Here’s Facebook’s score as an example
Lighthouse is an open-source tool for improving the quality of web pages. Once you download the free Google Chrome plugin, it will audit any web page for accessibility, performance, SEO and more. You can use those indicators to improve your page!
Search Console Core Web Vitals report
The Core Web Vitals report breaks down data by device used. Statuses such as Poor, Needs Improvement, or Good tell you how your specific URLs are performing under Core Web Vitals expectations.
What does this mean for your website?
If your current website provider isn’t prepared for these changes, your search performance will probably suffer. If your search performance dips, that means you’re going to show up in fewer searches and fewer customers can find you. Use one of the tools above to see how your desktop and mobile websites are scoring with your current provider.
Here are a few common errors that will negatively impact your Web Vitals scores and how you can avoid them:
Large Images & Background Videos
Normally, large images or wide background videos are the focal point of websites. However, if you have too many images or you have one enormous image or video above the fold, it forces the users browser to download those elements before they show up. This leads to slower LCP times and higher CLS, which negatively affects your Core Web Vitals score.
If you are seeing high LCP or CLS numbers, make sure the images you are using are an appropriate size and try to limit the number of images above the fold to just one.
Also, if you have background videos or motion graphics like a slideshow, move them further down on the page so that it won’t affect your LCP or CLS scores.
Numerous Fonts
Depending on how many or which fonts you use on your website, your users may have to download those font families. Most of the time, fonts are automatically downloaded and browsers render those custom fonts speedily, but not always.
Try to use global fonts that apply across your entire website rather than applying fonts to specific elements. This will make it easier for browsers to download fonts without slowing render times.
eCommerce Integration
Most eCommerce integrations rely on JavaScript coding. By the nature of eCommerce, stores are usually filled with a lot of products and images which means the store takes longer to load by default.
If your website has eCommerce capabilities, it may be best to keep the store below the fold on the homepage, or even move the store to its own separate page so that the homepage LCP and CLS scores aren’t negatively affected.
Custom Widgets
If you have widgets on your website that rely on 3rd party connections or APIs, they could have a negative impact on CLS and FID. Some examples of heavy or custom widgets include Map widgets, Facebook widgets, Twitter feed widgets or any video widgets.
Since widgets aren’t going away, we suggest you move any custom or heavy widgets below the fold on your homepage and try to not have more than one widget on each page.
So, what’s next?
Overall, these changes will be good for users. Businesses will just need to be vigilant about their Web Vitals scores and continually monitor how their site is performing.
If you’re not sure how to see how your site is doing or you just want someone else to take a look, reach out to us here and we’ll go over your website or social media presence with you.
Optimize Social Media provides social media & reputation solutions that evolve with our clients. As social media experts we manage Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yelp, YouTube and Instagram accounts for our clients daily. We help the modern business owner implement a specialized social media strategy so they can make more money in real life. Enjoy our blog.
