SEO & GEO
What is Core Web Vitals?
Definition
Google's set of user experience metrics (LCP, CLS, INP) that measure page loading, visual stability, and interactivity — used as a ranking signal.
In more detail
Core Web Vitals are a set of three metrics defined by Google that measure real-world user experience on web pages. They are: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures how quickly the main content loads; Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which measures visual stability (how much the page jumps around as it loads); and Interaction to Next Paint (INP), which measures how quickly the page responds to user interactions.
Google considers a page to have 'good' Core Web Vitals when LCP is under 2.5 seconds, CLS is below 0.1, and INP is under 200 milliseconds. Pages falling in the 'needs improvement' or 'poor' ranges may see ranking disadvantages, particularly in competitive SERPs where content quality is otherwise similar.
Beyond rankings, Core Web Vitals directly correlate with business metrics. Amazon famously found that every 100ms of added latency cost 1% in sales. For SaaS products and e-commerce sites, even modest improvements in page speed measurably improve conversion rates, session depth, and revenue per visitor.
Why it matters
Improving Core Web Vitals can directly improve both search rankings and user experience — particularly important for e-commerce and SaaS sites where page speed directly impacts revenue.
Further reading
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