Google is currently the most used search engine globally, with up to 3.5 billion searches every day. So, when you launch a website for commercial purposes, ranking higher on Google has to be your primary goal. From conversion rates to user traffic, everything depends on your website’s rankings on Google. 

Even if you provide the best service to your customers, people won’t know about your business unless your website appears at least on the first page of a Google search, if not at the top. 

But how does Google rank a website on top? What are the parameters it uses to distinguish between a good and a not-so-good website?

Well, that is where core web vitals come into the picture. Google inspects a set of parameters known as the called core web vitals on every website to distinguish which website is more user-friendly and which is not. 

In this post, we’ll take a better look at Google Core Web Vitals for 2021 and how you can improve your Google rankings by improving your website’s core web vitals.

What Is Core Web Vitals?

Google plans to make changes in its ranking parameters in the next year. They want the search engine to be as user-friendly as possible, and for this, they plan to rely more on the core web vitals to rank better websites higher than the others. 

There are several vital parts of a website, but the most important will be the core web vitals in 2021. The parameters that Google plans to include in its core web vitals are, 

• Largest Contentful Playout (LCP)
• First Input Delay (FID)
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

Let’s take a look at each of these vital to understand how you can rank higher on Google in the next year.

Largest Contentful Playout (LCP):

In simple words, LCP is the time it takes from clicking the link to seeing the content on your webpage. So, it is the loading time from a user’s perspective. Loading time anywhere within 2.5 seconds is considered good by Google. So, for better LCP, you need to make sure that every page on your website loads within 2.5 seconds. 

First Input Delay (FID)

FID is the time a webpage takes to allow interaction, such as clicking links or choosing options. FID matters less for pages that don’t require users to input data. But, if your page consists of a login or signup page, you need to make sure that your FID is less to rank higher on Google search results.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

CLS relates to the visual stability of your website. For better CLS readings, the images and other page elements must load stably, without shifting places. Stable page loading avoids accidental clicking on unwanted locations by the users, resulting in better user interactions.

How to Optimise the Core Web Vitals?

• To Improve LCP, you must consider reducing your page size by removing large elements, lowering image resolutions, and removing unwanted third-party scripts. If your LCP is still low, you must upgrade your hosting and server specifications. Moving to a dedicated server would be the right choice if you have a large volume of users accessing your site.

• To Improve Your FID, you can consider minimizing the JavaScript and third-party scripts of your page, as it will allow users to interact on your page faster.

• To Improve the CLS, you must set exact size attributes to all your media and designate appropriate ad slots for the ads on your site. It allows the user’s browser to easily recognize the space your site will need to display fully. 

You can check your website’s core web vital scores through Google Search Console or Google Pagespeed Insights. Google Search Console analyses all your web pages and classifies each of them as “good,” “needs improvement,” or “poor,” making it easier for you to locate a problem. These Google tools also provide suggestions on how to improve and optimize your web pages for higher ranking.

It’s 2021, and there’s not much time to waste anymore. Check your core web vital scores and optimize your site now to rank higher in Google in 2021.