LeadMagnetGeniusGoogle’s Page Experience update made Core Web Vitals (CWV) important. These are metrics about loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability: - LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) – how quickly the main content loads (aim < 2.5s for good). - FID (First Input Delay) – how quickly page responds to user input (aim < 100ms). - CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) – visual stability (pages shouldn’t jump around; aim CLS < 0.1).
In 2025, Google even added Interaction to Next Paint (INP) as a future metric for responsiveness. These are technical, but advanced SEO means working with devs to hit these metrics: - Use a fast host/CDN. - Optimize and defer non-critical scripts. Heavy JavaScript can kill FID/INP. - Lazy load images (so they don’t all load at once), compress them. - Ensure no content shifts (use size attributes or CSS for media so layout is reserved). - Possibly use modern image formats (WebP, AVIF) which are smaller. - Remove or reduce third-party scripts (too many tracking pixels or heavy chat widgets can tank speed). - Consider dynamic serving or static site generation for faster TTFB (time to first byte). - Test mobile vs desktop (CWV thresholds apply to both; often mobile is slower, so optimize for mobile primarily).
While CWV aren’t the be-all-end-all (you won’t outrank great content just by being slightly faster), they can be a tiebreaker and affect user behavior (slow site => users bounce, which affects rankings). Google said page experience is one of many signals, but in competitive niches why not take every edge?
Also, beyond vitals: - Mobile-first: Check your site on various phones. If something is hard to use, fix it. E.g., avoid intrusive interstitials (pop-ups) that annoy mobile users – Google specifically punishes those in mobile results. - Security: Ensure HTTPS everywhere. By 2025, that’s table stakes. Also, no mixed content (images or scripts loading on HTTP on an HTTPS page). - Accessibility: While not a direct ranking factor, accessible sites (proper alt text, ARIA roles, etc.) often correlate with good HTML structure which can indirectly help SEO and certainly doesn’t hurt. Plus, ethical to do.
Use Search Console’s CWV report, or PageSpeed Insights, or Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools to audit your pages. Focus on templates (e.g., if you have WordPress, fix the theme or specific plugin issues that slow every page). It’s advanced in that it might require developer resources to optimize deeply. But it’s worth it for user experience above all.