In 2010, Google officially announced that page speed would be used as a ranking signal for desktop searches. In 2018, that extended to mobile. By 2026, Core Web Vitals — a set of performance metrics — have become a well-established part of Google's ranking algorithm.
What Are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are a set of three specific metrics that Google uses to measure the user experience of a page:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How long it takes for the main content to load. Aim for under 2.5 seconds.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How much the page moves around as it loads. Aim for under 0.1.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How responsive the page is to user interactions. Aim for under 200ms.
Why This Matters for Your Business
A slow website doesn't just hurt your SEO rankings — it hurts your conversion rate. Research consistently shows that a one-second delay in page load time can reduce conversions by 7%. For a local business generating £50,000 a year from its website, that's £3,500 per second of delay.
Five Things You Can Do to Improve Page Speed
- Optimise your images. Use modern formats like WebP, compress your images, and specify width and height attributes to prevent layout shifts.
- Minimise render-blocking JavaScript. Only load the JavaScript you actually need, and defer anything that isn't critical to the initial page view.
- Use a fast hosting provider. Cheap shared hosting is often the single biggest bottleneck. A good server is worth paying for.
- Implement browser caching. Tell browsers to cache your static assets so repeat visitors don't have to re-download them every time.
- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN). A CDN serves your files from servers closer to your visitors, reducing latency for users across the country.
How We Can Help
At YourBusiness, every site we build is optimised for performance from the start. If your current site is slow, we offer a technical audit that will identify exactly what's holding you back and what to do about it.
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