Core Web Vitals for Local Businesses: A Plain English Guide

What Are Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals are Google's way of measuring how good your website feels to use. They're focused on three things:

• **How fast does your main content load?** (LCP)
• **How quickly does your site respond when you click something?** (INP)
• **Does stuff jump around while the page loads?** (CLS)

These metrics became official Google ranking factors in 2021, and they matter for local businesses because a slow, janky website can hurt your search visibility.

The Three Metrics Explained

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)

What it measures: How long until the biggest visible content (usually a hero image or main heading) appears on screen.

Good score: Under 2.5 seconds

Needs improvement: 2.5-4 seconds

Poor: Over 4 seconds

Why it matters for local businesses: If your website takes 5 seconds to show your phone number or address, potential customers have already bounced to a competitor.

INP (Interaction to Next Paint)

What it measures: How quickly your site responds when someone clicks a button, types in a form, or interacts with something.

Good score: Under 200 milliseconds

Needs improvement: 200-500 milliseconds

Poor: Over 500 milliseconds

Why it matters: If clicking your "Book Now" button feels laggy, customers might assume your website is broken.

CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

What it measures: How much the page content moves around as it loads. Ever try to click a button and it moves right before you click?

Good score: Under 0.1

Needs improvement: 0.1-0.25

Poor: Over 0.25

Why it matters: Layout shifts are frustrating and unprofessional. If your address keeps jumping around the page, customers might click the wrong thing.

How to Check Your Scores

Free Options:

• **Our Site Health tool** - Checks all Core Web Vitals instantly
• **PageSpeed Insights** (pagespeed.web.dev) - Google's official tool
• **Google Search Console** - Shows real user data over time

Common Problems and Fixes

Slow LCP (Loading Speed)

Problem: Large, unoptimized images

Fix: Compress images, use modern formats (WebP), and specify dimensions

Problem: Slow hosting

Fix: Upgrade to faster hosting or use a CDN

Problem: Too many scripts loading before content

Fix: Defer non-essential JavaScript

Poor INP (Interactivity)

Problem: Heavy JavaScript running on every interaction

Fix: Optimize or reduce JavaScript, especially on mobile

Problem: Long-running tasks blocking the main thread

Fix: Break up long tasks, use web workers

High CLS (Layout Shifts)

Problem: Images without dimensions

Fix: Always specify width and height attributes

Problem: Ads or embeds that load late and push content down

Fix: Reserve space for dynamic content

Problem: Fonts that cause text to resize

Fix: Preload fonts, use font-display: swap

What Can You Do Without a Developer?

• **Compress your images** - Use tools like TinyPNG or Squoosh
• **Upgrade your hosting** - If you're on cheap shared hosting, consider upgrading
• **Remove unused plugins** - If you're on WordPress, deactivate plugins you don't need
• **Enable caching** - Most CMS platforms have caching plugins
• **Use a CDN** - Services like Cloudflare have free tiers

When to Hire Help

If your scores are in the red and you've tried the basics, it might be time to hire a developer. Look for someone who:

• Understands Core Web Vitals specifically
• Can show you before/after examples
• Provides ongoing monitoring

The Bottom Line

You don't need perfect scores. Aim for "Good" (green) in all three metrics. This tells Google your site provides a good user experience and can help your local search rankings.

Remember: Core Web Vitals are just one ranking factor. A site with perfect vitals but terrible content won't rank well. But if you're already doing good SEO, improving your vitals can give you an edge over competitors.