What Are Core Web Vitals and How To Improve Them

What Are Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals are a set of specific website performance signals that Google uses to assess real-world user experience. These aren’t just industry buzzwords or behind-the-scenes statistics. Instead, they capture just how fast, responsive, and stable your website feels to someone actually visiting it. At 6th Man, we treat these metrics as essentials for any ambitious B2B or e-commerce company focused on conversion and customer loyalty.

Why do they matter so much? Core Web Vitals reflect the truth about digital experience: how quickly visitors can interact with your site, whether the content stays steady on the screen, and how smooth those first clicks or taps feel. If you miss the mark, users will leave quickly and take their business somewhere else. But if you get these right, you create a foundation of engagement, trust, and lasting growth.

The Three Pillars: Performance, Interactivity, Stability

Core Web Vitals consist of three main pillars. Each one highlights a critical aspect of user experience:

• Performance: How fast do the key parts of your page load? This is tracked by Largest Contentful Paint (LCP).
• Interactivity: Does your website instantly respond to taps, clicks, and scrolls? Google now measures this with Interaction to Next Paint (INP).
• Stability: Do images, buttons, or text unexpectedly shift as the page loads, causing confusion or accidental clicks? This is monitored by Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

Optimizing these pillars isn’t optional for modern brands. It’s expected if you want to stay competitive. In this article, we’ll break down each metric, show you how to measure Core Web Vitals, and—most importantly—tie it directly to what founders and marketing leads care about: performance, rankings, and revenue.

Why Core Web Vitals Matter for SEO and Business Growth

If you’re leading a data-driven marketing team, you already understand that website speed and user experience aren’t just “nice-to-have.” Core Web Vitals are now at the center of both SEO success and bottom-line business impact. Google couldn’t be clearer—how your site performs directly shapes how you rank and how well you convert visitors.

Google’s Ranking Factors and User Experience

Google is upfront about its priorities. Websites that meet or beat Core Web Vitals thresholds can gain a rankings boost, especially when they’re up against competitors with similar content or backlink strength. As outlined in Google’s Core Web Vitals documentation, these signals are a vital piece of the larger “page experience” update.

So, what does this mean for your business?

• Poor LCP, INP, or CLS scores kill engagement. Visitors won’t wait; they’ll leave.
• Improving Core Web Vitals can be the difference between making it to page one or disappearing onto page four of search results.
• Websites that put these metrics first tend to keep users around longer, rack up more pageviews, and generate sustained organic growth. The value adds up over time.

For Belgian and European brands, this isn’t just about search rankings. It’s about offering a digital experience that measures up to your ambitions and meets customer expectations. Today, that’s simply the standard for any successful, scalable web business.

How Core Web Vitals Affect Conversion Rates

Speed and stability aren’t only concerns for Google’s algorithms—they’re crucial for your actual visitors. Research routinely shows that even a one-second delay in loading can cut conversions by as much as 20%. If your product images are slow to appear, if your call-to-action buttons jump around during loading, or if checkout lags, you’ll lose potential customers in a flash.

When Core Web Vitals are in good shape, you can expect:

• Lower bounce rates
• More people adding to their carts or completing forms
• Stronger engagement and more repeat visits from mobile users

For founders and CMOs driven by growth, the goal is clear: turning technical improvements into meaningful ROI. Core Web Vitals aren’t just another item to check off—they are a lever for accelerating conversions and sales, whether you run an online shop, a SaaS platform, or a lead generation business. For real-world inspiration, take a look at our case studies and see how boosting performance can transform results.

Core Web Vitals Metrics: LCP, INP, CLS Explained

Let’s dig into each Core Web Vitals metric, what it actually measures, and why it matters. Once you know what you’re looking at, you can move from theory to action.

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

LCP tells you how long it takes for the largest piece of content on the screen—like a banner image, header video, or main block of text—to become fully visible. Google treats this as the moment when users perceive the page as loaded and ready to go.

Why is this important?

• When LCP lags, users get frustrated. If above-the-fold content is slow, people simply leave.
• LCP is most affected by server response times, sluggish resource loading, and large images or videos.

For example, if your homepage hero image is 4MB and not compressed, your LCP will suffer, no matter how fast your server is. On B2B landing pages, that first headline and hero image are critical. With e-commerce, it could be a product photo. Tailor your optimizations according to what matters most on each page.

Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

INP—Interaction to Next Paint—captures how quickly your site responds after a user clicks, taps, or presses a key. It specifically measures the longest delay before something visibly updates on the page. This goes beyond initial load times and asks, “How fast do users see feedback after taking action?”

• When INP is slow, your website feels sluggish—not just on the first visit, but with every interaction.
• Modern interactive features, complex JavaScript menus, and loading large catalogs all risk degrading INP if they’re not well optimized.

Think of a contact form on a lead gen site: if the validation scripts make it laggy, INP tanks. In e-commerce, shoppers expect instant cart updates. If there’s a delay, they may hesitate or abandon their purchases altogether.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

CLS tracks any unexpected movement of content while a page loads or in response to what a user does. It’s scored to reflect every unwanted shift a visitor might see. This is the culprit behind accidental ad clicks or “buy” buttons sliding out from under someone’s finger, leading to distrust and irritation.

• CLS happens when images don’t have set dimensions, when web fonts load late, or when ads and third-party widgets cause the content to jump around.
• These interruptions are particularly disruptive on mobile devices, where every pixel counts.

Picture a product page where customer reviews load in a moment late, pushing buttons down the page—this is a classic source of high CLS.

Minimum Thresholds for Success

Google doesn’t leave much room for guessing. Here are the targets you should aim for with Core Web Vitals:

• LCP: 2.5 seconds or less
• INP: 200 milliseconds or less
• CLS: 0.1 or less

If your website doesn’t consistently meet these thresholds, you’re leaving both search rankings and sales on the table. For a thorough technical breakdown, check out the official Core Web Vitals documentation from Google.

How to Measure and Test Core Web Vitals

It’s not enough to know about Core Web Vitals—you need to measure them, track progress, and connect your work to real business outcomes. That’s why we at 6th Man use real user metrics and practical testing tools for monitoring, auditing, and ongoing improvement.

Using Google Search Console and Core Web Vitals Report

Google Search Console (GSC) is your main hub for real-world Core Web Vitals insights. The Core Web Vitals report shows, on a page-by-page basis, how your website is performing over time for LCP, INP, and CLS. This data comes directly from real Chrome users (CrUX), meaning it reflects the experience of your actual visitors—not just your developers on fiber connections.

What makes this report so powerful?

• Quickly see which pages are struggling or excelling on both mobile and desktop.
• Spot issues early and spot trends before they impact your rankings.
• Drill down by device or problem type to identify the best improvement opportunities.

For digital-first companies with big goals, this report isn’t just a technical read-out—it’s a performance playbook. It lets you prioritize what your web team or agency should fix next. Want help making performance part of your SEO dashboards? Check out our guide to SEO dashboards for step-by-step integration.

Running a Free Core Web Vitals Test

Sometimes, you want a quick check-up. Tools like PageSpeed Insights, Web Vitals Chrome Extension, and others offer free, immediate Core Web Vitals analysis for any page you enter. You’ll get actionable metrics for LCP, INP, and CLS so you can see how each page stacks up.

Here’s how to use these tools:

1. Type in the URL you want to test—whether it’s your homepage, a landing page, or a product detail.
2. You’ll see fast, color-coded scores: green for good, orange for improvement needed, and red for poor performance.
3. Explore specific recommendations for boosting each metric, all organized by their technical root causes.

Keep in mind, these tools combine “lab” and real-world (“field”) data. Lab data is great for prototyping fixes, but it’s the field metrics that show what real users experience. At 6th Man, we always start SEO projects with a free Core Web Vitals test. Try it for your own site, then compare with your competitors to see where you stand.

Auditing With Lighthouse and Chrome Extensions

For more in-depth analysis, try auditing with Lighthouse—the backbone of Chrome’s performance tools. While Lighthouse is developer-focused, marketers can use it too for seeing exactly why a page might be sluggish or unstable.

• Get a snapshot of your Core Web Vitals alongside other performance best practices.
• Identify render-blocking JavaScript or CSS, oversized images, and slow-loading resources in detail.
• Repeat tests to track improvements and see what’s working as you implement changes.

Chrome extensions for Core Web Vitals can give you instant feedback, right from your browser. These are handy for validating updates before a big launch, doing spot checks across your site, or keeping landing pages in top shape. Make them a regular part of your technical SEO workflow.

Reasons Why Core Web Vitals Fail (And Common Pitfalls)

Even seasoned marketing teams encounter challenges with Core Web Vitals. Understanding the reasons sites fail—and the most frequent pitfalls—will help you avoid wasted effort and missed opportunities. At 6th Man, these are the issues we most often tackle for new B2B and e-commerce clients.

Common Technical Issues

Several recurring technical problems often hinder Core Web Vitals progress:

• Uncompressed or oversized images and videos, which slow down LCP
• Slow server or hosting performance, especially with shared hosting accounts
• Bulky JavaScript and CSS files that delay page rendering or execution
• Poorly structured HTML making above-the-fold content load last

Technical debt can pile up quickly, especially on sites that have been tweaked with add-ons, plugins, or rushed redesigns over the years. Tackling these issues often brings immediate improvements, boosting both rankings and user satisfaction.

Impact of Third-Party Scripts and Media

Third-party scripts are essential in many cases, but they’re often a double-edged sword. While things like chat widgets, review sliders, or analytics tools can be valuable, they tend to:

• Block rendering, which drags down LCP and INP performance
• Appear late or load asynchronously, creating high CLS as the layout adjusts
• Multiply the problem with every new third-party tool, compounding your site’s performance woes

For example, stacking several ad networks along with tracking and heat mapping scripts can slow interactivity and make your pages visually unstable—especially during major campaigns. It pays to regularly review and streamline these scripts, loading them in ways that won’t undermine your site’s core performance.

Legacy Site Challenges (E-commerce & B2B Pitfalls)

B2B and e-commerce sites often face unique Core Web Vitals obstacles:

• Outdated CMS platforms or old custom code that clashes with modern optimization practices
• Product catalogs stuffed with large images, comparison tables, or interactive elements
• Multi-step forms and checkouts weighed down by unnecessary scripts or overcomplicated validation

Shops migrating from older systems (like Magento 1) or B2B sites built up over many years typically inherit significant “legacy bloat.” While the task looks daunting, focusing on priorities and making steady improvements will drive results. If you’re considering a redesign or platform upgrade, it’s wise to talk to our web design and development team for tailored, performance-oriented advice.

How to Improve Core Web Vitals: Proven Strategies That Work

Once you know what’s holding you back, the question becomes: How do you make real improvements that boost both metrics and business? At 6th Man, our approach to Core Web Vitals is clear and actionable. We focus not just on theory, but on concrete steps that lift both your rankings and your conversion rates.

Actionable Fixes for LCP, INP, and CLS

If you need to improve LCP, try these:

• Use next-gen formats like WebP for images and efficient encoding for videos
• Compress images and apply lazy loading to assets below the initial view
• Prioritize the biggest, above-the-fold content so users see the hero section first
• Upgrade to high-quality or dedicated hosting, keeping server response times under 600ms

To boost INP:

• Break up long JavaScript tasks and defer anything non-essential
• Use browser caching effectively for interactive elements
• Cut out or lazy-load third-party scripts that capture user input
• Make form and checkout validations fast and efficient

For fixing CLS:

• Set width and height attributes for all images, videos, and embeds
• Reserve fixed spaces for ads and other late-loading pieces so your content doesn’t jump around
• Load fonts in a way that avoids flashes of unstyled or shifting text
• Test all interactive widgets for layout stability across devices

Most of these changes are technical. That’s why it’s so important for marketing, development, and design teams to work closely together. The biggest performance gains come when Core Web Vitals become a routine topic in your campaign planning. If you want expert help, our digital marketing specialists can partner directly with your team to deliver stronger scores and better results.

Prioritizing Fixes for Maximum ROI

Not every technical tweak is equally valuable. Focus on areas where you can show the most measurable improvement:

• Start with high-stakes pages—like e-commerce categories, products, checkout flows, main lead forms, and top landers
• Monitor what your competitors are doing, particularly those targeting the same keywords
• Automate performance checks in your QA and testing routines to spot regressions fast
• Review and update fixes every quarter, since standards and user expectations evolve

Prioritizing in this way means you get faster, more visible wins. This straightforward, agile approach is how 6th Man keeps delivering for our partners—never getting stuck in endless “optimization for optimization’s sake.”

Embedding Core Web Vitals Into Agile Marketing Sprints

Performance improvement isn’t a one-time event—it should be a core marketing discipline. By making Core Web Vitals a regular part of your agile workflow, you’ll keep them on par with metrics like traffic, advertising spend, or conversions.

• Schedule monthly or quarterly sprints to tackle key performance bottlenecks
• Add Core Web Vitals targets to your regular dashboards for full team alignment
• Set and track specific KPIs (such as LCP under 2.0 seconds for product pages) just like you do for acquisition or retention goals

When digital teams—from growth leads to developers—share accountability for these metrics, you build a website that’s both resilient to Google’s algorithm shifts and consistently valuable for every user.

Business-First Approach: Prioritizing Core Web Vitals for Maximum Impact

Not every campaign or business goal requires squeezing out every last millisecond. At 6th Man, our approach to performance is grounded in what matters most for your company. We weigh costs against potential value, focusing on improvements that truly drive outcomes.

When to Invest—and When Not To

Here’s when it pays to make Core Web Vitals a high priority:

• Pages designed to generate direct revenue or leads that are already getting traffic but aren’t converting as well as they could
• Highly competitive industries where even minor technical edges can advance your rankings
• During relaunches, migrations, or major CMS upgrades—modernize, don’t just move your old problems
• Older B2B and e-commerce websites competing against slick, newer rivals

Still, chasing perfection on performance can sometimes hold back bigger growth opportunities. Don’t let “perfect” sideline your progress. Reach Core Web Vitals benchmarks, check your progress with a Core Web Vitals report, then move on to other impactful work.

Reporting Results Back to Leadership

Executives want to see performance connected directly to the business bottom line—not just technical wins for their own sake. When communicating with founders or CMOs, show how Core Web Vitals improvements drive:

• Direct correlations between LCP, INP, CLS scores and conversions or revenue
• Improvements in organic traffic or advertising efficiency
• Lowered support requests, fewer abandoned carts, and better customer feedback as additional indicators
• Benchmarks from respected sources, such as Google’s Core Web Vitals guidance

It’s never just about hitting good scores—it’s about demonstrating sustainable, real-world growth with metrics that matter to leadership. We integrate this mindset into all of our client reports and strategic sessions. That’s why our partners keep coming back sprint after sprint. Curious about our approach? Learn more in our philosophy or see how we’re different from agencies.

Ready to Grow? Let’s Talk About Core Web Vitals

If you’re a founder, CMO, or marketing lead striving for long-term results, Core Web Vitals go far beyond technical tasks—they’re an essential part of your digital growth engine. Get them right, and you’ll have a website that Google rewards, users love, and your sales team can depend on. Overlook them, and even stellar content or creative campaigns may struggle to hit their full potential.

At 6th Man Digital, Core Web Vitals are embedded in everything we do. They aren’t just a checkbox on a project plan—they’re woven into our growth strategies for both e-commerce and B2B brands. Whether you need a targeted audit, ongoing technical support, or a full marketing team to help you scale faster, our experts work together with your business so you see direct results where it matters most.

Ready to move from theory to practice? Book a strategy call with us, or browse our case studies to see what’s possible. Have specific questions? Contact us. Let’s create a website that’s fast, stable, and purpose-built for growth. Your next digital advantage can start today.

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