Understanding and Optimising Core Web Vitals with Saigon Digital

As web users become more demanding and search engines more sophisticated, the importance of website performance continues to rise. At the heart of this evolution is Core Web Vitals, a set of performance metrics introduced by Google to measure user experience. These vitals directly influence search engine rankings, making them a crucial focus for businesses looking to improve their digital presence.

At Saigon Digital, we understand the significance of these metrics for your website’s success. Here, we’ll break down what Core Web Vitals are, why they matter, and how optimising them can drive better user engagement and search rankings.

What Are Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals are three specific metrics that Google considers essential to delivering a smooth and enjoyable user experience:

1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This measures how long it takes for the largest content element (e.g., image, video, or text block) on your page to load. Ideally, this should happen within 2.5 seconds to provide a seamless experience for visitors.
2. First Input Delay (FID): FID evaluates the time it takes for a page to respond to the first user interaction, such as clicking a link or tapping a button. A fast FID ensures that your site is interactive and responsive, with the recommended threshold being less than 100 milliseconds.
3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): This measures how much the layout of a webpage shifts while loading. Too much unexpected movement, such as images or buttons shifting, can frustrate users. Maintaining a CLS score below 0.1 will help reduce these annoyances.

Why Do Core Web Vitals Matter?

User experience is paramount, and Google recognises this by incorporating Core Web Vitals into its ranking algorithm. Passing these essential metrics can offer multiple benefits, including:

• Higher Search Rankings: Websites optimised for Core Web Vitals tend to rank higher in search results, as Google favours sites that deliver a better user experience. This can lead to increased organic traffic and greater visibility.
• Reduced Bounce Rates: A fast-loading, smoothly interactive site significantly reduces bounce rates. When visitors experience quick loading times and seamless interactions, they are more likely to stay, explore your site, and engage with its content.
• Increased Engagement: Optimising your website enhances responsiveness and visual stability, encouraging users to interact more with your content and services, which can lead to higher engagement rates.
• Boosted Conversions and Revenue: A well-optimised website encourages users to advance in their journey—whether subscribing to a newsletter or making a purchase—leading to more conversions and greater monetisation opportunities.
• Better User Retention: Users who have a positive experience are more likely to return. By removing performance barriers, you create a frictionless browsing experience, increasing the chances of repeat visits.
• Reduced Environmental Impact: Optimising your site not only benefits user experience but also reduces energy consumption, contributing to a smaller carbon footprint. It’s a responsible choice that positions your online business as environmentally conscious.

By focusing on Core Web Vitals, you enhance both your site’s performance and its standing with Google, offering long-term benefits for both users and your business.

How to Measure Your Site’s Core Web Vitals Performance

Optimising your Core Web Vitals starts with accurately measuring and understanding your website’s current performance. Several tools are available to help you analyse Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS):

• Google PageSpeed Insights;
• The Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console;
• CrUX Dashboard.

1. Google PageSpeed Insights

Google PageSpeed Insights offers a detailed evaluation of your webpage’s performance, including a breakdown of Core Web Vitals metrics and an overall performance score.

When running your first PageSpeed Insights (PSI) report, focus on the Core Web Vitals section, particularly the LCP, INP, and CLS metrics. The tool provides both lab and field data:

• Field data is gathered from real users across different geographies and network environments, offering a broader view of performance.
• Lab data is collected from simulated devices, using standard network conditions to reflect a single user’s experience.

2. Core Web Vitals Report in Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) provides two Core Web Vitals reports—one for mobile and one for desktop. These reports show field data for groups of URLs, highlighting performance issues across multiple pages rather than just individual URLs. This site-wide analysis is useful for identifying recurring problems and prioritising fixes that improve the overall user experience.

3. CrUX Dashboard

The Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) is a public dataset offering real-world user experience data from millions of websites. It measures field versions of all Core Web Vitals, presenting real-life insights rather than simulated results.

While tools like PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse measure individual URL performance, CrUX provides a high-level overview of a website with multiple URLs, showing metrics like the percentage of URLs with ‘good’ scores or historical data for comparison. This broad analysis is especially useful for large websites with thousands of pages.

Using these tools effectively can help you track and improve your website’s performance, ultimately enhancing both user experience and search engine performance.

Saigon Digital’s Approach to Core Web Vitals Optimisation

At Saigon Digital, we take a comprehensive approach to improving Core Web Vitals for our clients’ websites. Our team focuses on SEO, web performance optimisation, and enhancing user experience to ensure your site not only meets but exceeds Google’s recommendations.

Here’s how we can help:

• Improving LCP: We optimise image sizes, implement lazy loading, and ensure that the server response times are minimized. By doing so, we enhance the loading speed of the largest content element, offering a faster experience for users.
• Reducing FID: Our experts enhance JavaScript execution and remove unnecessary scripts that can slow down your website’s responsiveness, ensuring that interactions happen smoothly and quickly.
• Lowering CLS: We prevent layout shifts by assigning correct dimensions to media elements and using appropriate web fonts to maintain consistent layouts during loading.

Real Results from Core Web Vitals Optimisation

Our work with various clients in Vietnam has shown that improving Core Web Vitals leads to tangible benefits. For instance, one client experienced a 35% increase in website traffic after optimisation, resulting in higher conversion rates and improved customer retention.

Showcasing Excellence in Web Performance: Core Web Vitals Success Stories

At Saigon Digital, we pride ourselves on delivering exceptional web experiences through optimised performance, ensuring our clients’ sites not only rank well but also provide seamless interactions. A critical component of this is optimising Core Web Vitals, the performance metrics set by Google that gauge user experience on a website. Today, we’re showcasing some of our successful projects—Celerity, Sova Assessment, Gremlin Work, Ski, and Unmind—which have achieved remarkable results in Core Web Vitals optimisation.

1. Celerity: Speed Meets Functionality

Celerity, a forward-thinking tech platform, sought to enhance its web performance without sacrificing its robust functionality. By focusing on Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and First Input Delay (FID), we optimised image loading, implemented lazy loading, and fine-tuned server response times. The result was a dramatic improvement in page load speeds, with LCP consistently under 2 seconds, enhancing user satisfaction and improving their search rankings.

2. Sova Assessment: Smooth User Interactions for Better Experiences

For Sova Assessment, a platform known for its detailed, interactive assessments, a key challenge was reducing the First Input Delay (FID). With many interactive elements, ensuring immediate responsiveness was crucial. By optimising JavaScript execution and eliminating render-blocking resources, we reduced FID to under 100 milliseconds. This optimisation led to smoother interactions for users, directly improving the assessment-taking experience and increasing engagement.

3. Gremlin Work: Minimizing Layout Shifts for Maximum Usability

Gremlin Work, a dynamic platform with rich content and media, was facing issues with Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Unexpected movements of elements like buttons and images during page load negatively affected user experience. Our solution involved setting explicit dimensions for all images and media files, stabilizing fonts, and refining the overall layout structure. The results? CLS was reduced to near-zero levels, ensuring users enjoy a stable and visually consistent browsing experience.

4. Ski: Elevating Performance in a Feature-Rich Environment

Ski is a feature-rich website offering extensive media content, and optimising Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) was critical to improving its user experience. By leveraging techniques such as content delivery network (CDN) integration, optimising image sizes, and enabling browser caching, we ensured the most critical content loads swiftly. With LCP under 2.5 seconds across the platform, Ski now delivers its rich media content without sacrificing performance.

5. Unmind: Flawless Performance Across Devices

For Unmind, a mental health platform, optimising web performance was critical due to its high traffic from mobile users. By addressing all aspects of Core Web Vitals, from LCP to FID and CLS, we ensured seamless performance across devices. This was achieved through mobile-first optimisation, responsive design enhancements, and server-side improvements. As a result, Unmind’s site consistently ranks well, with outstanding user experience metrics leading to increased traffic and retention.

The Importance of Core Web Vitals in Modern Web Development

These projects highlight the impact of optimising Core Web Vitals across a range of industries and websites. Improving metrics like LCP, FID, and CLS not only enhances user experience but also directly influences SEO rankings, making them crucial for digital success.

At Saigon Digital, we apply these best practices to ensure our clients’ websites achieve outstanding results. From faster load times to smoother interactions, we deliver measurable improvements that drive business growth.

Interested in improving your website’s Core Web Vitals? Contact Saigon Digital today and let us help you achieve faster, more responsive websites that rank higher and engage users more effectively.

Conclusion

As Core Web Vitals become an increasingly significant factor in website rankings and user experience, businesses need to prioritize these metrics to stay competitive. With Saigon Digital by your side, optimising Core Web Vitals becomes a seamless part of your digital strategy, ensuring that your website performs at its best and delivers an exceptional user experience.

Let us help you optimise your site and see the difference in performance and rankings. Contact Saigon Digital today to learn more about how we can improve your website performance and set you on the path to digital success!