Core Web Vitals for Magento eCommerce platform

What is Core Web Vitals why it is important

Core Web Vitals score

Core Web Vitals are Google metrics introduced June/July 2021 and announced a year and a half before to give the owner of the site time to adjust. At the beginning of 2021 only around 30% of pages were passing positively the Core Web Vitals checking.  

Core Web Vitals are a part of Page Experience. As Google said “page experience remains one of many factors our systems take into account”. It is announced to be an evolution, not a revolutionary change. But the metrics measuring user experience will more and more influence the page ranking in the search browser.

Source: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2020/05/evaluating-page-experience

Basically speaking Core Web Vitals are measuring pages:

• loading – (LCP) Largest Contentful Paint,
• interactivity – (FID) First Input Delay,
• visual stability – (CLS) Cumulative Layout Shift.

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) answers a question: How fast does the content appear on screen? FID (First Input Delay) measures how fast the page reacts to user interaction. CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) investigates if content moves around on the screen while your site is loading.

Core Web Vitals – why it is important?

Google Page Experience Signals concern also mobile-friendliness, safe browsing,

HTTPS security and intrusive interstitial. Whole together they give a picture of the global user page experience.

The idea of the changes is to promote best-performing pages in search results Google SERP (Search Engine Results Page). 

Google still appreciates valuable content. As many pages stand for that, the best ranking positions will be for those which additionally will deliver a better User Experience (UX).

Core Web Vitals for SEO

Some research was made to investigate the impact of Core Web Vitals on-page ranking as SEO specialists wanted to find out what was the real SERP change.

Semrush analyzed 19 000 URL’s before, during and after Core Web Vitals implementation. In order to get a feel for how Google’s new search algorithm will affect SERPs, they examined three different dates: Jun 8th before the start of rollout, Jun 21st when it was activated, and July 15th one month into google’s latest update. 

Core Web Vitals field data vs lab data

For this study, they used both lab and field data to investigate the innovative ranking algorithm which Core Web Vitals certainly is as it is based on RUM (Real User Metrics). 

The latter had a significant impact on the findings because it allowed exploring how decisions are made at local levels without relying solely on surveys or online behavior tracking technologies like Google Analytics. Both results were compared. 

Nevertheless, the field data did not reveal significant SERP shifts, while lab data showed slight differences towards higher positions. All these tend to the conclusion that no significant changes to the SERP position have been detected, though it’s too early for an assessment of Google’s new Page Experience update.

Core Web Vitals influence SERP 

According to the Rank Ranger team, this update was a substantial one in comparison to the December 2020 updates. They’ve noticed higher volatility and particularity at positions five through ten on their list for tracking purposes – but it may be specific of their ranking. 

Google Core Web Vitals negative impact on thin content and YMYL topics

As Searchmetrics announced Google’s recent update to its search engine, the Core Update rolled out in June 2021 has been a harsh blow for websites with thin content or those who focus on YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) topics which include finance, law, purchase recommendations and reviews, education, health. Websites dealing in these fields have seen their rankings drop significantly after this major algorithm change by Google. 

Core Web Vitals bonus for old, authoritative pages

On the other hand, the recent Google updates are giving a boost to old, large websites that were losing visibility. These sites had been struggling for years and it appears as they have finally won in this round.

Google algorithm methodology change

Also, Sistrix has followed the SERP changes and summarised them as not as significant as it was in the past. The changes need to be observed in a longer period of time as it may suggest that Google is testing fundamentally different or new methodologies. 

When is Core Web Vitals updated?

John Mueller from Google said that the signals and data that these core updates use are “regularly” updated between the quarterly or so. These changes ensure your search engine optimization strategy stays fresh in order for it to be successful long-term! 

While Penguin & Panda were quick bursts of change designed to fix problems with certain algorithms; this new model is more relaxed but just as effective at keeping things on an even playing field through constant tweaking based on user behavior patterns.

It may confirm Sistrix’s conclusion that Google is testing a new algorithm technology. 

In this situation, you can optimize your site regularly not waiting for the algorithm change as it is modified regularly. If you want your Magento eCommerce to be up to date with Core Web Vitals use checklists and tools presented in our  Ebook.  

For more information on the Magento eCommerce platform feel free to ask for the project estimation.

Sources:

https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/04/more-details-page-experience#gradual-rollouthttps://www.semrush.com/blog/core-web-vitals-update-initial-impact/

https://searchengineland.com/googles-june-2021-core-update-was-slow-to-roll-out-here-is-what-the-data-providers-saw-349349https://blog.searchmetrics.com/us/google-summer-2021-core-updates/

https://www.sistrix.com/blog/google-core-update-june-2021-the-summer-of-google-updates/

https://searchengineland.com/google-says-you-can-recover-from-core-updates-without-a-new-core-update-340396