Website Load Time and Core Web Vitals
A page can download quickly yet respond slowly to input or jump around as images and ads load.
Measure more than a loading stopwatch
A page can download quickly yet respond slowly to input or jump around as images and ads load. Core Web Vitals address important parts of that experience: Largest Contentful Paint, Interaction to Next Paint, and Cumulative Layout Shift. Field data reflects real visitors, while lab tests help diagnose controlled conditions. Good scores support usability, but do not guarantee high rankings or compensate for an unhelpful page.
Fix the largest bottleneck first
Inspect representative pages with PageSpeed Insights and your browser's tools. Reduce oversized images, avoid unnecessary scripts, improve server response, and reserve space for media and advertising. Recheck after meaningful changes rather than repeatedly testing unchanged pages. Third-party scripts can affect performance, so balance their purpose against their cost while preserving required integrations.
A checklist you can use
- Compare field and lab data.
- Optimize prominent images and server response.
- Reduce unnecessary blocking scripts.
- Reserve space to prevent layout shifts.
Keep the guidance current
Search features and products change. Use the official documentation alongside this guide when you plan an update.
