If your website feels slow, clunky, or frustrating to use, Google has a way of measuring that experience. It’s called Core Web Vitals, and while the name sounds technical, the concepts are surprisingly simple.

Core Web Vitals focus on how real users experience your website—not just how it looks.

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How fast your site loads
LCP measures how long it takes for the main content on a page to appear. If your hero image or headline takes too long to load, visitors get impatient and leave.
Easy fixes: compress images, remove oversized hero graphics, and use modern image formats.

Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How responsive your site feels
INP measures how quickly your site responds when someone clicks a button or taps a menu. Heavy scripts, pop-ups, and third-party widgets often slow this down.
Easy fixes: reduce unnecessary plugins and limit third-party embeds.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How stable your page is
CLS tracks how much content jumps around while loading. Ever tried to click a button and it moved? That’s poor CLS.
Easy fixes: define image sizes and reserve space for banners and embeds.

Why this matters for small businesses
Better Core Web Vitals mean lower bounce rates, happier visitors, and stronger SEO. You don’t need a developer—just a smart cleanup.