Core Web Vitals Improvement
Fixing LCP, INP and CLS against field data rather than lab scores.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are three measures of user experience: Largest Contentful Paint for loading, Interaction to Next Paint for responsiveness, and Cumulative Layout Shift for visual stability. Targets are 2.5 seconds, 200 milliseconds and 0.1 respectively. They are assessed on field data from real visitors, not on a laboratory test score.
The problem this solves
Teams optimise for a lab score while field data stays red, because the test device and network do not resemble what visitors actually use.
Signs this applies to you
- Lab scores are good but Search Console reports failing URLs.
- Content jumps as images and ads load.
- Buttons do not respond immediately after the page appears.
- Mobile performs far worse than desktop.
How we approach it
- Start from field data in Search Console, grouped by template rather than by URL.
- Identify the LCP element per template and make it load first.
- Reduce main-thread work, which is what INP actually measures.
- Reserve space for images, ads and embeds to eliminate layout shift.
- Fix by template so one change benefits many URLs.
- Re-measure on field data, which takes weeks to update.
What you get
Included in the work
- Field data analysis by template
- LCP optimisation
- Main-thread reduction
- Layout stability fixes
- Template-level fix list
- Follow-up measurement
What changes afterwards
- Passing field data on key templates
- Better real experience on mid-range phones
- Fewer visitors lost before content appears
Services this draws on
Core Web Vitals Improvement — frequently asked questions
Lab tests use one device and network. Field data aggregates real visitors on varied hardware and connections. Field data is what is assessed.
Field data updates on a rolling window, so allow several weeks after a fix before judging it.
Images without dimensions, fonts swapping, and ads or embeds injected above existing content. Reserving space fixes nearly all of it.
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Talk to us about core web vitals improvement
A short conversation is usually enough to tell whether we are the right fit, and what the work would realistically involve.