Popeye’s Guide To Pumping Up Your Core Web Vitals

Chapter 1: Understanding Core Web Vitals

Before we can improve our site’s Core Web Vitals, we need to fully understand what they are and why they matter. Think of them as the “spinach-powered” benchmarks for a great user experience. Core Web Vitals are a subset of Google’s Web Vitals initiative, focused specifically on user experience metrics. These measurements help ensure that a website provides a fast, responsive, and visually stable experience for visitors.

Core Web Vitals consist of three primary metrics:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Speed and Loading Efficiency

This measures the time it takes for the largest element on the page — often an image, video, or large text block — to render and appear on the screen. An optimised LCP ensures that your visitors can quickly see and engage with the content. A sluggish LCP can be frustrating, like waiting for Popeye to eat his spinach while Bluto wreaks havoc!

First Input Delay (FID): Interactivity and Responsiveness

FID tracks how quickly your website responds when a user first interacts with it, such as by clicking a link or tapping a button. A quick FID means users feel in control and can navigate seamlessly, like Popeye steering his trusty ship. A slow FID? That’s like Popeye stuck without his spinach during a critical moment.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Visual Stability

CLS measures how much elements on your page shift unexpectedly during loading. Poor CLS makes users feel like they’re trying to board a wobbly ship. Imagine trying to click on a button, only to have it move away as an ad or image loads — frustrating, right?

A strong CLS ensures the page stays steady as users interact with it.

Chapter 2: Optimising Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) — Loading the Sailor’s Way

The Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) metric is the time it takes for the most meaningful element on your page to become visible to users. Google sets a benchmark of 2.5 seconds or less for a good LCP score. Anything beyond that risks frustrating your users, much like Popeye would feel waiting for his spinach when he needs it most.

Why LCP Matters:

• Users expect a fast experience. If your page takes too long to load, visitors might abandon ship (leave your site).
• LCP directly impacts how users perceive your website’s speed.
• Google considers LCP a critical ranking factor, so a slow LCP can hurt your SEO.

Common Culprits of Poor LCP:

• Large, unoptimised images.
• Slow server response times.
• Render-blocking JavaScript and CSS files.
• Lack of caching.

How to Strengthen Your LCP:

Much like Popeye uses spinach to boost his strength, your website can optimise its LCP with specific techniques that will give it the performance boost it needs.

Optimise and Compress Images

Images are often the largest elements on a webpage. Unoptimised images can drastically slow down LCP, just like carrying too much cargo can weigh down a ship. Use modern image formats such as WebP or AVIF that compress better than traditional formats like JPEG or PNG. Tools like ImageOptim and TinyPNG are your trusty spinach cans for image optimisation.

• Resize images appropriately: Avoid loading full-size images if you’re displaying them in smaller containers.
• Lazy load images: Load only what the user sees on the screen initially. This helps reduce the load time for content that is “below the fold.”

Improve Server Response Times

A slow server is like Popeye trying to navigate a ship through molasses. The faster your server can respond, the quicker your page elements will load. Here’s how to turbocharge your server:

• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): CDNs store copies of your website in data centres around the world, bringing your content closer to users and speeding up delivery. Services like Cloudflare and Akamai can provide your site with that much-needed speed boost.
• Reduce Time to First Byte (TTFB): Optimise your server settings or switch to faster hosting solutions to reduce the time it takes for your server to respond.
• Preload important resources: Help your browser get a head start by preloading essential resources like fonts or key images. This will shorten the loading time for the largest elements.

Eliminate Render-Blocking Resources

If your browser has to wait for JavaScript or CSS files to load before displaying the largest content, your LCP will suffer. You can fix this by:

• Minimising and deferring JavaScript: Only load JavaScript that is essential for the initial rendering. Defer non-essential scripts until after the main content is visible.
• Minify CSS files: Like Popeye’s streamlined ship, keep your CSS files as lightweight as possible by removing unnecessary spaces, comments, and code.

Implement Lazy Loading

Lazy loading is a technique that defers the loading of certain elements, especially images, until they are needed. This prevents the page from being bogged down with too many resources all at once. Just like Popeye focuses on one can of spinach at a time, your website should focus on loading only the content the user needs immediately.

LCP in Action: Popeye’s Victory

Imagine you have a travel blog featuring large, beautiful images of the Mediterranean. Without optimisation, these images could take forever to load, leaving users stuck staring at a blank screen.

By optimising your images, utilising a CDN, and deferring render-blocking scripts, you’ll make your website’s LCP as quick as Popeye’s punches after a spinach boost.

Chapter 3: First Input Delay (FID) — Interactive as a Quick Sailor’s Reaction

First Input Delay (FID) measures the time it takes for a webpage to respond after a user first interacts with it. Whether it’s clicking a button, selecting a link, or typing in a field, users expect an immediate reaction. In Google’s eyes, an FID score of under 100 milliseconds is ideal.

Why FID Matters:

• FID is a strong indicator of a website’s responsiveness.
• If users have to wait too long after an interaction, they may grow impatient, abandon the site, or even lose trust in it.

Common FID Problems:

• Heavy JavaScript execution that delays browser response.
• Poor resource management, causing the browser to “lock up” while processing.

Strategies to Improve FID:

Popeye’s legendary speed and reflexes can be mirrored in your site’s FID performance with the following strategies:

Optimise and Minimise JavaScript

JavaScript is often the main cause of poor FID because it blocks the main thread from handling user interactions. You can mitigate this by:

• Breaking up long-running tasks: Divide long tasks into smaller chunks to avoid overloading the browser’s main thread.
• Use Web Workers: Offload heavy JavaScript tasks to background threads using Web Workers, so they don’t interfere with the main thread’s responsiveness.
• Remove unused JavaScript: If there are scripts that aren’t essential for the first interaction, defer or eliminate them altogether. Only load critical JavaScript at first.

Prioritise Input Readiness

Make sure that the website is responsive to user inputs right from the start. Reduce the time the browser spends on tasks that block interactions by:

• Defer non-critical resources: Load JavaScript asynchronously or defer it until after the first user interaction. For instance, load analytics or ads only after the user has engaged with the primary content.
• Reduce dependency on third-party scripts: Third-party scripts, like ad networks or embedded widgets, can increase FID latency. Use these sparingly, and audit them regularly for performance impacts.

Optimise Main Thread Work

Like Popeye’s quick fists, your website needs to act immediately when users interact. Use tools like Chrome DevTools or Lighthouse to profile your site and see which tasks are taking up the most time on the main thread. By identifying and eliminating these bottlenecks, your site can respond faster to user inputs.

Preload Key Resources

Preload any critical resources, such as fonts or important elements, so that your site can respond faster to input without having to wait for those resources to be downloaded.

FID in Action: Responding like Popeye’s Quick Reflexes

Imagine users visit your online shop and try to add items to their cart. If they click the “Add to Cart” button and the page takes several seconds to respond, they’re likely to abandon the purchase.

By optimising JavaScript and reducing main-thread work, you’ll ensure the page responds instantly, keeping users engaged and happy.

Chapter 4: Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) — Keeping the Ship Steady

Visual stability is just as important as speed and responsiveness. The Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures how much the page elements shift unexpectedly during the page’s lifetime. If your page has poor CLS, it can feel like a rocking ship, where elements move unpredictably, confusing or frustrating users.

Why CLS Matters:

• Poor CLS can lead to a poor user experience. Users might click on the wrong buttons due to unexpected shifts.
• Google values visual stability, so improving CLS can positively impact your SEO and overall site performance.

Common Causes of Poor CLS:

• Images and videos without specified dimensions.
• Ads, banners, or embeds that load dynamically, pushing content down.
• Loading new content above the fold without reserving space.

How to Improve CLS:

Just as Popeye keeps his ship steady through rough seas, you can stabilise your website and prevent unexpected shifts with these tips:

Set Size Attributes for Images and Videos

When you specify the width and height attributes for images, videos, and other media, you help the browser reserve the necessary space before the content fully loads. Without this, the page might shift when the media is finally loaded, leading to a high CLS.

Reserve Space for Ads and Embeds

Dynamic content like ads and iframes often cause layout shifts. To prevent this, reserve a dedicated space for such elements ahead of time. Even if the ad doesn’t load immediately, the reserved space ensures that the rest of the content stays in place.

Avoid Inserting New Content Above Existing Content

Inserting new content at the top of a page while users are reading can push everything down and cause frustration. Instead, try to load new elements below the fold, or use fixed placeholders that won’t affect the layout.

Preload Important Fonts

Flash of unstyled text (FOUT) occurs when the browser loads a font after rendering text. Preload fonts to avoid causing text elements to shift when the font file is loaded.

CLS in Action: Keeping the Sailor’s Course

Imagine you’re reading an article about Popeye’s adventures. Just as you’re about to click the next paragraph, an ad loads and shifts the entire page down, causing you to click on something else. That’s bad CLS. By reserving space for ads and preloading essential fonts, your page will stay steady, providing a smoother experience.

Chapter 5: General Strategies to Improve All Core Web Vitals

Just like Popeye’s all-around strength from spinach helps him in every fight, there are some general strategies that can improve all three Core Web Vitals — LCP, FID, and CLS. Think of these as your website’s spinach cans, ready to give it a performance boost across the board.

Optimise Your Code

Efficient, clean code is like a streamlined boat. If your website’s code is bloated, it will slow down every part of the user experience.

• Minify CSS, HTML, and JavaScript: Minification removes unnecessary characters, spaces, and comments, reducing file sizes without affecting functionality.
• Combine CSS and JavaScript files: Fewer files mean fewer requests to the server, which can improve load time.

Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A CDN stores copies of your website’s files in multiple locations around the world. This shortens the distance between your server and your users, speeding up load times for users across the globe.

Enable Gzip or Brotli Compression

Compression helps shrink file sizes, allowing your website’s resources to load faster. Gzip and Brotli are the most commonly used compression methods, and enabling them is a quick win for performance.

Implement Caching

Browser caching allows you to store some resources locally on users’ devices, so they don’t have to download them every time they visit your site. Use cache-control headers to specify how long resources should be cached.

Optimise for Mobile Devices

More users are browsing on mobile devices than ever before. Make sure your website is fully responsive and mobile-friendly by using responsive design, viewport meta tags, and optimising for touch interaction.

Chapter 6: Tools to Measure and Track Core Web Vitals

Much like Popeye checks his muscles before a big fight, you need to keep an eye on your Core Web Vitals to ensure your website is performing at its best. There are several tools that will help you measure and track these metrics:

Google PageSpeed Insights

Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool provides detailed reports on your website’s performance, including Core Web Vitals metrics. It offers suggestions on how to improve LCP, FID, and CLS, making it an essential part of your optimisation toolkit.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse is built into Chrome’s DevTools and provides audits for performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices. It includes metrics for all three Core Web Vitals, as well as actionable tips for improvement.

Web Vitals Chrome Extension

This extension provides real-time feedback on your website’s Core Web Vitals metrics while you browse. It’s a handy tool for testing pages as you develop them.

Search Console

Google’s Search Console gives you insight into how your entire site is performing when it comes to Core Web Vitals. It can help you identify pages that need improvement and track your progress over time.

Chapter 7: Conclusion — Sailing Towards a Stronger, Faster Website

In Popeye’s world, strength, resilience, and timing are everything.

Whether he’s battling Bluto, racing to save Olive Oyl, or navigating the high seas, Popeye always comes through because he’s prepared.

In much the same way, focusing on strengthening your Core Web Vitals will ensure that your website can handle the demands of today’s users with speed, responsiveness, and stability.

The Core Web Vitals — Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) — are the backbone of user experience in the digital world.

By optimising each of these metrics, you ensure that your site not only ranks higher in Google’s search results but also provides a seamless experience for your visitors.

So hoist the sails, optimise your website, and give it the strength it needs to tackle the rough seas of the digital landscape.

With a performance boost powered by Core Web Vitals, your website will be as swift, responsive, and steady as Popeye himself after a hearty dose of spinach!