SEO Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals Deep-Dive

Core Web Vitals (CWV) measure real-world loading performance, responsiveness, and visual stability. Google's position, per https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/core-web-vitals: CWV are used by Google's core ranking systems and good CWV is recommended for success with Search — but good scores alone do not guarantee top rankings; there is more to page experience than CWV, and chasing a perfect score purely for SEO is not the best use of time.

INP replaced FID on March 12, 2024. FID is gone from all Chrome tooling. Never reference FID as a current metric.

Thresholds

Each metric is evaluated at the 75th percentile of real page loads, segmented by mobile and desktop. A page "passes" CWV when all three metrics are Good at p75.

References: https://web.dev/articles/lcp · https://web.dev/articles/inp · https://web.dev/articles/cls · https://web.dev/articles/vitals

Inputs

Execution

1. Field data — CrUX API (preferred, needs an API key):

   curl -s -X POST "https://chromeuxreport.googleapis.com/v1/records:queryRecord?key=$CRUX_API_KEY" \
     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     -d '{"url": "<url>", "formFactor": "PHONE", "metrics": ["largest_contentful_paint","interaction_to_next_paint","cumulative_layout_shift"]}'
   

   Docs: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/crux/api

   • If the URL has insufficient traffic (404 response), retry with "origin" instead of "url" and note that results are origin-level.
   • No API key? Degrade gracefully to step 2 — do not fail.

2. Field data — PageSpeed Insights API (no key needed for light use):

   curl -s "https://www.googleapis.com/pagespeedonline/v5/runPagespeed?url=<url>&category=performance&strategy=mobile"
   

   CrUX field data is embedded in loadingExperience (URL-level) and originLoadingExperience (origin-level): p75 percentiles and Good/NI/Poor distributions per metric. Docs: https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/v5/get-started

3. Lab fallback / diagnostics — Lighthouse. If no field data exists (low-traffic page), use the lighthouseResult from step 2 or the seo-lighthouse-audit skill. Label it clearly as lab data: lab LCP/CLS approximate field values; lab has no INP — use TBT (Total Blocking Time) as a rough proxy for interactivity problems, never as a substitute score.

4. Score each metric against the thresholds table (Good / Needs Improvement / Poor at p75, mobile and desktop separately). Mobile is usually worse — lead with it.

5. Diagnose failing metrics using the playbooks below, fetching the page HTML (curl -s <url>) to check for concrete causes (missing fetchpriority, unsized images, render-blocking tags, heavy third-party scripts).

Diagnosis Playbooks

LCP — break into the four subparts

Full guide: https://web.dev/articles/optimize-lcp · Lighthouse LCP audit

INP — find the slow interaction

Common causes and fixes:

• Long tasks on the main thread — break work into <50ms chunks, yield with scheduler.yield() / setTimeout; see Lighthouse TBT audit
• Heavy event handlers — debounce, move computation to Web Workers, defer non-visual work until after the next paint
• Large DOM — keep under ~1,500 nodes; big DOMs make style/layout recalc slow on every interaction (dom-size audit)
• Third-party JS — tag managers, ads, chat widgets competing for the main thread; lazy-load or facade them (third-party-summary)
• Excessive hydration (SPA frameworks) — partial/progressive hydration, server components

Full guide: https://web.dev/articles/optimize-inp

CLS — find what moved

Common causes and fixes:

• Unsized images/embeds/iframes — always set width/height or CSS aspect-ratio so the browser reserves space
• Injected content (ads, banners, late-loading UI) — reserve slots with fixed min-height; never insert above existing content except on user interaction
• Web fonts (FOIT/FOUT swaps) — font-display: swap plus size-adjust/fallback font metric matching; preload critical fonts (font-display audit)
• Animations using layout properties — animate transform instead of top/left/width/height

Full guide: https://web.dev/articles/optimize-cls

Output

# Core Web Vitals Report: <url>

## Field Data (CrUX, 75th percentile, last 28 days)
| Metric | Mobile p75 | Desktop p75 | Rating (mobile) |
|--------|-----------|-------------|-----------------|
| LCP | X.Xs | X.Xs | ✅ Good / ⚠️ NI / ❌ Poor |
| INP | XXXms | XXXms | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| CLS | 0.XX | 0.XX | ✅/⚠️/❌ |

CWV Assessment: PASS / FAIL (all three Good at p75 → pass)
Data level: URL / Origin (note if origin-level fallback was used)

## Distribution (per metric)
Good XX% | Needs Improvement XX% | Poor XX%

## Lab Data (Lighthouse — diagnostics only)
LCP X.Xs · TBT XXXms (INP proxy, not a substitute) · CLS 0.XX

## Diagnosis & Fixes (per failing metric)
### LCP (if failing): subpart breakdown + top 3 fixes
### INP (if failing): suspected cause + top 3 fixes
### CLS (if failing): shifting elements + top 3 fixes

## Context
- CWV is used by Google's ranking systems, but good CWV alone does not
  guarantee rankings — see
  https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/core-web-vitals
- For the broader experience checklist (HTTPS, interstitials, mobile),
  see the seo-page-experience skill.