Core Web Vitals Explained for Small Business Websites

Q: Why is it Critical for Marketers and Small Business Website Owners to Understand Core Web Vitals?

Improved User Experience: A website that loads quickly and is easy to navigate is more likely to retain visitors and convert them into customers. Understanding the Core Web Vitals allows website owners to identify and fix issues impacting user experience.

By Clint Sanchez · Published January 19, 2023 · Updated September 4, 2026 · 3 min read

Quick answer

Core Web Vitals are metrics Google introduced in 2020 to measure a website's performance and user experience. The three are Largest Contentful Paint for loading, First Input Delay for interactivity, and Cumulative Layout Shift for visual stability. Google uses them as a ranking factor. Good scores are an LCP under 2.5 seconds, an FID under 100 milliseconds, and a CLS under 0.1. Improve them by optimizing images, trimming scripts, and speeding up the server.

Key takeaways

According to a WordStream digital marketing statistics roundup, 60% of marketers either do not know or do not understand their Core Web Vitals.
Google introduced Core Web Vitals in 2020 to help site owners measure performance and user experience.
The three metrics are Largest Contentful Paint (loading), First Input Delay (interactivity), and Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability).
Google uses Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor, so a site that scores well is more likely to rank higher.
Good scores are generally an LCP below 2.5 seconds, an FID below 100 milliseconds, and a CLS below 0.1.
Improvements come from optimizing images and media, minimizing heavy third-party scripts, reducing redirects, improving server response time, and using browser caching.
Because more people browse on phones, Core Web Vitals also surface problems that only show up on mobile.

Most local searches in the Baton Rouge area happen on a phone, often on a cell connection in a truck or a parking lot rather than on office wifi. A page that takes four seconds to paint its hero image on I-12 traffic is a page that gets closed. That is why a slow Livingston Parish contractor site loses calls to a faster competitor before anyone reads a word.

As a digital marketing agency, we at BlakSheep Creative understand the importance of having a website that looks good and performs well.

Unfortunately, a recent study found that 60% of marketers either don’t know or don’t understand their Core Web Vitals. This is an unacceptable statistic, especially for small businesses that rely heavily on their website to attract and retain customers.

In this blog post, we’ll explain why it’s critical for marketers and small business website owners to understand Core Web Vitals and what you can do to improve them. Furthermore, if you’re looking to deepen your understanding of digital marketing strategies that cater specifically to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), we invite you to explore our comprehensive guide on Digital Marketing Strategies for SMBs. This resource is designed to help SMBs navigate the digital marketing landscape, optimize their budget, and leverage the latest online trends to their advantage.

Let’s get to it!

What are Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics that measure a website’s performance and user experience.

Google introduced them in 2020 to help website owners understand how their site is performing and identify areas for improvement. The three key Core Web Vitals are:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): measures loading performance.
First Input Delay (FID): measures interactivity.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): measures visual stability.

Why is it Critical for Marketers and Small Business Website Owners to Understand Core Web Vitals?

Improved User Experience: A website that loads quickly and is easy to navigate is more likely to retain visitors and convert them into customers. Understanding the Core Web Vitals allows website owners to identify and fix issues impacting user experience.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Google uses Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor in its search algorithm. A website that performs well in these metrics is more likely to rank higher in search results. Understanding and improving Core Web Vitals can help boost a website’s SEO.
Increased Mobile Performance: With more and more people accessing the internet on mobile devices, ensuring your website performs well on all devices is important. Core Web Vitals can help identify and fix issues that may be specific to mobile.

Want this handled for you? We build and market websites for Louisiana businesses, and we will tell you honestly if you do not need us.

How to Improve Your Core Web Vitals

Improving your Core Web Vitals may require a combination of technical and design changes. Some things you can do include:

Optimizing images and other media for faster loading
Minimizing the use of heavy third-party scripts
Reducing the number of redirects
Improving server response time
Utilizing browser caching

Understanding Core Web Vitals is critical for marketers and small business website owners. Not only do they impact user experience and search engine rankings, but they are also becoming increasingly important as more people access the internet on mobile devices.

At BlakSheep Creative, we can help you understand and improve your Core Web Vitals to make sure your website performs at its best. Contact us today to learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions About CWV

Interested in learning more about Core Web Vitals? Here are some frequently asked questions:

What is a good score for Core Web Vitals?

Google has established thresholds for each of the Core Web Vitals. The exact numbers vary depending on the page type, but generally speaking, an LCP score below 2.5 seconds, an FID score below 100 milliseconds, and a CLS score below 0.1 are considered good scores.

What is a good score for Core Web Vitals?

What is an LCP?

LCP stands for Largest Contentful Paint, which measures the time it takes for a page’s primary content to load. It is one of Google’s three Core Web Vitals to determine website performance.

How can I improve my Core Web Vitals scores?

Improving your Core Web Vitals scores may require a combination of technical and design changes. Some things you can do to improve your scores include optimizing images, minimizing the use of heavy scripts, reducing redirects, improving server response time, and utilizing browser caching.

Now that you know more about Core Web Vitals and how they can impact your website’s performance, you can start taking steps to improve them. If making changes to your website or engaging with a professional digital agency like BlakSheep Creative, improving your Core Web Vitals is essential to staying competitive in the current digital landscape.

Thinking about a new website, redesign, or rebuild? Talk through the project before you spend a dollar, 15 minutes, no sales pitch.

ShareX LinkedIn Facebook Email

About the author

Clint Sanchez

Founder & Lead Developer · Denham Springs, LA

Clint has built and marketed websites for 26 years, since founding BlakSheep Creative in 2000. He is also a 29-year firefighter and a 23-year member of IAFF Local 557, which is where the bias toward plain answers over sales copy comes from.

Veteran-owned
Firefighter-owned
IAFF Local 557

More about Clint LinkedIn ↗(225) 505-3834

Common questions about seo

What is Largest Contentful Paint?

Largest Contentful Paint, or LCP, measures how long it takes for a page's main content to load, usually the biggest image or text block above the fold. It is the Core Web Vital for loading performance. Google considers an LCP below 2.5 seconds a good score. Oversized images and slow servers are the usual reasons a page misses that mark.

What is Cumulative Layout Shift?

Cumulative Layout Shift, or CLS, measures visual stability: how much the page content jumps around while it loads. A button that moves just as you tap it is a layout shift. Google considers a CLS below 0.1 a good score. Images without set dimensions, late-loading ads, and injected banners are common causes.

Do Core Web Vitals affect Google rankings?

Yes. Google uses Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor in its search algorithm, so a site that performs well on loading, interactivity, and visual stability is more likely to rank higher. They are not the only factor, and strong content still matters most, but poor scores put a site at a disadvantage against a faster competitor.

Where can I check my Core Web Vitals?

Google reports them for free. Search Console has a Core Web Vitals report that shows which pages pass and which fail, and PageSpeed Insights scores any single URL and lists what to fix. Check on mobile as well as desktop, because the two often score differently and mobile is where most local visitors arrive.

Why do small businesses need to care about Core Web Vitals?

Because a small business relies on its website to attract and keep customers, and a slow, jumpy page loses them. Good scores mean better user experience, better search rankings, and better performance on mobile devices, where more visitors arrive every year. Understanding the metrics lets an owner spot and fix the problems that cost calls.

What are the quickest ways to improve Core Web Vitals?

Start with images: resize and compress them so the page does not download more than it displays. Then remove or defer heavy third-party scripts, cut unnecessary redirects, improve server response time with better hosting or caching, and turn on browser caching. Most sites see a real improvement from the image work alone.

Your next step, without the guesswork

No surprises, clear next steps, and a fixed price before anything starts.

Call (225) 505-3834 Get the free Local SEO Starter Kit

Why Understanding Core Web Vitals is Critical for Marketers and Small Business Website Owners