<aside> 💡 Why improve Core Web Vitals instead of Pagespeed? What is better?
Improving Pagespeed doesn’t guarantee passing the Core Web Vitals, as 50% of sites with a +90 score don’t reach green metrics. Pagespeed is very constrained compared to Core Web Vitals.
Regarding Core Web Vitals and SEO, Google says:
This indicates Google favors sites with passing metrics in the Search on popular keywords.
Google also has Core Web Vitals case studies that show improvements across conversion rates, and other metrics after improving it:
How CLS optimizations increased Yahoo! JAPAN News's page views per session by 15%
How Trendyol reduced INP by 50%, resulting in a 1% uplift on click-through rate
The Core Web Vitals metrics alongside other initiatives saved 10.000 years of loading time according to the Chrome team. Pagespeed(Lighthouse) can be used to automate website performance regression and other tasks that fit your performance workflow.
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In this step, we define your preferences regarding the project.
A) Where do users who convert and give pageviews are from? Do you intend to serve non-customer users(just viewers), or will 100% prioritize only customers? Do you use ads?
*Non-customers with slow connections influence the CWV, as the metrics are global. CVS pharmacy site is an example.
B) What are your goals? Improve Core Web Vitals for SEO or conversion rates?
C) What will be the loading order of assets? Do you want to load chat, or other service early?
You can have scripts or features only loading on fast 4G user connections, improving the metrics.
Collect field data metrics of all URLs with their own data and origin(aggregate of all URLs).
If you don't have a RUM tool installed, I will install one. Collecting field data for ~2 weeks beforehand is essential(not mandatory) to finding and detecting patterns, such as slow-loading users/page outliers, or an issue within serving a country making a negative impact on the Core Web Vitals.
*Using a paid RUM tool can lead to faster solutions, especially if they are CLS issues.
With data and metrics, analyze the possible issues to create a plan of action to address them.
Find out if is possible to get green metrics. How your theme or plugin loads content can be the reason for bad CLS, and it may be not possible to fix. In this case, I will recommend an alternative.