Slow website? Check and fix your Core Web Vitals.
Would it be a bad idea to find out why people leave before your page loads?
A Core Web Vitals audit finds out why your pages load slowly, jump around or react late to clicks. Then I fix it: server, images, scripts, fonts and layout, until real users pass the test.
Send me the URL and I'll tell you where the biggest problems are.
If your site feels slow, check Core Web Vitals first.
Core Web Vitals are Google's way of measuring what visitors actually experience. When a site feels slow, this is where you find out why.
Visitors leave before the page loads
Every extra second of waiting costs clicks, sign-ups and sales. Most visitors won't tell you the site is slow. They just go back to Google and pick the next result.
Google and AI crawlers notice too
Core Web Vitals are part of Google's page experience signals. Slow servers also make Googlebot crawl fewer pages, and AI crawlers like GPTBot often skip content that depends on heavy JavaScript.
One bad score hides many problems
A failed Core Web Vitals report is a symptom. Behind it are things like cheap hosting, bloated themes, too many plugins, unoptimized images, third-party scripts and fonts that block the page.
On this page
What Core Web Vitals measure, and what a good score is
Core Web Vitals are three metrics Google uses to measure loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability, based on data from real Chrome users. A page passes when at least 75% of visits are in the green for all three.
How long until the main content (usually the hero image or headline) is visible.
How fast the page reacts when someone clicks, taps or types. INP replaced FID in 2024.
How much the layout moves around unexpectedly while the page loads.
“Core Web Vitals assessment: failed” in PageSpeed or Search Console
This is usually how people find out. PageSpeed Insights shows a red “Failed” at the top, or the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console lists groups of “Poor” or “Need improvement” URLs. The report tells you which metric fails, but not why.
Search Console groups similar URLs together, so one slow template (all product pages, all blog posts) can fail hundreds of URLs at once. That's good news: fix the template and they all improve.
Usually caused by
- One slow page template repeated across the site
- Field data from real mobile users on slower networks
- Server response time (TTFB) that varies with traffic
- Changes like a new theme, plugin or tracking script
What I check and fix
- Which metric fails, on which URL groups
- Field data vs lab data, and why they differ
- The specific element or script causing it
- A fix list ordered by how many URLs it affects
Slow LCP: your main content takes too long to appear
A slow Largest Contentful Paint means visitors stare at an empty or half-built page. The LCP element is usually the hero image, a banner or the first big block of text, and improving LCP means getting that one element on screen faster.
Usually caused by
- Slow server or hosting (high TTFB)
- Hero image too large, lazy-loaded or not prioritized
- Render-blocking CSS and web fonts
- Content built by JavaScript after the page loads
What I check and fix
- Identify the LCP element on each key template
- Image compression, WebP/AVIF and fetch priority
- Caching, CDN and server response time
- Critical CSS and font loading
Layout shifts (CLS): the page jumps and visitors misclick
Cumulative Layout Shift is that moment when you go to tap a button and an ad or banner pushes it down. It's annoying on any site and expensive on a shop, where it leads to wrong clicks and abandoned carts.
Usually caused by
- Images and videos without set dimensions
- Ads, embeds and iframes with no reserved space
- Cookie banners and notices injected at the top
- Web fonts swapping and resizing text
What I check and fix
- Reserve space for images, ads and embeds
- Fix late-loading banners and pop-ups
- Font fallbacks that match the real font size
- Re-test on real mobile layouts
Poor INP: clicks and taps feel delayed
Poor Interaction to Next Paint means the page looks ready but doesn't respond: a menu opens late, an “Add to cart” button hangs, a form lags while typing. The cause is almost always too much JavaScript running at the wrong time.
Usually caused by
- Heavy themes and page builders
- Third-party scripts: chat, analytics, ads, A/B tests
- Long JavaScript tasks blocking the main thread
- Very large pages with thousands of elements
What I check and fix
- Which scripts block interactions, and when
- Remove, delay or defer what isn't needed
- Load third-party tags only where they're used
- Lighter alternatives for heavy plugins
Your WordPress or WooCommerce site is slow
Most slow sites I see run on WordPress. Not because WordPress is slow, but because years of plugins, a heavy theme and cheap shared hosting add up. WordPress speed optimization is mostly about removing weight, not adding another speed plugin on top.
Usually caused by
- Too many plugins, some loading on every page
- Page builders and multipurpose themes
- No page caching, or caching set up wrong
- Large unoptimized images in the media library
What I check and fix
- Plugin audit: what each one costs in load time
- Caching, database and hosting configuration
- Image optimization across the media library
- WooCommerce cart, checkout and filter pages
Fast on desktop, slow on mobile
Your site may feel fine on your office computer and still fail Core Web Vitals. Google ranks mobile-first, and most real visits come from mid-range phones on mobile data. That's the experience I test and optimize for: mobile layouts, tap targets, image sizes and scripts that only hurt on smaller devices.
Do Core Web Vitals affect SEO rankings?
Yes, but not on their own. Core Web Vitals are part of Google's page experience signals. They won't push a weak page above a more relevant one, but between pages of similar quality they can make the difference.
The bigger SEO effects are indirect: a faster site gets crawled more efficiently, keeps more visitors on the page and converts more of the traffic you already have. That's why I check Core Web Vitals in every technical SEO audit.
Fix speed for your visitors first. The SEO benefit follows.
From Core Web Vitals check to fix
- 1
Check real-user data
Search Console and Chrome UX Report data to see which metrics fail, on which pages, for real visitors.
- 2
Audit the cause
Lab tests on each key template to find the exact element, script or server issue behind every failing metric.
- 3
Fix, or hand over a fix list
I implement the fixes in your CMS, code or server, or give your developers a prioritized, specific list.
- 4
Validate and monitor
I start validation in Search Console and follow the field data until the pages pass.