Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are Google's standardized set of page-speed and user-experience metrics — currently LCP, INP, and CLS — used as a minor ranking signal.

Google has been explicit that Core Web Vitals are a fairly small ranking factor compared to content relevance and quality — a technically fast page with mediocre content will not outrank a slower page that genuinely answers the query better. That said, poor Core Web Vitals scores correlate strongly with worse user experience and higher bounce, which independently hurts business outcomes regardless of any direct ranking effect.

INP (Interaction to Next Paint) replaced FID (First Input Delay) as an official Core Web Vital in March 2024, measuring overall interaction responsiveness across a page's full lifespan rather than just the very first interaction.