First things first, let’s talk about those Core Web Vitals we’ve been harping on about. They’re not just some fancy techno-jargon, but a powerful tool to scale the lofty heights of Google’s SERPs (that’s Search Engine Results Pages for you).

Think of your website as Bath’s Royal Crescent – it’s not just about the beautiful Georgian architecture. It’s the whole experience, the atmosphere, the people. In the digital world, that translates to a smooth, fast, and interactive website that’s a joy to navigate.

Let’s break it down a bit. Imagine your website as a shop on Milsom Street, Bath’s grand old shopping arena. Now, Google’s recent update, Core Web Vitals, is like the council deciding to rate shops on how quickly the shopkeeper greets the customers (First Input Delay), how fast the top-shelf merchandise is revealed (Largest Contentful Paint), and whether the aisle layouts make sense (Cumulative Layout Shift).

Now, let’s apply our SEO tips to your Bath-based business:

Quicken Your Pace, Mate: Just as shoppers won’t wait around for a slow shopkeeper, web users ain’t going to hang around for slow-loading websites. Keep things snappy by optimising your site’s speed. Trim down large image files, and have a word with your developer about lazy loading and other speed-enhancing practices.

Stay Interactive: Ensuring quick interaction is like offering a firm handshake as soon as a customer walks in. Your website should respond to user interactions swiftly – be it clicking a button, filling a form or any other action.

Stability is Key: Imagine if the Roman Baths started changing layout every half an hour – wouldn’t that be a right pain? Same goes for your website. Prevent content from bouncing around while loading for a stable and predictable user experience.

Following these three tips will give your website a fighting chance in the cutthroat world of organic search. But don’t forget – SEO isn’t just about technical wizardry. It’s about offering real value. A successful website, much like a successful business, is built on the pillars of high-quality content and an exceptional user experience.

Create content that speaks directly to your audience. Answer their queries, offer insights, and solve their problems. You’ve got the local knowledge, mate. Make it work for you. Is there a big event coming up at the Bath Abbey? Talk about it on your blog. Found a hidden gem of a bakery tucked away in some corner of the city? Share it with your audience.

Get into the habit of conducting regular SEO audits. Regular check-ups are as essential for websites as they are for us humans. They’ll help you identify any potential issues and give you a chance to fix them before they impact your rankings.

And remember, when it comes to SEO, consistency is key. This ain’t a one-off fad, but a long-term game. You’ve got to keep at it, much like those Romans who took decades to build the stunning Bath that we see today.

All of these steps combined will not only please the Google gods but also your actual users – the people of Bath and beyond. And when you start ticking both those boxes, you’ll see your SEO efforts pay off. It’ll be more satisfying than a warm, rejuvenating dip in the Thermae Bath Spa on a cold winter day!

Stick with us, follow the advice laid out in this blog, and you’ll see your Bath-based business make waves, not just in the ancient Roman city, but across the world wide web!

To get a grasp on how Google itself views and explains Core Web Vitals, check out this piece on Google’s Webmaster Central Blog. You’ll find it’s like getting the footy scores straight from the referee’s mouth!
For a comprehensive guide on improving Core Web Vitals and website performance, Web.dev has got your back. It’s chock full of information on each metric and provides practical steps on how to improve your scores.
Need a hands-on approach? Moz walks you through the nitty-gritty of Core Web Vitals in an easy-to-understand manner. They’ve got the knack for making the most complicated things seem like a stroll through Hyde Park on a sunny day!

Google’s Core Web Vitals update is all about measuring the health of your website in terms of speed, interactivity, and stability.
This update is being added to Google’s extensive list of over 200 ranking factors.

The big picture is that high-quality content now isn’t enough, a cracking user experience is also vital for better rankings.

It’s not just about Google – your visitors will also benefit from a better website experience, boosting your chances for conversions.

The Core Web Vitals include three metrics: First Input Delay (FID), Largest Contentful Paint, and Cumulative Shift Layout.

You can measure your site’s performance using tools such as Chrome Dev Tools, Google Page Speed Insights, Lighthouse, and Google Search Console.

First Input Delay (FID) tracks the time from a user’s first interaction with your site to when the site responds.
A low FID score is ideal, signifying a responsive, user-friendly page.

Optimising your FID involves streamlining elements like images, third-party codes, unused code, large Javascript bundles, and non-minified and compressed code.

The next metric, Largest Contentful Paint, will be discussed in the next section of the article.

Alright, gov’nor, gather round! I’m here to unravel the riddle of these Core Web Vitals, the big news from Google you might have caught wind of. These metrics have got the digital cosmos all aflutter, so let’s get down to the brass tacks and clear the fog, shall we?

Buckle up, my friend! You’re in for a rollercoaster ride as we break down what this means for you, your digital marketing squad, and your tech whizz.

Let’s get to the heart of It: Core Web Vitals Explained

Now, what’s the big deal with these Core Web Vitals? Well, think of them as the soul signals of your website, the pulse that Google’s checking to see how hale and hearty your site really is.

Look here, Google’s got a checklist with over 200 items when it’s judging websites. But with this new update, it’s throwing three more in the pot: speed, interactivity, and page stability. These newcomers will mingle with the existing user experience signals to decide whether your site’s up to snuff.

What’s the upshot of this change, you ask? Picture this: two blokes in the same boxing ring, both packing a punch with their high-quality content. But one’s got his game on with the Core Web Vitals and delivers a knockout user experience. Which one’s Google going to crown? You’ve got it!

A little extra effort for a big win

Why bother with all this? It’s simple – it’s like adding a fresh coat of paint to your shop front, making your website spick and span for your visitors. It’s all about leaving a good first impression, innit? And a fantastic user experience is just the ticket for higher rankings.

Moreover, a happy customer today means more business tomorrow, right? Google’s not doing this on a whim, they’re making sure everyone up their game, providing better experiences to users, and making the internet a better place.

Taking the Vital Signs: Core Web Vitals Metrics

Before you break out in a sweat, let’s make sense of these new metrics, shall we?

The Core Web Vitals are a troika of metrics which tell you how to spruce up your site for the best user experience. These three musketeers for 2021 are:

First Input Delay
Largest Contentful Paint
Cumulative Shift Layout
Now, don’t worry if you don’t ace all three; even Google doesn’t expect you to be a Jack of all trades.

Taking the Temperature: How to Measure Core Web Vitals
To keep tabs on your website’s performance, you’ve got a treasure trove of tools like Chrome Dev Tools, Google Page Speed Insights, Lighthouse, and Google Search Console. Google Search Console is your trusted lieutenant here, as it presents a comprehensive report of all the issues and their impact.

For a closer look under the hood, you can use Lighthouse and Chrome Devtools to do some fine-tuning.

Getting all this technical mumbo jumbo might be a bit of a stretch, but that’s why you’ve got your tech team, right? Now, let’s delve deeper into these metrics, starting with First Input Delay.

First input delay (FID): The Welcoming Handshake

FID is your website’s first handshake with your visitor. It’s all about the time taken from the first interaction a user makes with your site until the site responds. This could be anything, from choosing a page from the menu, clicking on a link, or zooming in on a picture.

You want to make this first greeting as swift as possible, as it signals to Google that your page is responsive and ready for action. Aim for a low FID score, the ideal benchmark being the 75th percentile of page loads across both desktop and mobile devices.

Tuning Up Your FID

Like a well-oiled machine, your website needs regular maintenance, and optimising your FID is a big part of it. The key to a splendid FID is managing your Javascript wisely.

Images: These can hog a lot of space. Think about applying lazy loading to your images. If that sounds like a drag, try reducing their size and dimensions.

Third-party codes: Cookies and the like add noise to your network. Toss out or delay those that don’t provide much value to your user.

Unused code: Each bit of code is another task for your browser to execute. Trim down anything unused, including third-party scripts.

Large Javascript bundles: Too much of anything is bad, and that includes Javascript. These large bundles could hold up the rest of your page from loading. Reduce their size or split them up.

Non-minified and compressed code: Keep your Javascript lean and mean by minifying and compressing your files. This helps your page load faster.

Now, that’s all for FID. In the next section, we’ll dig into the second metric, Largest Contentful Paint.