Understanding Core Web Vitals: A Guide for Small Business Owners
Website performance issues are more common than you might think. When pages load slowly or buttons don’t respond quickly, visitors often leave for competitor sites, and this happens without any notification to business owners.
If you’ve noticed fewer enquiries through your website or wondered why your Google rankings seem stuck, Core Web Vitals might be worth investigating. These are technical performance metrics that can affect both user experience and search visibility.
The good news? Many performance issues can be addressed without needing extensive technical knowledge or rebuilding your entire site.
What Are Core Web Vitals (In Plain English)?
Core Web Vitals are Google’s way of measuring whether your website works well for real people. Think of them as a report card for your site’s user experience.
There are three main scores Google tracks:
Loading Speed (Largest Contentful Paint – LCP)
- What it measures: How fast the main part of your page appears
- What good looks like: Under 2.5 seconds
- Real-world impact: If your homepage takes 4+ seconds to load, many visitors may leave before seeing your content
Responsiveness (First Input Delay – FID)
- What it measures: How quickly buttons and links respond when clicked
- What good looks like: Less than 100 milliseconds (basically instant)
- Real-world impact: When buttons don’t respond immediately, visitors might think your site isn’t working properly
Visual Stability (Cumulative Layout Shift – CLS)
- What it measures: Whether page elements jump around while loading
- What good looks like: Less than 0.1 (minimal movement)
- Real-world impact: When you try to click something but an ad loads and pushes everything down, causing you to click the wrong button
These metrics directly relate to how people experience your website and whether they stick around to learn about your business.
Why Core Web Vitals Matter for Your Business
Search Engine Considerations Since 2021, Core Web Vitals have been part of Google’s ranking factors. Sites with better performance may have an advantage in search results, all else being equal.
User Expectations People expect websites to work quickly and smoothly. Research shows that even small delays can affect how likely people are to complete actions on your site.
Competitive Factors Performance can affect how your site compares to others in your industry. Better-performing sites may provide a smoother experience for potential customers.
How to Check Your Site's Performance
You don’t need technical expertise to get started. Here are three ways to assess your Core Web Vitals:
Google PageSpeed Insights (Recommended starting point)
- Go to pagespeed.web.dev
- Enter your website URL
- Look for green, orange, or red scores
- Green = Good, Orange = Could improve, Red = Needs attention
- The tool also provides specific suggestions for improvement
Google Search Console (If available)
- Shows real data from actual visitors to your site
- More accurate than testing tools, but requires Search Console setup
Simple Mobile Test
- Open your website on your phone using mobile data
- If you find yourself waiting or getting frustrated, your visitors might too
Common Performance Issues and Solutions
Issue 1: Large Image Files
The problem: Images that are several megabytes when they could be much smaller
Potential solutions:
- Use compression tools like TinyPNG.com before uploading
- Resize images to match their display size
- Consider modern formats like WebP for better compression
Note: Most phone photos are 5-10MB and shouldn’t be uploaded directly
Issue 2: Hosting Limitations
The problem: Budget hosting that struggles under normal load
Potential solutions:
- Consider upgrading to higher-quality hosting
- Look for providers with SSD storage and good performance records
- Australian businesses might benefit from local hosting providers
- Realistic budget: Quality hosting typically costs $20-50/month
Issue 3: Too Many Add-ons
The problem: Each plugin or script adds to loading time
Potential solutions:
- Review WordPress plugins and remove unused ones
- Combine multiple social media widgets into one
- Clean up old tracking codes and unused scripts
- Test: Temporarily deactivate plugins to see the impact.
Note: Complete a backup before starting and consider putting the site in maintenance mode.
Issue 4: Layout Shifts During Loading
The problem: Content jumping around as elements load
Potential solutions:
- Set dimensions for images in your code
- Reserve space for ads or embedded content
- Avoid adding new content above existing elements
WordPress-Specific Considerations
Since many small business sites use WordPress, here are some specific tips:
- Theme choice: Some themes prioritize performance while others focus on visual features
- Caching plugins: Tools like WP Rocket can help create faster-loading page versions
- Regular maintenance: WordPress sites may slow down over time without updates and cleanup
- Plugin philosophy: A few well-chosen plugins often work better than many random ones
Keep Your WordPress Site Running Smoothly
Regular maintenance helps prevent these performance issues before they impact your visitors. If managing updates, security monitoring, and performance optimization feels overwhelming alongside running your business, you’re not alone.
Our monthly WordPress maintenance service handles the technical upkeep – updates, backups, security checks, and performance monitoring – so your site stays fast and secure without requiring your time or technical expertise.
Real-World Example: Performance Improvements in Action
We worked with a professional arborist whose website looked professional but wasn’t generating many enquiries.
Initial assessment:
- Homepage loaded in 6.2 seconds
- Images were very large (some over 5MB)
- 15+ plugins installed, many unused
- Page elements shifted during loading
Changes made:
- Compressed and resized all images
- Removed 8 unnecessary plugins
- Upgraded from shared to managed WordPress hosting
- Fixed image dimensions to prevent layout shifting
Results after 8 weeks:
- Load time improved to 1.8 seconds
- All Core Web Vitals scores in good range
- Organic traffic increased by 40%
- Quote requests doubled
Note: Results can vary depending on your specific situation and starting point.
Time investment: Approximately 4 hours of work plus ongoing website maintenance.
DIY vs Professional Help
You might be able to handle:
- Image compression and optimization
- Plugin review and cleanup
- Hosting upgrades
- Basic performance monitoring
You might want help with:
- Complex code optimization
- Server configuration changes
- Advanced caching setup
- Technical WordPress troubleshooting
Starting with image optimization and plugin cleanup can often provide significant improvements for most small business sites.
How important are Core Web Vitals for small businesses really?
They can affect both search rankings and user experience. While the impact varies by business, poor performance generally doesn’t help with conversions or search visibility.
How often should I check these metrics?
Monthly monitoring is ideal, but quarterly checks or reviews after major site changes are a good starting point.
My site seems fine when I use it - why do scores matter?
You likely have fast internet and are familiar with your site. Your visitors might be using different devices, slower connections, or have different expectations.
Can I improve these myself?
Many basic improvements (image optimization, plugin cleanup, hosting upgrades) are manageable for non-technical users. More complex issues might benefit from professional assistance.
How long before I see results?
Technical improvements often show immediate results in testing tools. Search engine rankings might take 4-8 weeks to reflect performance changes.
Do these metrics matter more for certain businesses?
They’re relevant for most businesses, but particularly important where customers research and compare options online before making decisions.
Moving Forward
Core Web Vitals are fundamentally about whether your website works well for your customers. While they might sound technical, they really measure basic user experience factors like speed and reliability.
If your site’s performance could be improved, the good news is that many common issues are addressable without starting from scratch. Often, straightforward changes like optimizing images and cleaning up unnecessary plugins can make a meaningful difference.
Every business situation is different, but addressing performance issues when they exist can help ensure your website supports rather than hinders your business goals.
If you’d like to understand how your specific site is performing and what improvements might be most beneficial, a performance audit can provide specific, actionable insights for your situation.