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Core Web Vitals Explained in Plain English
By eLeopards Team · 19 Sept 2026 · 5 min read
Core Web Vitals are Google's measures of how a page feels to use. They sound technical, but each one maps to something a visitor notices.
The three metrics
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): how quickly the main content appears. Aim for 2.5 seconds or less.
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint): how fast the page responds when someone taps or clicks. Aim for 200 milliseconds or less.
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): how much the layout jumps while loading. Aim for 0.1 or less.
Quick wins for LCP
- Compress images and serve modern formats like WebP.
- Do not lazy-load the main image at the top of the page.
- Use a fast host and a CDN.
- Keep fonts and scripts lean.
Quick wins for INP
Reduce heavy JavaScript, defer third-party scripts such as chat widgets and trackers, and avoid long tasks that block the page.
Quick wins for CLS
Reserve space for images and embeds using fixed dimensions or aspect ratios, and avoid injecting banners above content after load.
How to measure
Use PageSpeed Insights for a single page and the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console for your whole site. Test on mobile, where most visitors are.
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