Improve Core Web Vitals in Shopify

By Bhavesha | Jun 24, 2023 | 3 min read

Improving Core Web Vitals in Shopify involves optimizing various aspects of your website’s performance to enhance user experience and meet the requirements set by Google.

Consider helping below the description if you want to improve your Shopify website speed.

What are Core Web Vitals in shopify?

Core Web Vitals is a set of specific metrics that Google uses to measure the user experience of a website. Metrics include:

1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

LCP measures the loading speed of the largest element on a webpage, such as an image, video, and text block. You can improve the LCP and enhance your website’s loading speed. It should occur within 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading.

Resize and optimize elements like your hero image.
Whenever an image is the largest element on a page, be aware of lazy loading images.
Reduce CSS payload
Reduce JS payload
Optimize images

Benefits of the Largest Contentful Paint

Largest Contentful Paint( LCP) is a performance metric used to measure the lading speed and stoner experience of a web runner.
It specifically focuses on the time it takes for the largest content element in the view port to come visible to the stoner.
In simpler terms, LCP measures the time it takes for the main content of a web runner to completely load and come visible.
This content could be an image, a videotape, a block of textbook, or any other significant element that occupies a substantial portion of the view port.
Google, for case, considers LCP as one of the crucial criteria for their Core Web Vitals, which are used to assess and rank websites in hunt machine results.
Immaculately, a good LCP score should be below 2.5 seconds.

2. First Input Delay (FID)

FID measures the time it takes for a webpage to respond to a user’s first interaction, such as clicking a button or selecting a menu item. A low FID indicates a more responsive website. It is enabling users to interact smoothly and complete tasks without delays or frustrations. You can focus on reducing execution time, optimizing third-party scripts, and ensuring efficient code execution. It should be less than 100 milliseconds.

Benefits of the First Input Delay (FID)

First Input Delay( FID) is a performance metric that measures the responsiveness of a web runner to stoner relations.
It specifically quantifies the detention between the time when a stoner first interacts with a web runner and the time when the runner is suitable to respond to that commerce.
FID focuses on the period when a stoner initiates an action and the cyber-surfer is busy executing other tasks, similar as JavaScript law, picture, or network requests.
During this time, the cyber-surfer may be unresponsive to stoner input, causing a detention in the runner’s capability to respond.
FID is pivotal because it reflects the interactivity and perceived responsiveness of a web runner.
A low FID indicates that the runner is quick to respond to stoner relations, furnishing a smooth and engaging stoner experience.
On the other hand, a high FID implies a detention in responsiveness, which can lead to frustration and a poor stoner experience.
Scores between 100 and 300 milliseconds are considered requirements enhancement, while anything above 300 milliseconds is considered poor.
To ameliorate FID, web inventors can employ colorful strategies similar as optimizing JavaScript prosecution, removing render- blocking coffers, postponing non-critical JavaScript, and minimizing main- thread work.

3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

CLS measures the number of unexpected layout shifts that occur during the loading process of a webpage. A low CLS ensures a visually stable experience, where elements do not move unexpectedly leading to better readability. It should have a score of less than 0.1.

Find out which pages have the worst CLS by checking the Core Web Vitals. Mobile scores are particularly important. In this case, a shift can quickly have a significant impact.
Make sure your images have width and height attributes and avoid large layout shifts
Make sure you specify the dimensions of images and other block items on your site. In addition to including dimensions for images, div tags, and other blocks of content, the browser can plot the layout even if elements are slow to load.
Ensure you don’t load banners or pop-ups (for example, free shipping banners) on the visitor’s screen immediately. They will trigger a layout shift even if they don’t shift content.

Benefits of the Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is a performance metric that measures the visual stability of a web page during the loading process. It quantifies the amount of unexpected layout shifts that occur as the page renders and elements dynamically change their position.

Layout shifts can be frustrating for users, especially when they cause elements to move around unexpectedly, leading to accidental clicks or difficulty reading content. CLS aims to capture and quantify these shifts to assess the user experience.

CLS is calculated by multiplying the impact fraction (the proportion of the viewport affected by the shift) by the distance fraction (the maximum distance an element moves relative to the viewport size). This calculation is repeated for each shift that occurs, and the individual scores are then summed up to provide the cumulative layout shift score.

A good CLS score is typically below 0.1, indicating minimal visual instability and a smooth user experience. Scores between 0.1 and 0.25 suggest room for improvement, while scores above 0.25 indicate a significant amount of layout shifting that negatively impacts user experience.

To reduce CLS, web developers can adopt various best practices, such as:

Setting dimensions for media elements: Reserve the appropriate space for images, videos, and other media elements to prevent sudden shifts when they load.
Preloading and lazy-loading content: Use techniques like preloading and lazy-loading to ensure that content and resources load in the background without causing layout shifts.
Avoiding dynamically injected content: If content is added or modified dynamically, make sure it doesn’t cause abrupt layout changes that disrupt the user experience.
Using CSS animations and transitions: Employ CSS animations and transitions to smoothly animate elements and minimize layout shifts.

By focusing on these techniques, web developers can minimize unexpected layout shifts and improve the visual stability of their web pages, resulting in a more pleasant and user-friendly experience.

Why are Core Web Vitals Important?

Website performance is largely determined by core web vitals. It measures web performance factors that affect the user experience of websites.

Core web vitals affect website performance.

Page loading speed: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
Interactivity: FID (First Input Delay)
Visual stability: CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

By optimizing it, the visitor experience will be smoother and better, and user engagement will increase. it will be a higher chance of conversion for SEO purposes.

User experience on the page
Mobile-friendly
Browsing safely
You should serve your page via HTTPS

How to Improve Core Web Vitals in Shopify?

The following are some points that have been improved in core web vitals.

Optimize your images
1. – Compress your images
2. – Defer Screen Images
3. – Properly size images

Search Console is the fastest way to see how your Shopify store performs for Core Web Vitals. It’s important to test and measure every optimization step and make sure you’re making progress and continuously improving your Core Web Vitals.