The impact of Core Web Vitals on your rankings in Google

Imagine: you put a lot of time into a beautiful website, yet you notice that your Google rankings are lagging. What is the reason? For a while now Core Web Vitals a decisive role in how high your website ranks with Google. Especially for Flemish SMEs, self-employed people and marketers, it is increasingly important to have your technical performance on point as well as strong content. In this article, you will read what exactly Core Web Vitals are, how they can help yourSEO results and what you can do concretely to improve your web performance and Google ranking.

What exactly are Core Web Vitals?

An overview of Google's key web achievements

Core Web Vitals are **measurable factors** that summarise how a real user experiences your website. Google has been using three essential parameters to assess the quality of your user experience since 2021:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): how fast does the largest visible element on the page load?
• First Input Delay (FID): how quickly can someone interact with your page?
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): how many unexpected staggerings happen during loading?

Together, these measurements determine how **fluid** and **pleasant** visitors experience your site. You read it right: performance is as important as the right keywords these days.

Why Core Web Vitals are crucial for your Google rankings

Google puts user experience first

With the update around page experience ("Page Experience Update"), Google has made it crystal clear: those who want to rank high must ensure a smooth and stable site. Core Web Vitals are an important part of this ranking factor. Websites with poor web vitals can sink further down in search results, despite strong content.

Especially for SMEs and the self-employed, where every online visitor counts, this is not a luxury but a necessity. A slow webshop or blog can cost you potential customers - and thus lose sales. Moreover, in 2024, the average user expects your website to be up and running within seconds. If not, they will quickly click through to the competition.

Core Web Vitals and other SEO elements

Of course his Core Web Vitals not the only ranking factors. Link building, quality content and a mobile-friendly design still play a big part in your visibility. But good performance has become a prerequisite: if your site dredges up, you may have so many backlinks, you won't rank as well.

The impact on your conversion rate is just as great, by the way. Fast and stable webshops achieve measurably more sales because visitors are less likely to drop out. Visitors stick around longer if the first impression is good. In short: optimise for Core Web Vitals is a win-win.

How do you measure and improve your Core Web Vitals?

Tools and tips for Flemish entrepreneurs

Fortunately, you don't have to be a developer to chart your performance. Free tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, Search Console, and Lighthouse give you a very quick overview of where the pinch is. There you can see your score on LCP, FID and CLS - and get immediate advice on how to improve.

• Optimising LCP: Make sure your most important image or text at the top loads quickly. Compress large images, use lazy loading and choose reliable web hosting.
• Improve FID: Minimise JavaScript and third-party scripts. Disable non-essential plug-ins for faster interaction.
• CLS tackle: Combine fixed sizes for images, avoid dynamic ads and adjust CSS to keep the layout stable.

Small interventions can make big differences. Think about optimising images, limiting external scripts and updating your CMS. A technical audit by your web builder or a specialist SEO consultant can also get you up to speed quickly.

Opportunities and challenges for SMEs and the self-employed

Technology and content go hand in hand

The biggest challenge is often the combination of technical and content optimisation. You want to score with strong text and relevant keywords, but if your website is slow or unstable, you will still lose positions in Google.

Moreover, marketers and entrepreneurs often work with tools like WordPress, Wix or Shopify. These are user-friendly systems, but with many plug-ins and themes, which can quickly negatively affect your Core Web Vitals. Think heavy sliders, pop-ups or tracking scripts that slow down your site.

Fortunately, modern themes and plug-ins increasingly offer improvements around performance. So when choosing your theme or web builder, be sure to pay attention to their focus on web vitals.

What does this mean for your SEO strategy in 2024?

The time when only content and linkbuilding sufficient to rank in Google is behind us. Those who fine-tune their Core Web Vitals welcome more visitors, score higher in search results and get more conversion from existing visitors. For Flemish SMEs, this is a unique opportunity to distinguish themselves from less performing competitors.

Therefore, put an annual (technical) check-up on your website. This will not only keep you up to date in terms of content, but also optimise your performance. Get support from an SEO partner if necessary and stay one step ahead of your competitors.

Finally, boost your rankings through better web performance

**Core Web Vitals** are an essential piece of the puzzle for those who want to grow through Google in 2024. By monitoring your performance and addressing it where necessary, you not only ensure satisfied visitors but also better visibility as well as more sales. So don't forget: a fast, stable website is the calling card of every SME, self-employed person and marketer today.

Do you want to build more authority in addition to fast load times? Then combine your technical optimisations with targeted linkbuilding for maximum SEO effect.