Google uses Core Web Vitals as an official ranking signal. If your website fails these three metrics, you're being penalized in search results — and most Indian business websites are failing them. Here's what they measure and how to fix them.
LCP — Largest Contentful Paint (Target: under 2.5 seconds)
LCP measures how fast the biggest visible element loads — usually your hero image or headline. If it takes more than 2.5 seconds, Google considers your page slow. Common fixes: compress hero images to WebP/AVIF, preload critical fonts, use server-side rendering (Next.js does this by default), and implement a CDN for static assets.
INP — Interaction to Next Paint (Target: under 200 milliseconds)
INP replaced FID in March 2024. It measures the delay between a user clicking a button and the browser responding visually. Heavy JavaScript bundles, unoptimized event handlers, and excessive third-party scripts are the usual culprits. Fix by: code-splitting aggressively, deferring non-critical scripts, and using React's useTransition for heavy state updates.
CLS — Cumulative Layout Shift (Target: under 0.1)
CLS measures visual stability — how much your page jumps around while loading. The biggest offenders are images without width/height attributes, web fonts loading late (causing text reflow), and ads or banners loading asynchronously. Fix by: always specifying image dimensions, using font-display: swap with preload, and reserving space for dynamic content with min-height.
How to Check Your Scores
Use Google PageSpeed Insights (free) or the Chrome DevTools Lighthouse panel. Test on mobile — that's where most sites fail. Run the test from India (not a US server) to get realistic numbers for your actual audience. Aim for green scores on all three metrics on both mobile and desktop.
The Business Case
Beyond SEO, Core Web Vitals directly impact conversions. A 1-second delay in LCP can reduce conversions by 7%. Users abandon pages that take more than 3 seconds to load. Fixing your vitals isn't just a technical exercise — it's a revenue lever.