Core Web Vitals for growth teams

A no-fluff guide to LCP, INP, and CLS—what they mean, what breaks them, and how to prioritize fixes.

Jan 06, 2026performance-seoseoperformance

Core Web Vitals are not “developer vanity metrics.” They map to user experience, and they often correlate with better conversion rates.

If you want help fixing them: Performance SEO or Technical SEO.

LCP: how fast primary content appears

Common causes:

  • Slow server response / no caching
  • Heavy hero images
  • Render-blocking scripts and styles

Typical fixes:

  • Improve caching (edge/server)
  • Optimize and preload the LCP image
  • Reduce blocking JS/CSS

INP: responsiveness to interaction

INP improves when you ship less JS and reduce long tasks:

  • Split bundles
  • Remove unnecessary dependencies
  • Defer non-critical work

CLS: visual stability

CLS is usually fixed by reserving space:

  • Set explicit image dimensions
  • Avoid injecting banners above content
  • Use font loading strategies that don’t shift text

How to prioritize

  1. Pick your highest-traffic landing pages or money pages
  2. Baseline mobile performance
  3. Fix the largest bottleneck first
  4. Re-measure and repeat

Next: Technical SEO audit template.

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