CWV: A Ranking Factor in Google Podcasts, But Not Impacting Rankings

Recently Google Podcasts discussed about how core web vitals are important as a ranking factor but do not improve rankings.

The episode of Google’s Search Off the Record Podcast covered the topic of Core Web Vitals (CWV) and the podcast cleared a misconception about core web vitals. It states that core web vitals is an important ranking factor but it does not mean it improves search results. The podcast also covered the relationship between CWV as a ranking factor and its actual impact on improving search results. 

User experience is a more important factor than CWV

Rick Viscomi, (Google engineer) and Lizzi Sassman (technical writer at Google) highlighted that the core web vital scores are important but the real user’s experience of the website’s performance is more important than that. They suggested that website owners should focus on the user experience rather than only on CWV scores.  

Lizzi Sassman added that she tested Google’s page experience documentation for core web vitals scores and she found variations in scores. She revealed that Google’s document scored only 45 out of 100. 

In response, Rick Viscomi said that the user’s experience of the website’s performance in real-time matters more than CWV scores.

It clarifies that website owners should not worry about core web vitals scores, better they optimise their websites to improve user experience. 

John Muller on CWV 

In this discussion about Core web vitals, John Muller claimed that CWV is considered in the ranking system but making small improvements in CWV scores will not be visible on search results. He also added that his team spoke with the search team and found that CWV is used in the ranking system and that is why it is mentioned in Google’s documentation.

He also explained that the CWV score will not make much difference in the search results but it is one part of a big search engine. It is better to improve the core web vitals score but it won’t affect search results or rankings. 

While discussing this, they also considered speed as a factor and then talked about factors that really make a difference in search results. Rick Viscomi explained how web performance plays a major role in ranking.

In this conversation, Lizzi Harvey suggested that website owners should focus on the quality of content rather than other factors. 

Conclusion

The discussion concludes that every other thing like words on a page is a secondary thing overall we need to focus on the quality of content and user experience. It is logical to consider CWV as an important ranking factor as it explains how website performance can affect ranking even if it does not affect search results directly. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

What are the most important ranking factors in Google?

Google has more than 200 ranking factors but we are mentioning a few of them here.

• Backlinks
• Content quality
• Content relevancy
• Content recency
• Mobile-friendliness
• Domain authority
• Keyword optimisation

What is a core web vitals ranking factor?

Core web vitals is a set of three metrics that checks how fast, interactive and stable a web page is. Improvement in factors can help websites rank higher on search results. 

What are the 3 pillars of Core Web Vitals?

1. Largest contentful paint
2. First input delay
3. Cumulative layout shift