Google again has downplayed the importance of Core Web Vitals as a Google Search ranking signal. Google's Martin Splitt said in a video yesterday, "also core web vitals aren't as important as some people might think." He added, "they are they are not irrelevant though but do not over focus on these things."
This came up in his recent video named How to make your website faster: 3 quick tips. Later on in the video he went on to say, "again while this won't directly affect your site's performance in Google Search, it surely will make your users happier."
Here is that video:
Now, I know I covered this to death and that I keep telling everyone to stop obsessing about page speed and Core Web Vitals, every time I cover it, it causes a stir. In fact, I was not planning on covering it, so instead I just posted about this on X and LinkedIn and it caused a stir there. So I figured, I'd cover it once again.
Here is that post:
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) September 18, 2024
In my previous coverage of this topic, if you want it, and I am sure I am missing some of it:
- Google Clarifies Page Experience & Core Web Vitals Related To Search Rankings
- Here Is What Changed With The Google Helpful Content Guidance - Page Experience & More
- Google: The Page Experience Update Won't Be A Massive Change To Start
- Google: Page Experience Is A Ranking Signal, Not A Ranking System
- Google: We Don't Say Core Web Vitals Are A Ranking Factor
- Google: Fix Your INP Issues? Don't Expect Visibility Changes Search Rankings.
- Google: Core Web Vitals Shouldn't Be Top Of The List For Most Small & Local Businesses
- Google Says Now The Page Experience Update Is More Than A Tie Breaker Ranking Factor
- Google: No Sudden Ranking Drop When The Page Experience Update Goes Live
- Poll On Impact Of Google Page Experience Update & Core Web Vitals On Rankings
- Gary Illyes From Google Mocks Core Web Vitals SEO Work
- Google: Pages With Core Web Vitals May Have Tiny Ranking Advantage
- Google: It's Unlikely Core Web Vitals Will Become The Primary Ranking Factor
- Google: Page Speed Issues Wouldn't Lead To Your Site Being Removed From Google Search
- Google: Don't Worry Too Much About Page Speed
- Google: A Good Page Experience Doesn't Fix Other SEO Problems
- Confirmed: Google Site Speed Is A Teeny-Tiny Ranking Factor
In short - only fix speed issues if you feel your site is slow to load. I wouldn't pay too much attention to the CWV scores otherwise. If you have extra time on your hands, then sure, have your dev team work to score a 100 but otherwise, do other things with your time.
