What is Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are a set of Google metrics measuring page loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability that impact search rankings. The three core metrics are Largest Contentful Paint (how fast the main content loads), Interaction to Next Paint (how quickly the page responds to input), and Cumulative Layout Shift (how much the layout jumps around as it loads).
Google uses these metrics as a ranking signal because they reflect real user experience. A page that loads slowly, responds sluggishly, or shifts under a user's finger frustrates visitors and is a worse result than a smooth, fast alternative.
Each metric has a target threshold — for example, Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds is considered good. You can measure your scores in tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Search Console.
Why it matters
Slow, unstable pages lose visitors before they ever convert, and they can hold back your rankings even when your content is strong. Core Web Vitals connect technical performance directly to both traffic and conversion.
For founders, fixing these issues is often a high-leverage, one-time win: improve the metrics once and every page benefits in both user experience and search.
How Distro helps
Distro's technical checks flag Core Web Vitals problems and turn the fixes into clear missions, so performance issues do not quietly cap your rankings. Get your free growth report to see your scores.
Related terms
Page Speed
Page speed is how quickly a web page loads and becomes usable, which affects both search rankings and the experience of every visitor.
Domain Rating (DR)
Domain rating is a metric developed by Ahrefs that scores a website's backlink strength on a scale of 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating stronger authority.