Open your company website on your phone in the driveway, on cell data, and count the seconds until the first photo shows. Then tap your phone number while the page is still loading.
Google has three numbers for what you just saw. None of them counts calls. A free test can show whether your site is slow for real visitors, and which number is to blame.
What are Core Web Vitals?
They're three measurements of how a page feels. A page passes when, for each of the three, at least three in four visits meet Google's good line.[1][2]
| What you notice | Name | Good is |
|---|---|---|
| The main content shows | Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | 2.5 seconds or less |
| The page reacts to a tap | Interaction to Next Paint (INP) | 200 milliseconds or less |
| The layout jumps around | Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | 0.1 or less |
Where can you check your site for free?
Paste a page address into PageSpeed Insights, at pagespeed.web.dev. It's one of the free tools Google's guide lists for this.[3]
The top section, "Discover what your real users are experiencing", shows what Chrome visitors got over the last 28 days (field data). The section below, "Diagnose performance issues", is a test run on one simulated phone (lab data).[4][5]
A new or small site can get No Data at the top, because a page needs enough real visits.[4] The test run can't tap anything, so it shows Total Blocking Time in place of the tap number.[3]
Search Console is Google's free tool for site owners.[6] Its Core Web Vitals report needs a verified site and enough visits.[3][7] It reports groups of similar pages, while PageSpeed Insights generally shows one page at a time.[7]
How do you test a page in ten minutes?
- Test your home page, then the service page you most want calls from.
- Choose Mobile, since phones are often most of a site's visits.[2]
- Compare the three numbers in the top section with the table above. If it says No Data, go by the colored marks on the lower section's numbers, and run it twice because results shift.[4]
- Read the first few entries in the lower section, especially any with an estimated saving.
- Write the numbers down with the date, next to your lead log. Google says to check how your speed numbers line up with your own business numbers.[2]
A roofer's home page on mobile
- Real visitors, last 28 days: main content 3.4 seconds, tap response 180 milliseconds, layout jump 0.02.
- Two are good. Main content is slow, and the first suggestion blames a late-loading top image.
Illustrative examplemade-up numbers · use your own
What can slow down a contractor's website?
Google's guidance lists many causes. I'd start by asking about these three:
- The big image at the top. On most phone pages the biggest thing on screen is an image.[8] Google's data says that on most sites with a poor loading score, the download is a small part of the wait.[8] I'd still shrink a huge file. Google also says never to set that image to load lazily, meaning it waits until the browser knows it's on screen.[5]
- Code from other companies. Marketing and analytics tags can use up time and bandwidth the page needs. Google says they pile up because they're added and rarely removed.[9]
- Things that load late. Images and embeds with no set size, and banners that slide in, shove the page around.[8][10] That's one way a tap lands on the wrong button.[10] For images, Google calls a set width and height the best fix.[8]
What should you ask your web person?
Ask which of the three fails, on which page, and what's behind it:
- "Which of the three fails on mobile, and where?"
- "Does the top image load lazily or start late?"
- "Which bits of code come from other companies, and do we still need them?"
- "Do the images and embeds have a width and height?"
- "Can you rerun the test after the change and show me the numbers?"
If you have no web person, or every answer is a shrug, I'd pay for a professional look. What a monthly website maintenance routine should include is a useful list to hand them; it's written for HVAC companies, but it fits any trade.
Does a slow site hurt your Google ranking?
It can matter. Google says its ranking systems use Core Web Vitals.[11] But it also says it always tries to show the most relevant content, even when the page experience is weak.[11] Where plenty of helpful pages exist, it says a great page experience can contribute to success.[11]
There's no single page experience signal, and good scores don't guarantee a top spot.[11] Google says the scores are meant to improve your site for your users.[11] I'd fix a failing one for the visitor first.
What a fast page still won't fix
Speed won't fix an incomplete Google Business Profile, or a page that never says what you do and where. A website clarity audit looks at the second one, the way a first-time visitor sees it, and the five-second test lets you try it yourself. Google's own Chrome data shows no single moment when people give up waiting,[2] so I'd treat any number for lost calls as a guess.
Speed is one check of twelve. The full website audit checklist covers the rest.