[Resolved] Core vitals and page speed

[fabien]

Hi there,

I’m trying to identify the cause of LCP, FID, and CLS core vitals issues, recently flagged by Webmaster console.

The site is on Open Lite Speed server, with lazyloading option on (as I read it could be an issue for CLS) but the logo is excluded from lazyloading.

As for LCP and FID issue, the site seems to be recording large DOM size (3,500+), not sure if it’s a result of GP code?
Latest wordpress, beaverbuilder, and all plugins up to date. GP premium up to date too.

[David]

Hi there,

a vanilla install of GP creates around 45 DOM elements – and at most around 100 if all its features are enabled.
DOM elements capture every element tag added to your page ie. <p>, <h2>, <img>, <div> etc. And one thing page builders do is add lots of extra elements to make those layouts.

Looking at your pagespeed insights the major issue is the number of DOM elements and the size of the render blocking JS ( not CLS, LCP or FID). But in reality the site loads really quickly and without issue. So i would expect to see some improvement in its numbers as more real data is collected. If i wanted to make improvements i would look at how i can reduce the DOM thread ( less content ?) and the amount of JS the site is loading ( reduce plugins ?).

CLS:
Anything that affects the layout of content is flagged.
Example: the form on your Free Guide page. Its an iFrame it loads later then its container and increases the height of the entire hero. Simple fix would be to give that Row a minimum height so the form doesn’t affect its overall size.

LCP:
Google only used to report on FCP. Which was pretty useless on its own when it came to measure UX. LCP shows the element(s) that occupies the largest amount of pixels. Google assumes whats biggest would be most ‘contentful’ and important to the user.

The LCP elements are not necessarily ( and most likely not ) the issue, unless they happen to be a badly optimized image or a big chunck of text reliant on a slow loading font.

If you have a low LCP its just telling you the site needs to be better optimized.

FID – Until all the interactive elements and the necessary scripts are loaded then the user cannot interact with them. And this all stems back to the same optimization.

Aside from CLS ( although it has some bearing ) everything required to achieve a high ranking score is related to performance and optimization.

So a high performing server making the minimum amount of well optimized requests is the ideal.

[fabien]

Fantastic, thanks David. Much to consider. I will turn to Beaver Builder support regarding DOM elements.

[David]

You’re welcome

[Author]

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