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In the digital age, monitoring and improving the performance of your website is essential to ensure an excellent user experience and to maintain a competitive position in Google search results. This is where i come into play Core Web Vitals, a set of metrics proposed by Google to evaluate the quality of the user experience on a website that we have talked about a lot in various other posts.
But often, simply looking at how your website is performing isn't enough.
In fact, the need to examine and compare the performance metrics not only of one's own site, but also of those of third parties, such as competitors, frequently emerges. This can be extremely useful for understanding the variations in Google's SERP (Search Engine Results Page), to understand the performance changes that have allowed another site in the same niche to overtake us in the rankings.
It could also happen that we are called as consultants to work on a site of which we have no previous information. In these cases, have a historical view of the CRUX data Core Web Vitals it can help you understand the changes that could lead to a possible decrease in performance. This information is valuable for directing one's efforts and proposing effective solutions.
Furthermore, as consultants or managers of a website, it may be necessary to report the results obtained from application or system interventions on the site. In this scenario, you may be required to present impartial reports demonstrating the work performed and, above all, the results obtained. The history of CRUX data Core Web Vitals can provide an objective picture of the improvements made, backing up your claims with hard data.
In this article, we'll walk you through several methods to look up your CRUX data history Core Web Vitals of other sites, to help you navigate this challenge and provide you with the tools you need to make your website the best it can be.
Examining this data can prove to be a non-trivial task, given that Google, for privacy reasons, does not offer direct access to this data for each site. Despite this, there are various ways to get a historical insight into the Core Web Vitals of a site. Let's see together how:
1. Using CrUX Dashboard:
To provide developers and website owners with a clear and complete picture of a site's performance, Google has made a public CrUX Dashboard available on the data visualization platform Data Studio. This powerful tool provides detailed insight into the performance of a web origin, allowing you to dig deep into various crucial aspects of the user experience.
Metrics available in the CrUX Dashboard include i Core Web Vitals, or three key indicators introduced by Google to evaluate the user experience on a website. These include:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures the time it takes to load the largest content item visible in the viewport. A fast LCP means that your site's core content loads quickly, which is critical to ensuring a quality user experience.
- First Input Delay (FID): Quantifies the time elapsed between the first user input (for example, a click or a pressure on the keyboard) and the moment in which the browser is able to respond to this input. A short FID ensures that the site responds promptly to user interactions, improving its perception of responsiveness and fluidity.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures the site's visual stability, i.e. how much the page layout changes during loading. A low CLS means that page elements don't move unexpectedly while the user is browsing, contributing to a more pleasant user experience.
The CrUX Dashboard allows you to view and analyze the trend of these metrics over time, providing valuable information to identify any performance problems and to monitor the effectiveness of the implemented solutions. In addition, with the ability to examine data from multiple sources, you can compare your site's performance against competitor or benchmark sites.
2. Using BigQuery:
If you're familiar with the SQL language and comfortable in the BigQuery environment, a powerful resource is waiting for you: Google's CrUX public dataset, available right on BigQuery. But before we get into that, what exactly is BigQuery?
BigQuery is a data warehouse infrastructure from Google that enables the analysis of large amounts of data in near real time. Designed to be versatile and scalable, BigQuery allows you to execute complex queries on huge volumes of data in seconds, using the SQL language. This makes it a powerful tool for data analysts, developers, and anyone who needs to process large data sets quickly and efficiently.
Returning to the CrUX public dataset, this is a database that Google makes available for free on BigQuery. The CrUX dataset is updated monthly and provides a detailed overview of the performance of millions of websites, based on data collected from real Chrome users.
The information contained in this dataset includes detailed metrics related to Core Web Vitals, such as Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). These metrics are essential for understanding the user experience offered by a website.
By using BigQuery to query the CrUX dataset, you have the ability to extract and analyze specific data from the source you are interested in, allowing you to monitor the evolution of Core Web Vitals in time. This can provide you with valuable information to identify your website's strengths and areas for improvement, or to analyze the performance of competitor sites.
Keep in mind that while using the CrUX dataset on BigQuery is free, there may be costs associated with running queries in BigQuery. However, these costs are usually very modest, and Google offers a free monthly credit that can cover many of the basic operations.
3. Use of Third Party Services:
There are various third-party services that offer detailed analysis of CrUX data. Some of these services may provide historical data of Core Web Vitals for specific sites. Here are some:
- Speed Curve: This service offers an overview of the metrics Core Web Vitals and other site performance metrics. SpeedCurve can monitor and analyze historical CrUX data for a specific website, providing in-depth details and useful suggestions for optimizing performance. Speed Curve
- Caliber: Caliber offers a site performance monitoring tool that includes metrics Core Web Vitals. You can set up periodic reports and create a historical picture of a site's performance. Caliber
- WebPageTest: While it does not provide direct access to CrUX data, WebPageTest can perform extensive site performance tests, including a metrics check Core Web Vitals. WebPageTest
- treo.shDefinitely our favorite, TREO SiteSpeed improves the speed of your website to build a better UX (User Experience), increase conversions and boost SEO. Treo Site Speed uses data from Core Web Vitals from the Chrome UX Report (CrUX) and provides the most comprehensive site speed report on the market. Treo SiteSpeed
4. Monitoring with performance testing tools:
While access to Google's CRUX data can give you valuable insights into your site's performance over time, it's not the only resource at your disposal. There are specialized tools, such as Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights, that give you a more immediate and detailed perspective on how your site is performing and how you can improve your performance compared to the industry averages.
Lighthouse is an automated open-source tool from Google that analyzes web pages and makes suggestions on how to improve them. You can run Lighthouse on any web page, public or requiring authentication. Look into various aspects of the page, including performance, accessibility, best practices, SEO, and of course i Core Web Vitals. Each category is evaluated and scored, with detailed suggestions on how to improve each area.
On the other hand, PageSpeed Insights is another Google tool that analyzes the content of a web page and generates suggestions to make it faster. This includes the analysis of Core Web Vitals, along with other aspects of page performance. PageSpeed Insights combines lab data with field data, providing both synthetic and real-world user data-based measurements, giving you a complete picture of page performance.
Both of these tools are extremely useful for getting detailed insight into your site's performance, with suggestions on how to improve it. You can use this information to identify areas of weakness in your site and develop effective strategies to improve user experience.
It's important to remember that the ultimate goal should always be to optimize the user experience on your site. Satisfied users are more likely to interact with your site, return to it, and recommend it to others. Then, use the insights you've gathered to figure out where you can improve and to set realistic benchmarks for your performance. By doing this, you will be able to offer a superior user experience, improve your search engine rankings, and ultimately achieve online success.
Optimize your website experience with our website consulting services Core Web Vitals
Understand and improve i Core Web Vitals of your site may seem like a challenge, but it shouldn't be a journey you have to take on your own. Our team of expert consultants are here to help. We have extensive experience in analyzing and optimizing Core Web Vitals for different clients in a wide range of industries. Whether you're looking to improve your site's loading speed, reduce input lag, or make sure your site's layout remains stable while it loads, we're here to help.
With our consulting services, we will make a comprehensive assessment of Core Web Vitals of your site, identifying areas that need improvement and proposing tailor-made solutions to optimize the user experience. We don't just give you a list of problems; we will work with you to implement the changes and monitor the results, ensuring that the changes you make lead to the desired improvements.
Furthermore, We offer training and ongoing support to help you understand how i Core Web Vitals affect the performance of your site and how you can continue to monitor and improve them over time. This way, you will not only be able to offer the best possible experience to your users, but you will also improve your search engine rankings, increasing your site's visibility and conversion potential.
Contact our team today to find out more about our consulting services Core Web Vitals and find out how we can help you transform your website experience.
