Is Core Web Vital going to be the most important factor now? Well, Google\u2019s John Mueller answered a question on Reddit that expressed skepticism of Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor. Mueller affirmed the importance of CWV as a ranking factor and noted that it is far more than just a tie breaker.<\/p>\n
Back in the early 2000\u2019s Google<\/a> used ranking factors tied to keywords to understand what a web page was about. Anchor text, number of links, keywords in headings and titles all helped web pages rank at the top of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).<\/p>\n Websites could acquire thousands of reciprocal links and do the on-page SEO and rank at the top.<\/p>\n But that was before natural language processing, advanced machine learning and AI technologies put a stronger emphasis on relevance signals.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not unexpected that members of the search community would express skepticism of the CWV ranking factor.<\/p>\n Google itself has been downplaying how powerful CWV is as a ranking factor.<\/p>\n John Mueller himself\u00a0said this about Core Web Vitals:<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026relevance is still by far much more important.<\/p>\n So just because your website is faster<\/a> with regards to Core Web Vitals than some competitors doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that \u2026you will jump to position number one in the search results.\u201d<\/p>\n Google published a\u00a0Core Web Vitals FAQ\u00a0that also lowered expectations of the CWV ranking factor.<\/p>\n The FAQ stated:<\/strong><\/p>\n Page experience is just one of many signals that are used to rank pages.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that intent of the search query is still a very strong signal, so a page with a subpar page experience may still rank highly if it has great, relevant content.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Thus it\u2019s not surprising that today there are some who express skepticism of the power of CWV to influence search rankings.<\/p>\n This is what was published on Reddit:<\/strong><\/p>\n Anyone else not buying Core Web Vitals?<\/strong> Someone else observed:<\/strong><\/p>\n I believe Google<\/a> admitted it\u2019s basically just a tie breaker.<\/p>\n If two pieces of content are equally high quality and relevant to the search term and all the other ranking factors are equal, but one site has better core web vitals, it will rank higher.<\/p>\n I imagine it\u2019s quite rare for two articles to be equal on all other factors so I think that\u2019s why we don\u2019t see much impact from it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Given Google\u2019s recent history of lowering expectations of achieving top rankings with a high core web vitals score, it\u2019s not unreasonable to hold the opinion that the CWV ranking factor is a minor and lightweight ranking signal.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s John Mueller replied that affirmed that core web vitals should not be dismissed as a ranking factor.<\/p>\n He insisted that it could be felt more strongly in some sites than others.<\/p>\n Mueller wrote:<\/strong><\/p>\n It is a ranking factor<\/a>, and it\u2019s more than a tie-breaker, but it also doesn\u2019t replace relevance.<\/p>\n Depending on the sites you work on, you might notice it more, or you might notice it less.<\/p>\n As an SEO, a part of your role is to take all of the possible optimizations and figure out which ones are worth spending time on.<\/p>\n Any SEO tool<\/a> will spit out 10s or 100s of \u201crecommendations\u201d, most of those are going to be irrelevant to your site\u2019s visibility in search.<\/p>\n Finding the items that make sense to work on takes experience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mueller next stated that CWV has value that extends beyond a ranking signal, rightly pointing out that speed related user experiences can affect how much a website earns.<\/p>\n He pointed out the self-defeating nature of promoting a site to the top of the SERPs only to have the earnings never reach their potentials because of low page speed experiences.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a good point!<\/p>\n Mueller wrote:<\/strong><\/p>\n The other thing to keep in mind with core web vitals is that it\u2019s more than a random ranking factor, it\u2019s also something that affects your site\u2019s usability after it ranks (when people actually visit).<\/p>\nGoogle Has Lowered Expectations of CWV Ranking Factor<\/h3>\n
Skepticism of Core Web Vitals Ranking Factor<\/h3>\n
\nI just find it hard to believe that this actually becomes a greater part of the ranking algo. Has anyone seen dramatic gains or decreases based on it so far?<\/p><\/blockquote>\nCWV Ranking Factor Is More than a Tie-breaker<\/h3>\n
CWV Has Value Beyond Being a Ranking Signal<\/h3>\n