KINGPINWEB.CODES
When someone taps your link and stares at a blank screen, they rarely wait. They go back and tap the next result, which is usually your competitor. Website speed is not just a technical detail; it decides whether visitors ever see your offer. It also matters to Google, which uses a set of speed and stability measurements called Core Web Vitals as one of the signals for page experience.
This guide explains Core Web Vitals in plain English, shows you how to test your own site for free in two minutes, and walks through the exact fixes we used on our own website this month, with the real before-and-after numbers.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are three measurements of how a page feels to a real visitor. Google publishes a "good" threshold for each one:
| Metric | What it measures | Good | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| LCP: Largest Contentful Paint | How long until the main content (usually the big heading or image) appears | 2.5 s or less | Over 4 s |
| INP: Interaction to Next Paint | How quickly the page reacts when someone taps or clicks | 200 ms or less | Over 500 ms |
| CLS: Cumulative Layout Shift | How much things jump around while the page loads | 0.1 or less | Over 0.25 |
In simple terms: does the page show up quickly, does it respond when I touch it, and does it stay still while I read? A page that does all three feels fast and trustworthy.
How to test your website in two minutes
- Open PageSpeed Insights, Google's free testing tool.
- Paste your homepage address and click Analyze.
- Look at the Mobile tab first. Most of your visitors are on phones, and the mobile test simulates a mid-range phone on a slow 4G connection, so it is much stricter than desktop.
- Note the four scores out of 100 (Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices and SEO) and the LCP, CLS and other timings underneath.
- Scroll to the suggestions to see what Google thinks is slowing your page down.
Scores from 90 to 100 are green, 50 to 89 orange and below 50 red. Lab scores move a little from test to test, so run it two or three times and look at the trend rather than a single number.
Our own before-and-after
We practise what we preach, so we tested our own homepage, kingpinweb.codes, on 20 October 2026. It is a rich page with animations, a particle crown, video clips and lots of imagery, and on mobile it scored 75 for performance. Google pointed to three problems, and we fixed all three the same day:
1. Files were not being cached
Our images and showreel videos were sent without caching instructions, so a visitor's phone downloaded about 20 MB again on every visit. We told browsers to keep those files for a week. Google's estimate of what could be saved dropped from about 20 MB to about 73 KB.
2. Fonts were blocking the first paint
The page waited for the web fonts to download before showing anything. We changed the fonts to load in the background, so text appears straight away and the brand fonts swap in a moment later.
3. Videos loaded before anyone saw them
The short clips in our showreel strip started downloading as soon as the page opened, even though they sit further down. Now each clip only loads and plays when it scrolls into view.
The result: mobile performance went from 75 to 85, and the main content appears in 3.0 seconds instead of 3.9, while accessibility stayed at 99 and best practices and SEO stayed at 100. On desktop the same page scores in the 90s. There is still room to improve, mainly by compressing images further, and that is next on our list.
Quick wins that help most websites
- Compress and resize images. Use modern formats such as WebP, and never upload a 4000-pixel photo to show it at 800 pixels.
- Turn on caching. Let browsers keep images, fonts, styles and scripts so returning visitors load the site almost instantly.
- Lazy-load what is below the fold. Images, videos and maps further down the page can wait until the visitor scrolls to them.
- Reserve space for images and embeds. Set a width and height so content does not jump when they load. This fixes most CLS problems.
- Cut heavy plugins and third-party scripts. Every chat widget, slider and tracking script adds weight. Keep the ones that earn their place.
- Use good hosting. A slow server delays everything else, no matter how well the page is built.
Does speed really affect Google rankings?
Page experience, including Core Web Vitals, is one of many signals Google uses, and helpful, relevant content still matters most. Speed alone will not lift a weak page to the top. But when two pages are similarly useful, the faster, more stable one has an edge, and it certainly wins with visitors: people stay longer, read more and contact you more often when a site feels quick. That is why we build every site for speed from day one, rather than trying to fix it later.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good PageSpeed score?
90 or above is good, 50–89 needs improvement and below 50 is poor. Aim for green on desktop and as high as you can on mobile; rich, animated pages can still be fast if they are built carefully.
Why is my mobile score lower than desktop?
The mobile test simulates a mid-range phone on a slow 4G connection, so every extra file and script counts for much more. It is normal for mobile to score lower.
Can a website be both beautiful and fast?
Yes. Animations, video and rich design only slow a site down when they are loaded carelessly. Caching, lazy loading and well-sized images let you keep the wow factor without the wait.
Want a faster website?
We build hand-coded websites that load fast, score well on Core Web Vitals and are ready for Google from launch, and we can audit and speed up the site you already have. Ask us for a free speed check. For more ways to find what is holding your site back, see our checklist of 7 signs your business website is losing clients.
Thresholds are Google's published Core Web Vitals targets. Our results were measured with Google PageSpeed Insights (Lighthouse 13.5, mobile, emulated mid-range phone on slow 4G) on 20 October 2026; lab scores vary slightly between runs.