(Not a stock image. Actual photo taken by me whilst snowshoeing. )

Hi there,

Before you (hopefully!) head out for some well-deserved rest and relaxation, we're squeezing out one last message before the holidays. 

Keep reading to find out why Google's Core Web Vitals matter more than ever, what they measure (in case you need to catch up on that), and what we've done to help you track them. We've also rounded up lots of goodies from our friends in the performance community, including web trends from the HTTP Archive and case studies from our friends at BBC and Agrofy.

As always, if you have any questions or feedback, please let us know. Otherwise, see you in 2021!

Warmly,
Tammy
@tameverts

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Core Web Vitals to become a Google search ranking signal

Google recently announced that page experience signals will become a search ranking signal in May 2021. The new signals combine Core Web Vitals with existing search signals, including mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS-security, and intrusive interstitial guidelines. 

New! Vitals dashboard

Just in time for the holidays, we're happy to bring you your new Vitals dashboard to help you get a jumpstart on tracking Core Web Vitals. The simplified first view lets you see where your numbers stand relative to Google's recommended thresholds. From here, you can expand each metric for more details to help troubleshoot.

First Input Delay: How vital is it?

First Input Delay (FID) is a Core Web Vital that shines a spotlight on how quickly your pages respond to user input. Cliff (@cliffcrocker) did some investigating to see what FID looks like in the real world, and how it correlates with user behaviour.

ICYMI: More support for Web Vitals

We've been monitoring Web Vitals for a while now. Here are some how-tos and best practices you may want to check out:

• How to create performance budgets and get alerts for Web Vitals
• Visualizing Cumulative Layout Shifts
• CLS: What it measures, when it works (and doesn't), and how to use it

Chrome Dev Summit: Web Performance 101

This year I was invited by Google to deliver an "introduction to performance" workshop as part of Chrome Dev Summit. Chances are, you're pretty familiar with performance by now, so this talk might not be for you. It's aimed at anyone who wants an overview of first principles, so it might be just the thing to share with folks in your organization who are new to performance. 

Topics include:

• Psychology of performance
• Business impact
• History of key metrics
• Synthetic vs real user monitoring
• Performance budgets
• Performance culture

More good reads...

Some interesting and inspiring reads from our friends in the #webperf community:

• 2020 Web Almanac – This annual "state of the web" report is a great resource for anyone who wants to better understand trends and issues facing modern web pages. Using data from the HTTP Archive, performance experts analyze and discuss aspects of page content, user experience, publishing, and distribution.
• Web Performance Calendar – For more than ten years, Stoyan Stefanov has organized this virtual advent calendar with daily contributions from members of the performance community. Topics range from introductory to deep dives. (Hint: It's not too late to be a contributor.)
• How to read a WebPageTest waterfall chart – This is a fantastic, detailed explainer by Matt Hobbs. It's a living resource that Matt updates regularly. Definitely worth bookmarking and referring back to. 
• How Agrofy optimized Core Web Vitals and improved business metrics – If you're wondering about how closely Web Vitals correlate to the performance of your business, this case study from Luciano Mollar makes a compelling argument.
• How the BBC World Service migrated 31 million weekly readers to an isomorphic react app and improved page performance by up to 83% – Another great case study that includes Web Vitals, this time from Chris Hinds at BBC.

See you in 2021!

Here at SpeedCurve HQ, we've been busy mapping out the new year, and we think you're going to like what we've got planned. Until then, from all of us, here's to a restful and recharging holiday season.