In May 2021, Google announced that Core Web Vitals would become a ranking factor for websites. This means that the speed and performance of your website will now have an impact on its search engine ranking. Understanding Core Web Vitals, and how to measure and improve them, is crucial for website owners who want to ensure their website is optimized for search engines.
Introduction to TBT Core Web Vitals
TBT stands for Total Blocking Time and is one of the three Core Web Vitals that Google is using to measure website performance. TBT measures the time between when a user interacts with a website, and when the website is able to respond. It is essentially the time it takes for the website to become interactive.
Google has set a benchmark for TBT of 300 milliseconds or less. This means that a website should respond to user interactions within 300 milliseconds to be considered "good" by Google’s standards. If a website’s TBT is over 300 milliseconds, Google may consider the website to have poor user experience, which can negatively impact its search engine ranking.
Measuring and Improving Your Website’s Performance
There are several tools available for measuring your website’s TBT and other Core Web Vitals including Google’s own PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, and WebPageTest. These tools provide a detailed report of your website’s performance, including TBT and suggestions for improving it.
Improving TBT and other Core Web Vitals can be done by optimizing images, reducing the number of requests made by the website, and minifying code. It’s also important to ensure that your website is hosted on a reliable and fast server to reduce the time it takes for your website to respond to user interactions.
As Google continues to prioritize user experience in its ranking algorithm, it’s essential for website owners to understand Core Web Vitals and optimize their websites accordingly. Focusing on TBT, and other Core Web Vitals, can help improve your website’s search engine ranking and provide a better experience for your users. By measuring and improving your website’s performance, you can ensure that your website is meeting Google’s standards and providing a seamless experience for your users.
