How to Fix Core Web Vitals and Speed Up a Slow WordPress Site
Core Web Vitals Optimization: A Technical Guide Core Web Vitals (CWV) are now a direct ranking factor. If your site scores poorly, you are losing traffic and conversion. This guide covers the technical implementation to move your site into the "Green" zone. 1. Measuring Your Baseline Before changing anything, you need data. Do not rely on "gut feeling." Google PageSpeed Insights (PSI): Use this for lab data and field data (CrUX). Chrome DevTools (Lighthouse): Use the "Performance" tab to record a trace. Look for the "Long Tasks" in the main thread. WebPageTest: Use this for waterfall analysis to see which specific assets are blocking the render. Action: Run PSI. Note your LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift), and INP (Interaction to Next Paint). 2. Reducing TTFB (Time to First Byte) TTFB is the foundation. If your server takes 1s to respond, your LCP will never be under 2.5s. Database Cleanup: Over time,...