How to check Core Web Vitals in Search Console

Want to see how your website performs in terms of speed and user experience? Google Search Console provides a Core Web Vitals report that highlights performance issues affecting real users. Follow these steps to check and analyse your Core Web Vitals data.

1. Log in to Google Search Console

Go to search.google.com/search-console.
Log in with your Google account.
Select the correct property from the dropdown.

2. Navigate to the Core Web Vitals Report

In the left-hand menu, scroll to the Experience section.
Click Core Web Vitals.
You’ll see separate reports for Mobile and Desktop.

3. Choose Mobile or Desktop

Click either Mobile or Desktop depending on which performance data you want to review.
It’s recommended to check both, starting with Mobile.

4. Review the Overview Status

You’ll see three categories:

Poor
Needs improvement
Good

These are based on real user data from Chrome users.

5. Click on an Issue to See Affected URLs

Click on any issue listed (e.g., “LCP issue: longer than 2.5s”).
Review the number of affected pages.
Click Open report for detailed URL-level data.

6. Analyse the Core Metrics

Core Web Vitals focus on three main metrics:

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) – loading performance.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) – visual stability.
INP (Interaction to Next Paint) – responsiveness.

Identify which metric is causing the issue.

7. Fix Issues on Your Website

Common fixes include:

Optimising images and compressing files.
Improving server response times.
Reducing unused JavaScript and CSS.
Setting proper width/height attributes for images to prevent layout shifts.

8. Validate Fix

After implementing changes, return to the issue report.
Click Validate Fix.
Google will re-evaluate affected URLs over time.

What is Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that helps website owners monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot their presence in search results. It provides insights into indexing status, search performance, crawl issues, and user experience metrics. One of its key reports is Core Web Vitals, which measures real-world performance data from Chrome users. This report focuses on loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability — all of which influence user experience and search rankings. Instead of relying purely on lab data, Search Console shows how actual users experience your site on mobile and desktop devices. By reviewing this report regularly, you can identify performance issues affecting multiple pages and prioritise improvements that enhance both SEO and usability.

Benefits of using Search Console to check Core Web Vitals

Checking Core Web Vitals in Search Console helps you improve site speed, enhance user experience, and protect your search visibility with data from real users.

1. Identify performance issues at scale

The Core Web Vitals report groups affected URLs by issue type, allowing you to see patterns across your site. Instead of checking pages individually, you can quickly identify templates or sections causing problems and address them efficiently.

2. Improve user experience and engagement

Metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) directly affect how users experience your site. Fixing these issues can reduce bounce rates, increase engagement, and improve overall satisfaction.

3. Support SEO performance

Core Web Vitals are part of Google’s page experience signals. While content quality remains the primary ranking factor, poor performance can negatively impact visibility. Monitoring and validating fixes helps maintain a technically strong, search-friendly website.