How to Pass Google Core Web Vitals Using WordPress
Core Web Vitals Guide
How to Pass Google Core Web Vitals Using WordPress
Google’s Core Web Vitals (CWV) are essential speed and user experience metrics that directly impact search rankings. If your WordPress website fails LCP, INP, or CLS, your rankings, traffic, and conversions will drop. This guide teaches you the exact steps to pass all Core Web Vitals using proven WordPress-focused optimization techniques for 2025.
1
What Are Google Core Web Vitals?
Three essential performance metrics for user experience.
Core Web Vitals measure how fast and stable your website feels for real users. Google evaluates them using real-world Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) data.
The three Core Web Vitals are:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) — Measures loading speed
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint) — Measures responsiveness
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) — Measures visual stability
To pass CWV, your site must fall within Google’s recommended thresholds.
2
How to Fix LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
Improve loading speed for the first visible element.
Common causes of poor LCP:
- Slow server response
- Heavy hero images
- Render-blocking CSS/JS
- No caching or CDN
Fix LCP with these steps:
✓
Compress hero images (below 150 KB)
✓
Convert all images to WebP
✓
Preload the hero image in your theme
✓
Use LiteSpeed Cache + QUIC.cloud CDN
✓
Remove unused CSS
✓
Minify CSS & JS files
Optimizing LCP typically brings the biggest improvement to your PageSpeed score.
3
How to Fix INP (Interaction to Next Paint)
Improve how quickly your website responds to user interactions.
Typical causes of poor INP:
- Too much JavaScript execution
- Heavy page builder elements
- Many third-party scripts
- Unoptimized sliders, animations, popups
Best INP optimization methods:
- Delay unnecessary JavaScript
- Defer scripts to reduce main-thread blocking
- Remove heavy animations and sliders
- Use fewer Elementor widgets/addons
- Limit third-party scripts (chat widgets, analytics)
INP is the hardest CWV metric to fix, but reducing JavaScript always helps.
4
How to Fix CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
Ensure stability while the page loads.
Main causes of CLS:
- Images without width/height attributes
- Ads or pop-ups shifting layout
- Lazy load pushing content down
- Web fonts causing text reflow
How to improve CLS:
- Add width & height to all images
- Reserve space for ads and embeds
- Enable lazy loading carefully
- Use font-display: swap
Fixing CLS is usually quick and guaranteed.
5
Plugins That Help Pass Core Web Vitals
These tools automate important optimizations.
Recommended plugins:
- LiteSpeed Cache — Best all-in-one performance plugin
- Autoptimize — Great for CSS/JS optimization
- WP Rocket — Premium CWV optimization
- ShortPixel / Imagify — Image optimization
Using multiple optimization plugins can cause conflicts — choose one main one.
6
Use a CDN to Reduce TTFB & LCP
CDNs improve global loading speed significantly.
Best CDN options:
- Cloudflare CDN (free)
- QUIC.cloud CDN (best with LiteSpeed)
- BunnyCDN
A CDN lowers LCP and improves rendering for visitors far from your server.
7
Choose a Lightweight & CWV-Friendly Theme
Heavy themes make passing CWV extremely difficult.
Recommended themes:
- Hello Elementor
- GeneratePress
- Astra
- SiteCrafted (pre-optimized for CWV)
A clean theme reduces the amount of CSS/JS that affects LCP and INP.
8
How to Test Your Core Web Vitals
Use trusted tools to analyze real results.
Use these tools for accurate CWV analysis:
- Google PageSpeed Insights
- Google Search Console → Core Web Vitals Report
- WebPageTest.org
- GTmetrix (for waterfall analysis)
Always test after clearing cache and enabling new settings.
Want a Theme That Passes Core Web Vitals Automatically?
Every SiteCrafted template is engineered to score high on LCP, INP, CLS, and overall Google PageSpeed metrics.
FAQ
Q: Can a WordPress site pass CWV without plugins?
Yes, but caching, image optimization, and minification plugins make it much easier.
Q: What is the hardest CWV metric to fix?
INP — because it depends heavily on JavaScript performance.
Q: Does Elementor make CWV harder to pass?
Yes, but with proper optimization, Elementor sites can still pass CWV easily.
SC
SiteCrafted Team
We help WordPress users build fast, SEO-optimized, Core-Web-Vitals-friendly websites.
