14. January 2024

A Guide Into Google Cumulative Layout Shift

google-cumulative-layout-shift

Google’s Cumulative Layout Shift is a new metric that measures how much content shifts around on a page as it loads.

Here’s why this matters for your website.

What is the Google Cumulative Layout Shift?

google cumulative layout shift

The Google Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is a metric that measures the stability of a webpage. One important part of user experience is measuring how often people have to deal with sudden changes in the layout of a page while they are trying to watch or interact with it.

Many things can cause layout shifts, but some of the most common causes are:

– Images or other content that is not yet loaded, causing the page layout to change as it loads.

– Ads or other embedded content that resizes or moves as they load.

– Dynamic content that changes the page layout after the page has loaded, such as “infinite scroll” features that add new content as you scroll down.

The CLS metric measures how often these layout shifts occur during the entire lifespan of a page. A high CLS score means that users are likely to experience frequent layout shifts, while a low CLS score means that layout shifts are less common.

You can improve your CLS score by doing things like:

– Deferring non-critical resources, so they don’t cause layout shifts while loading.

– Optimizing images, so they don’t cause layout shifts while loading.

– Avoiding ads and other embedded content that may resize or move while loading.

Improving your CLS score can improve the user experience of your site and may even lead to higher search engine rankings.

The benefits of the Google Cumulative Layout Shift

If you’re anything like me, you always look for ways to improve your website’s performance. Google’s Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is a great way to do that. CLS is a metric that measures how often users experience unexpected layout changes on a page. This can be caused by images or ads loading in unexpectedly or text moving around as the page loads.

A high CLS score means that users have a bad experience on your site, and it’s something you should try to improve. A few benefits to improving your CLS score are:

  • It can help improve your SEO ranking. Google considers CLS when determining where to rank your site in search results. A high CLS score signifies that your site isn’t optimized for search engines. So if you have a high CLS score, you could miss out on valuable traffic. By fixing the issues causing layout shifts, you can improve your site’s SEO and make it more visible in search results.
  • It can help increase your conversion rate. A bad user experience often leads to people bouncing from your site without taking action. By improving your CLS score, you can keep people on your site longer and increase the likelihood that they’ll take the action you want (such as making a purchase).
  • It can help improve the overall quality of your site. A high CLS score indicates that something on your site isn’t working right. By fixing the issues causing layout shifts, you can improve the overall quality of your site and make it more enjoyable for users.
  • It can help improve your AdWords quality score. A high CLS score signifies that your site isn’t optimized for Google AdWords. By fixing the issues causing layout shifts, you can improve your AdWords quality score and make your ads more visible in search results.
  • It can help reduce your bounce rate. A high CLS score is often associated with a high bounce rate. By fixing the issues causing layout shifts, you can reduce the number of people who leave your site without taking action.
  • It can help increase the time people spend on your site. A high CLS score is often associated with a low average on-site time. By fixing the issues causing layout shifts, you can increase the time people spend on your site.
  • It can help increase the number of pages people view on your site. A high CLS score is often associated with low pageviews per visit. By fixing the issues causing layout shifts, you can increase the number of pages people view on your site.

Layout shift is a metric that measures how often users experience unexpected layout changes while they are interacting with a page. This can be caused by things like images or ads loading in unexpectedly or changes to the page’s CSS that cause elements to move around.

How to implement the Google Cumulative Layout Shift

google cumulative layout shift

CLS is calculated by taking the sum of all layout shift scores for all elements that have shifted during the page’s lifetime. You will need to add some code to your pages to implement the Google CLS metric on your website. You can find more information about how to do this in the Google Developers documentation.

Layout shift can be a frustrating experience for users, leading to pages being ranked lower in search results. The Google Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) metric measures layout shift, considering how often users experience unexpected layout changes and how severe those changes are.

Once you have added the code to your pages, you can start monitoring your CLS score using the Google Search Console. This will help you identify areas where your website is experiencing layout shifts and make improvements to reduce the number of layout shifts users experience.

The potential downside of the Google Cumulative Layout Shift

When it comes to web design, there is always a potential downside to any change – even as seemingly harmless as the Google Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). While the CLS is designed to improve user experience by reducing the time users spend waiting for the page content to load, it can also hurt your site’s overall performance.

One of the biggest potential problems with the CLS is that it can cause your site to load more slowly. This is because the CLS requires that all of your site’s resources (including images, CSS files, and JavaScript) be loaded before the browser can render the page. If your site has a lot of large resources, this can significantly increase the time it takes for your page to load.

The CLS can also cause problems with how your site renders on different devices. This is because the CLS relies on a number of different factors – including viewport size, screen resolution, and device type – to determine how content should be displayed. If your site is not optimized for these factors, it could result in broken or misaligned pages on certain devices.

Overall, the Google Cumulative Layout Shift can be a great tool for improving user experience on your website. However, it’s important to consider the potential drawbacks of using this tool before implementing it on your site.

Summary

If you’re looking to improve your website’s performance, Google’s Cumulative Layout Shift is a metric you should be paying attention to. By measuring how many content shifts around on a page as it loads, CLS can help you identify areas where your site needs improvement.

In short, paying attention to CLS will help you create a better user experience.

Disclosure: Some of my posts contain ‘affiliate links.’ This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.

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