Core Web Vitals are Google's measures of how fast and stable a web page feels to a real person. They form part of how Google assesses page experience, and they have a direct effect on whether candidates stay on your site or leave.
The three measures
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures how quickly the main content appears.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP) measures how quickly the page responds when someone taps or clicks.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures how much the page jumps around while it loads.
Google publishes target thresholds for each, and reports your performance in Search Console using data from real visitors.
Why recruitment websites struggle
- Large hero images and videos that are not optimised.
- Heavy job search widgets and third-party scripts.
- Chat tools, tracking tags and pop-ups loading on every page.
- Job listings loaded slowly from an external feed.
- Cookie banners and ads that push content down the page.
Common fixes
- Compress and resize images, and use modern formats.
- Load non-essential scripts after the main content.
- Remove tracking tags and plugins you no longer use.
- Reserve space for images, banners and embeds so the layout does not shift.
- Cache job data so pages do not wait on the ATS feed.
- Use a fast host and a content delivery network.
Where to measure
Search Console shows Core Web Vitals for groups of pages based on real visitors. PageSpeed Insights gives page-level detail and recommendations. Check job pages and sector landing pages, not just the homepage, as they often receive the most traffic.
Speed is part of the experience
A fast website is not just a technical score. It is the difference between a candidate reading your job advert and a candidate going back to the search results. Treat performance as part of the design, not an afterthought.