# 2 in 3 charity websites face negative impact from Google Core Web Vitals

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/07/15/2-in-3-charity-websites-face-negative-impact-from-google-core-web-vitals/
- Published: 2021-07-15T09:20:00+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Research from CharityComms by digital media agency Uprise Up on the impact of 
Google’s new Core Web Vitals on charity websites has shown that many face being 
negatively impacted.**

Out of a sample of charities reviewed, only one third are ready for the introduction
of Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor by the end of August.

This means that 66% of sites still have unresolved issues that could affect both
user engagement and search rankings in Google Search Results.

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Core Web Vitals are metrics that measure the user experience a page provides. They
have been available for analysis for over a year, but are only just becoming a ranking
factor for Google Search Results.

The metrics are Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID) and Cumulative
Layout Shift (CLS). They look at the loading time (LCP), responsiveness (FID) and
stability (CLS) of a page.

The research reveals LCP and CLS to be most likely to have a detrimental impact 
to charity traffic if left unresolved. 60% of pages have an LCP higher than 2.5s,
Google’s recommended target, with some pages taking more than twice as long to load.
Page speed has always been a crucial factor for mobile traffic and rankings, with
fast-loading sites becoming an expected standard by users. According to the study,
Core Web Vitals both confirms this and highlights how much charities lag behind 
the target.

46% of surveyed charities also have a CLS average over 0.25, a value considered 
poor by Google. 0.1 is the ideal, with the intent being to have pages present stable
content and design. Elements that jump around the page can interfere with user engagement
and lead to users exiting before taking action, such as donating or signing up to
a newsletter. Now this factor will influence a charity’s rankings in the search 
results themselves, which could also lead to fewer leads.

Further details on the research along with some guidance to help charities take 
action can be found on the [CharityComms site](https://www.charitycomms.org.uk/digital- benchmark/mobile-traffic-to-charity-websites-is-rising-but-only-a-third-of-charities- pass-googles-core-web-vitals).