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Core Web Vitals and Google’s Page Experience Ranking Signal

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A significant Google search algorithm update coming this June incorporates new performance metrics: Core Web Vitals. A new set of ranking signals based around page experience combines Core Web Vitals with existing signals such as mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS-security, and intrusive interstitial guidelines to provide a holistic picture of the quality of a user’s experience on a web page.

Google Core Web Vitals

Google tends to be guarded when it comes to big algorithm updates and how those changes impact search engine results and page rankings. This time, the search giant has provided explicit insight into what’s coming and how site owners and digital agencies can prepare.

Core Web Vitals were introduced by Google less than a year ago to measure real-world web page user experiences and provide guidance for delivering a great experience. While Google captures many data points that speak to site performance and considers hundreds of ranking factors in its algorithm, the Core Web Vitals this update will focus on are:

  1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures perceived load speed — the time from clicking a link to seeing the majority of the on-screen content.
  2. First Input Delay (FID): Measures responsiveness and interactivity — the time “long” tasks delay a visitor’s ability to interact with a page.
  3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures visual stability — the unexpected movement of page elements due to lengthy load time or ad insertions that hinder user interaction and experience.

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How To Optimize Search For A WordPress Ecommerce Store

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Optimize Ecommerce Search

On Wednesday, March 31, I’ll be joining the team at WP Engine to deliver a free webinar titled How to Optimize Search for Your WordPress Ecommerce Store.

We’ll show how analytics can be used to create dynamic search results that boost sales and how modern search tooling can set up an online store to scale smoothly as the business grows. We’ll also highlight some ecommerce stores that are “doing it right” — like an apparel company that saw an 18% increase using the techniques this webinar covers.

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10up Releases Convert to Blocks to Support Safe Migrations to The WordPress Block Editor

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Convert To Blocks Plugin

Convert to Blocks is a new WordPress plugin that automatically converts existing classic content to blocks when a page or post needs to be edited.

The plugin works upon activation, with no configuration needed and does nothing until an editor needs to update or edit an existing piece of content. If a page or post is not already formatted using blocks when the editor is opened, Convert to Blocks automatically maps the content to the relevant blocks that come with WordPress. This approach ensures that existing and older content is preserved as-is until modified, which reduces the risk of unknowingly breaking a page or post content.

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10up Relaunches Eight Day Week, Rolls Out Dedicated Microsite

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Eight Day Week Plugin

We recently relaunched Eight Day Week, our free, open-source plugin that adds web-to-print workflow capabilities to WordPress. As part of the relaunch, we rolled out a new microsite to help explain the plugin.

With no settings or configurations to set up, the plugin empowers publishers to:

  • Design individual print publications by organizing WordPress Posts into Print Issues. Within print issues, editors can create sections, arrange articles, and manage each article’s status.
  • Manage access for print production staff with new print users roles isolated to access and CMS capabilities relevant to their job — e.g. creating and managing issues, viewing issue information, and exporting for final production.
  • Export the print issue as an XML package that can be imported into Adobe InDesign for final page layout and print production.

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WordPress 5.7 Released

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WordPress 5.7 was released this week, bringing with it a refined block editor UI, lazy-loading iframes, streamlined migration from HTTP to HTTPS, standardized colors in the WordPress Admin, and a new Robots API and media search engine visibility setting.

FunFact: WordPress 5.7 is named for Esperanza Spalding, a modern musical prodigy. This is only the second time a WordPress namesake has been a living jazz musician.

Nine 10uppers helped make this release possible, including myself, who was recognized as a Noteworthy Contributor. Thank you for helping make WordPress: Helen Hou-Sandí, Fabian Kaegy, Felipe Elia, John Watkins, Lukas Pawlik, Pete Nelson, Ramon Ahnert, and Stephanie Walters.

10 Years And Up

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10up 10 Year Anniversary

This February, 10up celebrates its 10th anniversary. That’s ten years since I sat down alone in a small home office in Rhode Island, and decided I was ready to start this business.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 30% of businesses reach the 10-year mark. It’s a milestone that has us looking back at our journey from a company of one to a team of more than 230 talented specialists, and looking ahead to the next 10 years.

To kick start some of this reflection, we asked the team if anyone wanted to share what 10up means to them today. Here are just a few clips from those who volunteered to record their thoughts.

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WordPress 5.6 Released, Led by 10up’s Helen Hou-Sandi

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10up Contributors For WordPress 5.6 Simone

WordPress 5.6, released on Tuesday, features expanded auto-update capabilities, further updates to jQuery, the initial groundwork for PHP 8 support, and REST API authentication with Application Passwords to help third-party apps connect with sites securely and help site owners see what connected apps are doing.

It also delivers new block patterns available in all default themes and a brand-new default theme built for the block editor. Twenty Twenty-One prioritizes accessibility, conforming to the WordPress accessibility-ready guidelines and addressing several specialized standards from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at level AAA.

This release, with an all-women and non-binary release squad, was led by 10up’s own Director of Open Source Initiatives Helen Hou-Sandì as Core Tech Lead. Nine other 10uppers helped make this release possible, including myself, who along with Helen, was recognized as a Noteworthy Contributor. Thank you for helping make WordPress: Asvin Balloo, Darin Kotter, Evan Mullins, Fabian Kaegy, Felipe Elia, Helen Hou-Sandí, Jeffrey Paul, Junaid Bhura, Ryan Welcher, and Tung Du!