Core Web Vitals

Same thing, now that Google take into account the core web vitals for the SEO it would be nice if Squarespace worked on Optimizing it.

I'm joining this thread as just got same issues via web.dev. All other scores are 100/100 but the CLS issues on SQ still drop my performance to 51%, even after reducing java scripts and image sizes... 

As above, I'd love to hear from SQ if you're all doing something about it. 

I am experiencing this issue since 4/27 as well. Would like to know if there is a fix for this on our end?

Mid June is here. We have tabled developing any new sites on Squarespace until Google Page Experience is addressed.

Hi team,

A web developer colleague has put me onto this google speed testing tool: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

I have tested several of my Squarespace websites using the tool and they all get TERRIBLE ratings especially on mobile. 

Does anyone have advice on how to improve the ratings beyond making images smaller. We can't improve the format yet so that is out but what else can we do.

Cheers,

Brent

Exactly the same situation for me. Would love to know if Squarespace are working on improving site speed for their mobile sites? Pretty detrimental for all customers. 

Experiencing the same as described, with very low mobile scores on PageSpeed/Lighthouse (typically around 30/100). Following this.

Do anyone know if Squarespace have answered this issue anywhere?

What's the deal, Squarespace?

I am having exactly the same problems. Since a couple of weeks I am getting really low scores. I have tried a couple of things but nothing seems to solve the problems. Would be nice if sq could inform us why it is happening and how it will be resolved!

Same issue here, loosing all my rankings.

What to do if SS doesn't solve the issue soon, move it to WP? I'd rather not do that in a hurry but also not keen on losing all my rankings!

Bumping this thread.

Does anyone know if this has been addressed at all by SquareSpace? We've all known the update was coming for awhile, and now we are finally seeing the rollout.

Personally, I would just like to know what action SquareSpace is taking (if any), how they are prioritizing it, and what we can expect in the future if we keep our site on the platform.

Tomorrow there's a session that talks about SEO and squarespace with a Q&A (you have to sign up below). I implore everybody to attend and to ask what they're doing about extremely poor Core Web Vitals performance.

If enough people ask the question then it won't be missed. In my opinion, this session should cover nothing else.

I'm now seeing a clear drop in rankings and what that leads to (almost immediately)? All of my hard work that I put into my business going down the drain.

https://learning.squarespace.com/webinars-calendar/growing-your-audience-webinar

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I have just created a brand new, super light weight page for a client and it ranks terribly on the Google Pagespeed tool. 34% on mobile! The page has one small image and just plain text.

Most of the issue is the compressed javascript as you can see in the image attached.

I have no idea what to do about it.

Sure would be nice to see Squarespace do what Wix just announced regarding GCWV.

https://support.wix.com/en/article/site-performance-about-core-web-vitals

2 hours ago, carl.olson said:

Sure would be nice to see Squarespace do what Wix just announced regarding GCWV.

 

https://support.wix.com/en/article/site-performance-about-core-web-vitals

At the end of the article is a very good point:

That Wix page is hardly superb: Google is basically saying that CWV will negatively affect ranking. IE organic traffic. Content is always important but if you lead-generation relies on Google organic then the most amazing piece of content simply won't appear anywhere where it will be seen. We have no idea of knowing what the relationship of a good piece of content is versus an override factor that Google might place if that same piece of content has poor CWV scores. It's all conjecture but maybe WIX knows something we don't.

Our own website scores on Lighthouse (tested incognito) higher than 93 across all tests on both mobile and desktop. However, performance is 68 on desktop and 19 on mobile. There is nothing we can do about that as these resources are locked up in parts of the SS CMS that are not accessible for optimisation.

I had heard that they were doing something about this, it has certainly been a curve ball for all website developers.

You can use pre-connect and pre-fetch to improve things a bit, as well as loading some of the standard scripts by hosting locally.

Everyone that has commented here should write to support.

6 hours ago, Brent_Dickens said:

Content will remain the most important factor in maintaining your SEO score.

That message should be front and center. If I were Squarespace I would start with this in commenting on GCWV.

I received this message during the webinar after I asked a question:

Quote

"Thanks for joining the webinar today. I understand you have some concerns related to Google’s new Core Web Vitals page ranking changes within Google Search Console that are being rolled out between mid-June and August this year. Google has said that sites generally should not expect drastic changes, and that this rollout is gradual so it won’t be affecting your site all at once: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/04/more-details-page-experience#gradual-rollout We’re unable to go into more depth or troubleshoot during our session today as we’re only handling general questions about growing your audience. Please reach out to our Customer Support channel directly with a link to your site and screenshots showing the changes in your site data within Google Search Console between May (or earlier) and mid-June so we can see what’s changed and track this: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=147618 

As you can see my search console shows that prior to May, my clicks were following the trend of my impressions closely. This is no longer the case. 

You can also see that my click through rate is the lowest it's been for 12 months (apart from Christmas, for obvious reasons)

Following

Does including the Google Analytics code into your site add another roadblock?

Site URL: http://shawdigital.com.au/

Google's Page Speed Insights indicates that my site is very slow. My images are optimised etc. What's the update with Squarespace taking the initiative and speeding up their sites? I heard they were in the process of doing so?

@Sarah_SQSP Do you have any info on this? 😊 Seems to be an important issue for many people.

LCP and CLS issues are the reason why Google shows a lightning bolt icon (first screenshot) behind our page results. And by clicking the pagelink Google shows the Google AMP-viewer (second screenshot) instead of our Squarespace site.

1. This is killing for the lead experience.
2. And leads even have to click ones more on the Google AMP-viewer before entering our Squarespace site. 

Bad Web Vitals are not only negatively influencing our organic search results (-30% m/m) but also killing the experience. We have followed all the guidelines for fast loading of content. 

GT metrix show the following 2 top issues in all off their reports (third screenshot):

There is nothing we can do about these issues. How can we move SS team to optimise the Web Vitals?

1 hour ago, BRands said:

LCP and CLS issues are the reason why Google shows a lightning bolt icon behind our page results.

That's not correct. The lightning bolt icon does not indicate an issue with website performance.

It indicates that a lightweight or 'AMP' version of the link is available. AMP is available for blog posts, if the feature has been enabled in Settings > Blogging > Accelerated Mobile Pages. 

You'll see that there's no lightning bolt for non-blog pages on the same site.