Core Web Vitals & Performance Monitoring

Pro+ Feature

Real-time and historical tracking of website performance metrics that impact user experience and search rankings

Overview

The Core Web Vitals & Performance monitoring feature provides comprehensive tracking of your website's performance metrics using Google's PageSpeed Insights API and Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) data.

Real-Time Monitoring

Live Core Web Vitals tracking with device-specific analysis

Historical Data

30-day trend analysis with performance score tracking

CrUX Integration

Real user experience data from Chrome browsers

Prerequisites

✓ProRank SEO Business, Agency, or Pro+ License - Required for Core Web Vitals monitoring
✓SSL Certificate - HTTPS required for accurate CrUX data
○PageSpeed Insights API Key - Optional, for higher quotas

Initial Setup

Navigate to ProRank SEO → Analytics → Core Web Vitals & Performance
The dashboard automatically begins collecting data for your homepage
Use the URL selector dropdown to monitor specific pages
Toggle between Mobile and Desktop views using the device selector

First-Time Setup: Initial data collection takes 5-10 minutes. The dashboard will populate automatically once metrics are available.

Understanding Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics that measure real-world user experience for loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability of the page.

Metric	Measures	Good	Needs Improvement	Poor
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)	Loading performance	≤ 2.5s	2.5-4.0s	> 4.0s
INP (Interaction to Next Paint)	Responsiveness	≤ 200ms	200-500ms	> 500ms
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)	Visual stability	≤ 0.1	0.1-0.25	> 0.25

Supporting Metrics

FCP (First Contentful Paint)

< 1.8s

When first text or image is painted

TTFB (Time to First Byte)

< 0.8s

Server response time

Speed Index

< 3.4s

How quickly content is visually displayed

Dashboard Features

🩺 Performance Doctor (AI-Powered)

• Automatic detection of performance issues from PageSpeed Insights audits
• Real-time analysis with severity levels (Critical/Moderate/Minor)
• One-click auto-fix for supported issues (image optimization, caching, etc.)
• Business impact calculator showing load time, bounce rate, and revenue improvements

📊 Real-time Monitor

• Live Core Web Vitals values from PageSpeed Insights API
• All 6 metrics: LCP, INP, CLS, FCP, TTFB with thresholds
• Performance score visualization (0-100)
• Auto-refresh every 30 seconds option
• Device-specific testing (Mobile/Desktop)

🏆 Competition Analysis

• Compare your site with up to 5 competitors
• Real-time fetching of competitor Core Web Vitals
• Side-by-side performance comparison table
• Automatic insights on performance gaps
• Identifies specific areas where competitors excel

📈 Historical Trends

• 30-day performance timeline with interactive charts
• Track improvements over time
• Detailed values on hover
• Data persistence in database

🎯 Fix & Optimize

• Specific optimization recommendations from PageSpeed audits
• Priority-ordered improvements based on impact
• Direct integration with performance optimization modules

👥 Real Users Data (CrUX)

• Chrome User Experience Report integration
• 75th percentile real user metrics
• Origin-level and URL-level data when available
• Pass rate calculations

API Key Configuration

While ProRank provides a default API key, you can use your own PageSpeed Insights API key for higher quotas:

1. Go to ProRank SEO → Analytics → Integrations Setup
2. Click on the PageSpeed Insights card
3. Enter your API key and click Save
4. System will verify and confirm connection

Getting a Free API Key: Visit the Google Cloud Console, enable the PageSpeed Insights API, and create credentials.

How It Works

🔄 Data Flow

Dashboard sends request to ProRank REST API endpoints
API calls Google PageSpeed Insights v5 with your URL
PageSpeed returns both lab data (Lighthouse) and field data (CrUX)
Data is parsed, stored in database, and displayed in real-time
Performance Doctor analyzes audit failures to create actionable issues

🎯 Performance Doctor Analysis

The AI-powered Performance Doctor automatically:

Scans all PageSpeed Insights audit results
Identifies audits with scores below 0.9 (failed audits)
Maps failed audits to specific fixable issues
Calculates real business impact based on your metrics
Provides one-click fixes for supported optimizations

🏁 Competition Analysis Process

Enter competitor URLs (up to 5)
Click "Analyze Competitors"
System fetches real-time CWV data for each URL
Displays side-by-side comparison with color coding
Generates insights based on performance differences

Performance Optimization Tools

Image Optimization

✓ WebP Conversion
✓ Lazy Loading
✓ Responsive Images

JavaScript Optimization

✓ Defer JavaScript
✓ Remove Unused JS
✓ Code Splitting

CSS Optimization

✓ Critical CSS
✓ Remove Unused CSS
✓ Minification

Caching Configuration

✓ Page Caching
✓ Browser Caching
✓ CDN Integration

Troubleshooting

No Data Appearing

Dashboard shows "No data available"

• Verify site is publicly accessible
• Check HTTPS configuration
• Wait 5-10 minutes for initial collection
• Ensure JavaScript is enabled

CrUX Data Not Available

No Chrome UX Report data for URL

• CrUX requires 1000+ visits/month
• Use origin-level data instead
• Focus on lab data from PSI

API Rate Limits

API quota exceeded error

• Use your own PSI API key
• Reduce monitoring frequency
• Limit monitored URLs
• Enable caching (1-hour minimum)

Best Practices

Optimization Priority

1. Fix red metrics first
2. Mobile-first approach
3. Monitor after changes

Testing Methodology

1. Run multiple tests
2. Test different times
3. Test various locations

Continuous Monitoring

1. Daily key pages
2. Weekly analysis
3. Monthly reports

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do lab data and field data differ?

Lab data represents controlled testing conditions, while field data reflects real user experiences with varying network conditions, devices, and behaviors.

How often should I run performance tests?

For active optimization: test after each change. For monitoring: daily automated tests are sufficient. Weekly deep analysis recommended for trend tracking.

Which metrics are most important for SEO?

All three Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) are ranking factors. Google requires passing all three for the full ranking benefit. Focus on failing metrics first.