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What your site's speed scores mean
Plain words for the scores in Google's speed tools: what they measure, what counts as good and why the numbers move around.
Google's speed tools give a page a score. The numbers look technical, but they describe three things visitors notice: how fast a page shows up, whether it jumps around, and whether it answers a tap quickly. We can't promise rankings, traffic, calls or sales, but this will help you read a report without worrying.
Two kinds of check
- Real visitors. Google measures how real visitors' phones and computers do on your pages. The numbers are called Core Web Vitals. This is the more accurate kind, but Google needs enough visitors first. The scores come from the last 28 days, so after you improve a page you wait for the numbers to catch up.
- A test run. A tool such as Google's PageSpeed Insights loads your page on a pretend slow phone and a slow connection, then gives a score from 0 to 100. Above 90 counts as good. It's a rough guide to what real visitors might see, not a measurement of them.
The three Core Web Vitals
| What it measures | In plain words | A good result |
|---|---|---|
| Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | How long until the biggest thing on the page, usually a photo or headline, shows | 2.5 seconds or less |
| Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | Whether things jump around while the page loads, so a visitor taps the wrong button | 0.1 or less |
| Interaction to Next Paint (INP) | How long the page takes to react when someone taps or clicks | About 200 milliseconds or less |
For a page to pass, most visitors, about three in four, need to get a good result on all three.
Why scores move around
- Small changes from day to day are normal. Load times vary a little, and they depend on what else the visitor's device is doing.
- Phone scores are usually lower than computer scores. Phones are slower and often use mobile data.
- Large swings over weeks can come from Google changing how it scores.
Things a report may list that can't be changed
Reports sometimes list unused files that could be removed. Usually those are standard parts of how your site is built, not anything you added, so there's nothing for you to fix. If you think something you added is on the list, tell us and we'll look.
What you can do
For habits that help a page open quickly, see Keep your site fast. If Google emails you about speed problems, forward it to hello@zossoz.com and we'll look at which page it means.
Need a hand?
Email hello@zossoz.com with your business name and the page, plus the score you see if you have one, and we'll take a look. We reply within one business day. See Request a change.
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