Going Global: Enhancing Core Web Vitals with CDN Implementation

Introduction Digital Loop’s SEO experts recently collaborated with a client’s team and their technical team to address critical performance issues on the client’s website. The main challenge was improving Core Web Vitals (CWV) metrics, specifically Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and Interaction to Next Paint (INP). These metrics are essential for both user experience and search engine optimization. A decision was made to implement a Content Delivery Network (CDN) as a solution to these issues.

Background 

The client’s website was underperforming in terms of CWV metrics:

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): 63%-71% of pages passed the metric.
• INP (Interaction to Next Paint): 73%-79% of pages passed the metric.

What is LCP and INP?

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): LCP measures the time it takes for the largest visible content (such as an image or a block of text) to load and become visible to the user. It reflects how quickly a page’s main content is displayed, directly influencing the perceived load speed.

Interaction to Next Paint (INP): INP gauges the responsiveness of a page by measuring the time between a user interaction (like a click or tap) and the next screen update. It indicates how smoothly a website responds to user inputs, affecting the overall interactivity experience.

These scores significantly impacted both user experience and search engine rankings, prompting the need for immediate action. The site operates on a worldwide scale, serving users across multiple regions.

What is a CDN? 

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a geographically distributed network of servers that work together to deliver website content more efficiently. By caching content on servers located closer to the end users, a CDN reduces latency and improves website speed.

Importance of a CDN for a Website

• Improved Performance: By reducing the physical distance between servers and users, a CDN minimizes loading times for website assets.
• Enhanced User Experience: Faster load times and smoother interactions lead to higher user satisfaction.
• Better SEO Rankings: Google prioritizes websites that meet CWV standards, directly influencing search rankings.
• Scalability: CDNs handle traffic spikes effectively, ensuring reliability during high demand.
• Reduced Bandwidth Costs: By caching content, CDNs reduce the amount of data that origin servers need to provide.

Benefits of the CDN Implementation

• Faster Load Times: The website’s critical assets now load significantly faster, improving both LCP and INP scores.
• Improved User Retention: A faster and more responsive website reduced bounce rates and increased engagement.
• Better Scalability: The site now handles traffic surges seamlessly, ensuring consistent performance.
• Reduced Server Load: By offloading traffic to the CDN, the origin server operates more efficiently.

Implementation 

The project involved three main teams:

1. Digital Loop’s SEO Team: Identified the performance bottlenecks and proposed the CDN implementation.
2. The Client’s Team: Provided insights into business needs and monitored the implementation's impact.
3. The Client’s Technical Team: Handled the technical aspects of integrating the CDN with the website.

Steps taken:

1. Analysis of Current Performance: Benchmarking the site’s performance metrics before implementation.
2. Selection of a CDN Provider: Choosing a CDN solution based on performance, cost, and compatibility with the website’s infrastructure.
3. Implementation: Configuring the CDN to cache static assets, enable compression, and optimize content delivery.
4. Testing: Monitoring and adjusting configurations to ensure optimal performance.

Results 

The implementation of the CDN had an immediate and significant impact on the client’s CWV metrics:

• LCP: Improved from 63%-71% to 80%-85% of pages passing the metric.

• INP: Improved from 73%-79% to 82%-89% of pages passing the metric.

After implementation, the site successfully passed CWV metrics in all tested regions, spanning more than 10 major countries worldwide.

These improvements led to:

• Enhanced user experience due to faster loading times and smoother interactions.
• Higher search engine rankings, boosting organic traffic to the website.
• Increased client satisfaction and confidence in Digital Loop’s SEO strategies.

Conclusion This case study underscores the importance of leveraging modern solutions like CDNs to address performance issues. Digital Loop’s proactive approach and collaboration with the client’s teams resulted in measurable improvements, reinforcing the value of continuous optimization for digital success.