Boost Local Business SEO with Core Web Vitals

If you run a local business, your website has two jobs: show up and load fast. Google’s Core Web Vitals (CWV) are the simple yardsticks for that second job. In March 2024, Google replaced the older FID signal with INP (Interaction to Next Paint), which measures how snappy your site feels after people click or tap. That change raised the bar—and many small‑business sites still aren’t clearing it.

TL - DR for owners

• “Good” CWV means: LCP ≤ 2.5s, INP ≤ 200ms, CLS ≤ 0.1, each at the 75th percentile of your real users. That’s the same standard Google uses to evaluate pages in the wild.

• Half the web still misses. Globally, only about 51% of sites passed all three Core Web Vitals on mobile as of June 2024—so if your site isn’t there yet, you’re not alone.

• Most SMB platforms can pass. In June 2025, the CWV Technology Report (summarized below) showed big gaps by platform: some CMSs put the average site well inside the “good” zone; others lag.

The scoreboard (June 2025 snapshot)

These are the shares of sites with a “good” overall CWV score by popular website platforms, based on the Core Web Vitals Technology Report for June 2025 (as summarized by Search Engine Journal). Numbers fluctuate month to month, but the pattern is consistent:

As of June 2025, Duda ranks first for the share of sites passing all Core Web Vitals on mobile (83.63%), followed by Shopify (75.22%), Wix (70.76%), Squarespace (67.66%), Drupal (59.07%), and WordPress (43.44%).

Why this matters: Small businesses overwhelmingly use these platforms. If you’re on a tool where the average site passes, you’re already swimming with the current. If you’re on one where less than half pass, you’ll need firmer governance—hosting, theme choices, plugin hygiene—to get into the green.

What “good” means—and why the bar moved

Google judges page experience on real users, not lab guesses. To call a page “good,” at least 75% of visits must meet the thresholds below (mobile and desktop are judged separately):

LCP (loading) ≤ 2.5s, INP (interactivity) ≤ 200ms, CLS (visual stability) ≤ 0.1. INP became the responsiveness metric on March 12, 2024, replacing FID.

Google is clear about ranking: there’s no single “page experience score,” but Core Web Vitals are used by the ranking systems and are worth meeting—especially when good content ties among competitors. Think of CWV as “table stakes” for visibility and conversions.

Where small‑business sites usually stumble (and the fast fixes)

1. Slow hero image = slow site. On mobile, images are the LCP element ~73% of the time. The fix is boring and effective: serve a smaller image, compress to modern formats, and start it earlier (preload or inline priority hints). Many “slow LCP” pages aren’t bandwidth‑bound; they simply delay discovering and fetching the hero.

2. JavaScript doing too much for too long. INP punishes long main‑thread tasks that block clicks from getting visual feedback. Keep bundles lean, defer non‑essentials, and avoid client‑rendering content that could arrive in HTML. Aim for INP ≤ 200ms at p75.

3. Layout jumps. Unexpected shifts (ads, image placeholders, late fonts) tank CLS. Always set width/height (or aspect‑ratio) for media, reserve space for embeds/ads, and avoid inserting stuff above content that’s already rendered. Target CLS ≤ 0.1.

Platform‑by‑platform advice (owner‑friendly)

• Duda / Shopify / Wix / Squarespace: You start ahead. Keep it that way by resisting heavy app/plugin stacks and oversized hero media. Use the platform’s native image/CDN features and their “lazy‑load below the fold” defaults. (The lead these platforms show in the CWV Technology Report suggests their defaults and hosting do a lot of heavy lifting.)

• Drupal / WordPress: You can absolutely pass—but you need guardrails. Pick a modern, lightweight theme, host on fast infrastructure with a CDN, and keep plugins to what you truly use. Turn on server‑side caching and image optimization, and audit third‑party scripts quarterly.

The state of the web

Web performance isn’t a lost cause. Across the whole web, pass rates have climbed year over year; by June 2024, about half of mobile sites passed all three metrics. Platforms have also invested heavily in speed, which is why you see big spreads at the CMS level. If you match the simple practices above, you can join the “good” cohort without a rebuild.

How Lion Swag builds you a “Good at p75” site

Here’s the non‑technical plan we use for small‑business sites. It’s designed to hit CWV thresholds and stay there as you grow.

1) Pick a fast base. We start on a platform and theme with a track record of high pass rates, then keep add‑ons lean. (Yes, even small scripts add up.)

2) Ship the hero early. Your LCP is usually the top image or heading. We give it priority, compress it hard, and send it as soon as HTML lands. That single step moves more needles than most “tweaks.”

3) Keep interaction snappy. We trim or defer JavaScript you don’t need at page‑load and avoid long, blocking tasks on click. That’s how you stay under 200ms INP where it counts.

4) Lock down layout. Everything—images, embeds, ads—gets a reserved box so nothing jumps. That’s how you hold CLS ≤ 0.1.

FAQs

Do Core Web Vitals really affect my rankings?
They’re one of many signals. Great content still wins, but when content quality ties, better page experience helps—and CWV are the clearest, most actionable part of that.

Are these thresholds permanent?
The thresholds are stable, but the responsiveness metric changed in 2024 (INP replaced FID). If Google updates Web Vitals again, we’ll adjust your setup to match.

Why do some platforms score higher?
Tighter control over hosting, caching, image/CDN defaults, and guardrails on add‑ons. In other words: less bloat by default. That shows up in the CWV Technology Report’s platform‑level pass rates.

Sources & methodology

• Thresholds & definitions: Google’s official guidance on LCP ≤ 2.5s, INP ≤ 200ms, CLS ≤ 0.1, evaluated at the 75th percentile. web.dev+3web.dev+3web.dev+3

• Why INP matters now: INP became a stable Core Web Vital on March 12, 2024. web.dev

• Global context: Web Almanac 2024 (HTTP Archive) reports ~51% global pass rate on mobile in June 2024 and details CMS‑level trends. Web Almanac

• Platform‑level pass rates (June 2025): Taken from the Core Web Vitals Technology Report (CrUX + HTTP Archive) as summarized by Search Engine Journal; numbers change monthly. Search Engine Journal+1

• Common bottlenecks: Most mobile pages have an image as the LCP element; many slow pages simply delay fetching it—so scheduling and priority matter as much as compression. web.dev

• Data recency: The CrUX dataset updates monthly (2nd Tuesday), which is why we review performance at a monthly cadence. Chrome for Developers