User experience is generally affected by a set of webpage functionalities commonly known as Core Web Vitals. As of June 2021, these core web vitals play an important role in the SEO services for ranking online (used in onsite SEO and onpage SEO). This is keeping in line with the new algorithm update by Google. These web vitals are basically a set of three parts, that is Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Here, we shall be focussing on FID alone.

What is FID/First Input Delay?

FID is a user-specific metric that helps in quantifying user experiences when they are trying to interact with pages that are unresponsive - the lower the FID, the more usable the page. It is a crucial metric that starts measuring load responsiveness from the time a user clicks on some button to interact with a page up until the browser loads/processes the event.

Why is FID Important?

As per Google, there are two primary reasons why FID is important. They are mentioned below:

• FID or First Input Delay is the very first impression of any user of the site’s responsiveness. And since we know that the first impression is the last impression, this helps in figuring out how reliable the website is - thereby creating a holistic impression.
• People generally face interactivity issues when there are loading issues on the web. Therefore, it takes the case forward that the primary focus should be on the first interaction as that will help gauge the overall interactivity of the page.

Having mentioned the above two points, it is also crucial to note that every user visiting the site in no way implies that they will interact with the site. Furthermore, First Input Delay does not cover every kind of interaction there is - its analysis, tracking, etc., is fairly different from the other metrics.

How is FID measured?

According to Google, websites generally aim for a first input delay of 100 milliseconds or lesser than that - that is the response time of regular interaction. Thus, to be able to fall under the “good” category, the threshold for Google must meet 75%. But what is measured in all this?

• It measures the first impression of site interactivity
• It looks at taps, clicks, etc., all of which come under “responsiveness”

What it does not analyse are things like page scrolling zooming in or out, etc.

How are FID and SEO related?

One of the best SEO practices is quick page loading. The quicker your page loads and interacts with the users, the longer they will stay - and that is what FID does. Further, if your site is slow, it can negatively affect your SEO ranking as customers will bounce from one site to another. If they bounce off of yours, there is a high possibility that they will not return. Therefore, these two go hand in hand.

To make the best use of this, it is important to run performance tests and audit checks. Once you are aware of what is going on, your FID score will definitely stay healthy!

If you are nervous about these latest changes and their effect on your online business, head to #ARM Worldwide a best SEO agency in India. They are a digital marketing consultancy that offers the best SEO services in line with the latest Google updates.