# Is my website slow? How to check it and what to ask for

To find out whether your website is slow, check the real-user data in PageSpeed Insights or the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console, and look at mobile first. Google treats a page as good when its main content appears within 2.5 seconds, it responds to taps within 200 milliseconds and the layout barely shifts while loading. The 0 to 100 score helps you find the cause, but it is not the number that counts.

[Web version](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/is-my-website-slow-core-web-vitals/)

By David Monje, crida studio · Published 2026-11-05 · Updated 2026-11-05

## What Google measures when it calls a site slow

Google measures speed with three metrics it calls Core Web Vitals. LCP is how long the largest element on screen takes to appear, usually an image or a large block of text. INP measures how quickly the page reacts when someone taps a button or opens a menu. CLS measures how much the layout moves around while the page loads.

To pass, all three need to be in the green for at least 75% of visits. Google assesses mobile and desktop separately, so a site that loads quickly on your office computer can still fail on a phone.

Thresholds PageSpeed Insights uses for the three Core Web Vitals.

| Metric | Good | Needs improvement | Poor |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCP, main content loading | 2.5 s or less | 2.5 to 4 s | Over 4 s |
| INP, response to taps and clicks | 200 ms or less | 200 to 500 ms | Over 500 ms |
| CLS, layout movement | 0.1 or less | 0.1 to 0.25 | Over 0.25 |

## Where to check your website speed for free

The quickest option is PageSpeed Insights, a free Google tool. Paste in the address of a page and you get two blocks. At the top is real-user data from Chrome visitors over the last 28 days. Below it is a lab test that loads the page in a simulated environment and suggests fixes.

If your site is set up in Search Console, the Core Web Vitals report shows the whole site at a glance. It groups similar pages, splits mobile from desktop and labels each group Good, Need improvement or Poor based on its worst metric. A group only appears once it has enough LCP and CLS data.


### Is PageSpeed Insights free?

Yes. PageSpeed Insights is a free Google tool that runs in your browser. Enter the page address, pick mobile or desktop and you get real-user data, if there is enough, plus a lab test with suggestions. The real-user data covers the last 28 days.

## Why the 0 to 100 performance score is not what matters

The 0 to 100 score comes from the lab test, which is run by Lighthouse. Google calls 90 or above good and anything under 50 poor, but the test simulates a single device on a fixed connection. Use it to find what slows a page down. To see what your customers actually experience, look at the real-user data at the top.

If a page is new or gets few visits, Google does not have enough real-user data for it. PageSpeed Insights then falls back to data for the whole site, and if there is still not enough, it shows none. At that point the lab test is your only clue. Run it on two or three key pages, such as the home page, a product page and the contact page.


### Why is my mobile score lower than my desktop score?

The mobile test simulates a mid-range phone on a mobile network, while the desktop test uses a wired connection. So it is normal for the mobile score to come out lower, and it does not mean your site is broken. Focus on the real-user data for mobile and treat the score as a pointer to what can be improved.

## What usually slows down a business website

On a business website, the largest element visible when a page opens is usually the hero image or a block of text. If that image is too heavy or loads late, LCP goes up. So the first questions are which image appears first, how large the file is and whether the server responds quickly enough.

Layout shifts happen when something loads late and pushes down what was already on screen. According to web.dev, the usual causes are images or videos without set dimensions, web fonts that render at a different size and third-party ads or widgets that resize themselves.

- A very heavy hero image, or one that loads after other elements.
- Images and videos with no width and height set.
- Third-party widgets such as chat, maps, reviews or the cookie banner that appear late and push the text down.
- Pages that weigh more than 500 KB or load more than 50 resources, the limits Search Console recommends.


### What does "No data available" mean in Search Console?

It means either your Search Console property is new or the Chrome User Experience Report does not yet have enough data on your site for that device type. If the property is new, the data can take a few days to appear. In the meantime, run the PageSpeed Insights lab test on your most important pages.

## Does a faster website rank higher on Google?

Google says Core Web Vitals are used by its [ranking systems](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/services/search-engine-optimisation/) and recommends getting them right. It also says that good scores do not guarantee top positions, and that it always tries to show the most relevant content even when the page experience is poor.

When there is plenty of helpful content for the same search, a good page experience can help. For a small business, though, the main reason to fix a slow site is customers. If a product page is slow to load on a phone or the booking button does not respond, [the visitor may leave before getting in touch](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/website-visits-without-enquiries/).

![Wooden hourglass with grey sand running from the upper bulb into the lower one, against a black background](https://www.crida.studio/recursos/assets/rellotge-de-sorra-espera-carrega.c5d85d5f46cc.webp)

The falling sand is the visitor's wait while a product page or booking button is slow to respond on a phone.
Pablo Añón / Unsplash — https://unsplash.com/photos/XMW-B70xZy4


### Do I need a new website if mine is slow?

Not always. Often it is enough to compress images, set their dimensions and remove or delay third-party tools you do not need. If the problem lies in the theme or the server and shows up on every page, it is worth comparing whether fixing the current site or rebuilding it makes more sense.

## What to ask your web designer or developer

When you commission [a new site](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/services/web-design-development/) or an improvement, ask for speed to be measured with data rather than gut feeling. A handful of clear questions is enough, whether you put them to an agency or to the person who looks after your site.

After a change, real-user data takes time to move because it covers the last 28 days. The lab test updates straight away, so use it to confirm the fix works, except for INP, which it cannot measure because nobody taps the page. In Search Console, validating a fix starts a 28-day monitoring period.

- Which pages or Search Console groups are rated Poor or Need improvement on mobile.
- Which of the three metrics is failing and why.
- What will change and how it will be checked in PageSpeed Insights before and after.
- Which third-party tools can be removed or loaded later.
- Who will validate the fix in Search Console and when it will be checked again.

## References

- [web.dev, Web Vitals](https://web.dev/articles/vitals)
- [web.dev, Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)](https://web.dev/articles/cls)
- [Google Search Central, page experience](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/page-experience)
- [Search Console Help, Core Web Vitals report](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9205520?hl=en)
- [Google, About PageSpeed Insights](https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/v5/about)

## The crida perspective

We are a marketing, brand and technology studio based in Girona. We bring identity, content and development together so a digital experience makes sense from beginning to end.

crida studio, Caldes de Malavella (Girona, Spain). David Monje, founder and director.

## Want to know why your website is slow?

Tell us about your site and the pages you are worried about. We will go through the PageSpeed Insights and Search Console data with you and tell you what we would fix first.

[Tell us more](https://www.crida.studio/en/#contact)

## More on web design

- [Web design and development from Girona.](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/services/web-design-development/)
- [Your website gets visits, but enquiries are not coming](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/website-visits-without-enquiries/)
- [What to compare before accepting a website quotation](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/compare-web-design-proposals/)
- [Bespoke website or template. Which should you choose?](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/bespoke-website-or-template/)
- [How to check whether your business can be found and understood](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/review-google-and-ai-search-visibility/)
- [SEO and search visibility](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/services/search-engine-optimisation/)
- [Why GA4 shows fewer visits since you added a cookie banner](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/ga4-cookie-banner/)