Web page owners want to optimize the key experience of the users on their web page. Many tools have been introduced to optimize and increase the quality of the web page.
These tools can be used by any business owner, marketer, or developer, to increase the quantification and experience of the site, and they can identify the opportunities to improve.
Key Takeaways
- Core Web Vitals is a set of specific metrics that Google uses to measure the user experience on a website. At the same time, Lighthouse is a tool that Google provides developers to test their website’s performance and quality.
- Core Web Vitals measure three specific user-centric metrics: loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability, while Lighthouse measures a wider range of metrics, including performance, accessibility, and best practices.
- Core Web Vitals are essential for website owners to focus on because they directly impact the user experience and search engine rankings. At the same time, Lighthouse is a tool that can identify areas for improvement and optimize website performance.
Core Web Vitals vs Lighthouse
The difference between Core Web Vitals and Lighthouse is that both the tools were introduced by Google, and the three metrics introduced by Core Web Vitals are LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), FID (First Input Display), CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) while on the other hand, Google Lighthouse also has three metrics and the two of them are same as that of Core Web Vitals that are LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift), TBT (Total Blocking Time).
Core Web Vitals was introduced by Google in the year 2020 month of May. It is a subset of web vitals, and it applies to all the web pages of Google. And the site owners of these web pages measure with the help of this tool, and then according to that, Google sorts them out.
The Lighthouse tool was introduced by Google in the year May 19, 2020. This tool was built to measure core web vitals and also to improve or optimizing the quality of web pages.
The tool is used after inputting the URL of the web page, and then it runs a series of checks and then scores the web page with a detailed report of it.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Core Web Vitals | Lighthouse |
|---|---|---|
| What it is? | It is a subset of web vitals and applies on all web pages, measured by all the site owners and surfaces all over Google. | Tool to improve the quality of web page |
| Method of Operation | Shows the performance of the web page based on the real-world usage data (field data) | It generates series of check, and then a detailed report is shown with the score of how well the page performs. |
| Introduced in | May 2020 | May 19, 2020 |
| Measured By | It is measured by Lighthouse tool, Chrome UX report, Chrome DevTools, Search Console, PageSpeed Insights. | There is no such tool for it. |
| Metrics | LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), FID (First Input Display), CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift), TBT (Total Blocking Time) |
What is Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals can be defined as the subset of the web vitals which is applied on the web pages present all over the Google website. The site owners must measure these web pages, and then these surfaced over Google.
This tool was introduced in May 2020, and this tool filters the performance of the web page based on real-world usage data or says field data. Many tools can measure the Core Web Vitals, and some of them are – the Lighthouse tool, Chrome UX report, Chrome DevTools, Search Console, and PageSpeed Insights.
The current metrics of the tool focus on three things that help in improving user experience – loading (LCP), interactivity (FID), and visual loading (CLS). LCP, or Largest Contentful Paint, measures the web page loading performance, and within 2.5 seconds, LCP should occur.
FID, or First Input Display of the web page, measure the interactivity, and a page must have 100 milliseconds or less FID. CLS, or Cumulative Layout Shift of a page, measure the visual loading, and a page must have 0.1 or less CLS.
The web page, with crossing all the metrics above 75%, is said to hit the right target of the audience.
What is Lighthouse?
Lighthouse is an automated tool introduced by Google that helps improve web page quality. It is a free tool provided to users. The tool helps provide insights into different things required to improve the quality of the web page, such as overall performance, SEO usability, accessibility of the web page, progressive web application, and best practices.
The lighthouse tools use the URL of the web page, which is to be improved and then run some series of checks on it. The tool scores on the web page and a detailed report on how well the page performs is produced. Also, the Lighthouse has no measuring tool, unlike that of Core Web Vitals.
Google Lighthouse tool also works on the three metrics, two of which are the same as Core Web Vitals and are LCP, CLS, and TBT. LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) measures the loading experience of the webpage, and it must score 2.5 seconds or below.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Swift) measures the visual loading of the web page, and it must score 0.10 or less. TBT (Total Blocking Time) measures the responsiveness of the web page. It has a correlation with the FID.
Main Differences Between Core Web Vitals and Lighthouse
- The Google tool Core Web Vitals is a type of tool that applies to all web pages and is measured by all website owners, and this is surfaced all over Google while, on the other hand, the Google Lighthouse is a tool that helps improve the quality of the web.
- The Core Web Vitals tool shows the web page’s performance based on the real-world usage data (field data) while comparatively, on the other hand, the Google Lighthouse tool first perform some series of check and then provide a detailed score and report of the page on how it performs.
- The Google tool Core Web Vitals was introduced in May 2020, while the Google Lighthouse tool was introduced on May 19 2020.
- The Core Web Vitals can be measured by many tools such as – Lighthouse, Chrome UX report, PageSpeed Insights, Search Console, and Chrome DevTools, while on the other hand, there is no such measuring tool for Google Lighthouse.
- The Core Web Vitals has three metrics that are – LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), FID (First Input Display), and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) while Google Lighthouse also has three metrics in which, two of them is the same as Core Web Vital, and they are – LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift), and TBT (Total Blocking Time).
References
- https://www.itema-conference.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ITEMA-2020_Conference-Proceedings_FINAL.pdf#page=25
- https://www.mdpi.com/0718-1876/16/5/77
- https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/352102/Analyis%20of%20deploying%20a%20React%20PWA%20on%20Google%20Play%20Store%20using%20TWA_Yoseph%20Alemu_Final%20Version%20%281%29.pdf?sequence=2
- https://staff.fnwi.uva.nl/a.s.z.belloum/MSctheses/MScthesis_Tjarco.pdf
Last Updated : 06 July, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
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