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Comprehensive Guide to Cumulative Layout Shift for SEO

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Unexpected movement in the content of the web page may lead to a frustrating experience. The user may endure interruption in the overall functioning. Just imagine when you are trying to navigate a web page, and there are sudden obstacles. How would you feel? If the products start moving from right two left without any outside force, you may accidentally place wrong orders.

You would place orders for products you do not require. It is an example of a cumulative layout shift. As a user, you need to understand Cumulative layout shift or CLS that deals with visual stability. If you are unaware of the essential elements, you will only stand to lose.

Cumulative layout shift in details

The sudden movement of the content of a web page layout is known as CLS. It happens when the elements you are viewing start moving from their position during the page loading.

These unstable elements only add to the problem. For example, when you read different blog posts, pop-up advertisements in between may lead to text blocks.

These unpleasant movements interrupt the overall layout and the user experience. If you take a look at a decent CLS score, it is somewhere below 0.1. Although it is impossible to get this, you can make efforts in this direction. Try to keep the score between 0.25 and 20.1. Any score beyond 0.25 is poor.

The computation of CLS score

The calculation of cumulative layout shift score depends on two factors: the distance fraction and impact fraction. You must understand these concepts in detail to work on the overall layout of your webpage. Impact fraction tries to measure impacted areas related to unstable elements placed in the viewport. 

The distance fraction, on the other hand, measures the distance moved by the unstable elements. Whether it is horizontal or vertical, that is the matter of examination over here. It would help if you did not stress yourself about the formula but you must know how these concepts relate.

Impact fraction is related to affected elements that you see in the viewpoint. For example, the featured image, post title, content on the affected website is under consideration. Apart from this, other elements like the header and navigation bar also come within its ambit. You can contact New York SEO for ideal results.

Reasons for poor CLS

The first leading reason behind poor CLS is video and image without dimension. When you specify the dimensions of videos and pictures using height and width, the browser will allow the space when the page loads. However, in the absence of the correct measurement, there might be difficulty in page loading.

Apart from this, dynamic advertisement and embeds are the second reason for poor CLS. They are very similar to videos and images. Active website advertisement contributes to the overall layout and the shift which takes place. Lastly, engaging the recent content has become the modern trend.

They usually come in different forms like banners, CTA buttons, related articles, and the like. It also creates the same problem as others mentioned above.

 

Jeff Campbell