Monitor Core Web Vitals with Datadog RUM and Synthetic Monitoring

Google introduced Core Web Vitals in May 2020 as a set of three metrics that assess a site's UX performance. These metrics focus on load performance, interactivity, and visual stability. In May 2021, Core Web Vitals will be incorporated into Google’s PageRank algorithm, making it crucial for organizations to monitor these metrics. The collection and analysis of Core Web Vitals are essential not only for frontend engineering teams' usability goals but also for an organization's bottom line. Core Web Vitals consist of three components: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). These metrics observe load performance, interactivity, and visual stability, respectively. By collecting Core Web Vitals within RUM, Datadog enables users to incorporate these metrics into the broader picture of their web app's user-facing performance. Datadog provides a comprehensive view of Core Web Vitals scores through its Performance Overview dashboard and allows users to troubleshoot suboptimal scores in the RUM Explorer. Additionally, Datadog Synthetic Monitoring enables proactive validation of Core Web Vitals scores before users encounter issues. By monitoring these metrics, organizations can maintain a seamless user experience and ensure their site ranks well on Google.