Core Web Vitals

Tricentis NeoLoad Core Web Vitals provides client-side metrics that are essential for understanding the performance and user experience of web applications from the user's perspective.

RealBrowser requirement: Core Web Vitals monitoring is only available with RealBrowser testing. You cannot capture these client-side metrics using protocol-based testing. For information on setting up RealBrowser, see RealBrowser installation and setup.

Core Web Vitals captures three critical metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). These metrics provide valuable insights into loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability, allowing performance teams to pinpoint areas that require optimization and contribute to better user experience.

How Core Web Vitals work

Core Web Vitals integrate into your existing Tricentis NeoLoad RealBrowser testing workflow. RealBrowser executes actual browser actions and renders pages just like a real user, which allows the system to capture these client-side metrics. Protocol-based testing cannot capture Core Web Vitals because it sends requests directly to the server without rendering pages in a browser.

During test execution, the feature captures client-side performance metrics at the page level, giving you granular visibility into how each page performs from the user's perspective.

You can enable Core Web Vitals using two methods: outside of recording by adding a "Capture Core Web Vitals" action after recording through the post-recording wizard or through the advanced contextual menu in the user path design. Both methods add the same action to your user path, giving you flexibility to add user experience monitoring to both new and existing test scenarios. For more information, check out these topics:

Core metrics

Core Web Vitals focuses on three essential client-side metrics that directly impact user experience and SEO performance:

LCP measures loading performance by tracking when the largest content element becomes visible to users.

INP measures how responsive your application feels to users when they interact with it. This metric helps identify pages that feel unresponsive or laggy when users click, tap, or type.

CLS tracks the visual stability of your pages as they load. High CLS scores indicate that page elements move unexpectedly, creating a frustrating user experience.

For detailed information about Core Web Vitals performance thresholds and evaluation criteria, check out the Core Web Vitals documentation (opens in new tab).

Business value

Core Web Vitals monitoring provides measurable business benefits that directly impact your organization's success.

Here are a few of those benefits:

  • SEO optimization: Improve your website's search engine rankings by optimizing these critical performance metrics, directly impacting visibility in search results.

  • User experience insights: Gain valuable insights into application performance from the user's perspective, enabling teams to identify areas requiring optimization.

  • Comprehensive testing: Test multiple pages simultaneously and compare Core Web Vitals across your entire application without separate tools.

  • Early detection: Identify performance issues before they impact real users, contributing to better overall user experience.

What's next

Configure Core Web Vitals to enable user experience monitoring in your RealBrowser tests and start measuring the metrics that matter to your users.