The wiki · page 2 of 25

The reference desk for winning online.

Evergreen guides — kept current, backed by our own scan data, written in plain talk. Every article opens with the answer, not a preamble.

01 — Local SEO

What Is a Google Business Profile Offer Post?

A Google Business Profile offer post is a special type of update you publish on your profile to promote a discount, deal, or limited-time promotion directly in Google Search and Maps. It includes a title, start and end dates, an image, an optional coupon code, terms, and a link. Offer posts appear on your profile and can catch the eye of high-intent searchers at the moment they are choosing a business, turning your listing into a live promotional channel.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is a Google Business Profile Photo Strategy?

A Google Business Profile photo strategy is a deliberate plan for which images you add to your profile, how often, and why, in order to build trust, showcase your business, and support local visibility. It covers logo, cover, exterior, interior, team, and work photos, keeping them current, high quality, and representative. Because photos strongly influence whether searchers choose a business, a consistent photo strategy turns your profile into a persuasive visual storefront rather than a bare listing.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Are Google Local Services Ads?

Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) are pay-per-lead ads that appear at the very top of Google's search results for local service searches, above the regular text ads and map results. Instead of paying per click, businesses pay only when a qualified lead contacts them through the ad. Eligible providers can earn a Google Guaranteed or Google Screened badge after passing background and license checks. LSAs are aimed at local service businesses like plumbers, electricians, and lawyers, and they show the business name, rating, hours, and a call or message button.

UPDATED 2026-07-10 · READ →

02 — Speed & Core Web Vitals

Website Speed: Why It Decides Your Rankings (and Revenue)

Website speed affects rankings and revenue through Core Web Vitals — Google's three field metrics: LCP (loading, keep under 2.5s), INP (responsiveness, under 200ms), and CLS (visual stability, under 0.1). Slow sites rank lower and lose roughly half of mobile visitors before the page even renders.

UPDATED 2026-07-08 · READ →

What Is Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)?

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is a Core Web Vitals metric that measures how long it takes for the largest visible element, usually a hero image, heading, or main block of text, to render on screen after a page starts loading. It approximates when a page's main content becomes visible to the user. Google considers an LCP of 2.5 seconds or less 'good.' A slow LCP makes a site feel sluggish and can hurt both conversions and search rankings.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)?

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is a Core Web Vitals metric that measures how much a page's content unexpectedly moves around while it loads, the annoying jumps that happen when an image or ad loads late and shoves everything down. CLS quantifies visual stability, and Google considers a score of 0.1 or less 'good.' High CLS frustrates users, causes mis-clicks, and can hurt search rankings, making it a key target for any performance-conscious business site.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Interaction to Next Paint (INP)?

Interaction to Next Paint (INP) is a Core Web Vital that measures how quickly a web page visually responds to user interactions such as clicks, taps, and key presses. It records the latency of nearly every interaction during a visit and reports a single value near the worst one. A good INP is 200 milliseconds or less, meaning the page consistently paints a visible response fast enough to feel snappy on real devices.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Time to First Byte (TTFB)?

Time to First Byte (TTFB) is the time between a browser requesting a web page and receiving the first byte of the server's response. It captures server processing, network travel, and any redirects before content begins arriving. TTFB is a foundational speed metric because everything else, including rendering and Core Web Vitals, waits on it. A good TTFB is roughly 800 milliseconds or less, and slow hosting is the most common reason it lags.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is a CDN (Content Delivery Network)?

A content delivery network (CDN) is a globally distributed network of servers that stores cached copies of your website's files and serves them from the location closest to each visitor. By shortening the physical distance data must travel, a CDN reduces load times, lowers Time to First Byte, and absorbs traffic spikes. CDNs also add security features like DDoS protection. They are one of the simplest, highest-impact speed upgrades for most websites.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Lazy Loading?

Lazy loading is a technique that delays loading non-critical resources, most often images and videos, until they are about to appear on screen as the visitor scrolls. Instead of downloading everything upfront, the browser fetches assets just in time. This reduces initial page weight, speeds up the first paint, and saves bandwidth, which especially helps image-heavy pages and mobile visitors. Modern browsers support it natively with a simple loading attribute.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Image Compression?

Image compression is the process of reducing an image file's size while keeping visual quality acceptable, so pages load faster and use less bandwidth. It works by removing redundant or imperceptible data. Lossy compression discards some detail for much smaller files, while lossless compression shrinks files with no quality loss. Because images are usually the heaviest part of a web page, compression is one of the most effective ways to speed up a website.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is WebP Image Format?

WebP is a modern image format developed by Google that delivers smaller file sizes than JPEG and PNG at comparable quality. It supports both lossy and lossless compression, transparency, and animation in a single format. WebP images are typically 25 to 35 percent smaller than equivalent JPEGs, making pages load faster. Supported by all major browsers, WebP is now a standard choice for optimizing website photos and graphics.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Render-Blocking Resource?

A render-blocking resource is a file, typically CSS or JavaScript, that the browser must download and process before it can display any of the page. Because these resources pause rendering, they delay when visitors see content and hurt loading metrics like First Contentful Paint and Largest Contentful Paint. Eliminating or deferring render-blocking resources, by inlining critical CSS and loading scripts asynchronously, is a core web performance optimization.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Browser Caching?

Browser caching is a technique where a visitor's browser stores copies of a website's files, such as images, CSS, and JavaScript, on their device after the first visit. On return visits, the browser loads these files from local storage instead of downloading them again, making pages load much faster and reducing server load. Caching behavior is controlled by HTTP headers that tell the browser how long to keep each file.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Minification?

Minification is the process of removing unnecessary characters from code, such as whitespace, line breaks, comments, and long variable names, without changing how it works. Applied to CSS, JavaScript, and HTML, minification shrinks file sizes so they download faster and use less bandwidth. It is a standard, low-risk web performance optimization, usually automated during a build step or by a plugin, and often paired with compression for maximum effect.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is a Lighthouse Score?

A Lighthouse score is a 0-to-100 rating from Google's open-source Lighthouse tool that audits a web page across five categories: Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, SEO, and Progressive Web App readiness. Performance is the most cited score, calculated from lab metrics like Largest Contentful Paint and Total Blocking Time. Scores are diagnostic, run in a controlled environment, so they guide improvements but do not directly determine Google rankings the way real-user field data does.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is First Contentful Paint (FCP)?

First Contentful Paint (FCP) is a web performance metric that measures the time from when a page starts loading to when any part of its content, such as text, an image, or an SVG, is first rendered on the screen. FCP marks the moment a visitor sees something other than a blank page. Google considers an FCP of 1.8 seconds or less 'good' and treats it as an important loading-speed signal.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Page Weight?

Page weight is the total size, measured in kilobytes or megabytes, of all the files a browser must download to fully load and display a single web page. It includes HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, fonts, videos, and third-party scripts. Heavier pages take longer to load, cost visitors more mobile data, and typically score worse on Core Web Vitals. Keeping page weight low is one of the most direct ways to make a website feel fast.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Critical CSS?

Critical CSS is the minimum set of CSS rules needed to style the content visible in the browser's viewport before any scrolling, known as the above-the-fold area. This small block of styles is inlined directly in the HTML so the browser can paint the initial view immediately, without waiting to download an external stylesheet. The rest of the CSS is loaded afterward, asynchronously. Critical CSS is a proven technique for improving First Contentful Paint and Largest Contentful Paint.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is a Performance Budget?

A performance budget is a set of measurable limits a website team agrees not to exceed, such as a maximum page weight, a cap on the number of requests, or a target for metrics like Largest Contentful Paint. It turns 'the site should be fast' into concrete, enforceable numbers. When a new image, script, or feature would push the page past its budget, the team must optimize, remove something, or consciously accept the trade-off before shipping.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

JPG vs WebP: What's the Difference?

JPG and WebP are both raster formats for web images, but WebP is newer and more efficient. Developed by Google, WebP typically produces files 25 to 35 percent smaller than JPG at similar visual quality, and it also supports transparency and animation, which standard JPG does not. JPG remains a universal, decades-old default supported everywhere. For most sites the best approach is to serve WebP for the size and speed benefit while keeping a JPG fallback for the rare browser that cannot display WebP.

UPDATED 2026-07-10 · READ →

WebP vs AVIF: What's the Difference?

WebP and AVIF are both modern image formats that compress better than JPG and PNG, but AVIF is newer and usually more efficient. AVIF, based on the AV1 video codec, often produces smaller files than WebP at the same quality, with better detail retention and support for wide color and HDR. WebP is older, encodes faster, and has slightly broader, longer-established support. Many sites serve AVIF first, then WebP, then JPG as fallbacks, getting the smallest possible file each browser can display.

UPDATED 2026-07-10 · READ →

What Is a CDN Edge Node?

A CDN edge node is a server in a content delivery network placed physically close to your visitors that stores cached copies of your website's files. When someone loads your site, the nearest edge node delivers images, CSS, and scripts instead of your distant origin server. This shortens the distance data travels, cutting latency and speeding up page loads. Edge nodes live in data centers around the world, so a user in Dallas and one in Frankfurt each get served from a location near them rather than one central machine.

UPDATED 2026-07-10 · READ →

What Is HTTP Caching?

HTTP caching is the mechanism that lets browsers and servers store copies of web files so they don't have to be downloaded again on every visit. Using HTTP response headers like Cache-Control and ETag, a server tells the browser how long it may reuse a file, such as an image, stylesheet, or script, before checking for a newer version. When done well, repeat visits load almost instantly because the browser serves assets from local storage instead of re-fetching them across the network, cutting bandwidth, server load, and page-load time.

UPDATED 2026-07-10 · READ →

What Is Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals are a set of three metrics Google uses to measure real-world user experience on a web page: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) for loading speed, Interaction to Next Paint (INP) for responsiveness, and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) for visual stability. Each has target thresholds a page should meet to be considered good. They are part of Google's page experience signals and are measured from real Chrome user data. Passing them means a page loads quickly, responds fast to input, and does not jump around as it loads.

UPDATED 2026-07-10 · READ →

03 — Schema & Rich Results

Schema Markup for Local Businesses: The Missing 20 Minutes

Schema markup is machine-readable code (JSON-LD) that tells Google exactly what your business is, what you sell, and what customers say — unlocking rich results like stars, prices, and FAQs. Across industry scan data, roughly 80% of local sites have little or none, making it one of the fastest competitive wins available.

UPDATED 2026-07-08 · READ →

What Is JSON-LD?

JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is a lightweight format for adding structured data to a web page so search engines can understand its content. It uses standard JSON syntax wrapped in a script tag and follows schema.org vocabulary to describe entities like a business, product, article, or FAQ. Google recommends JSON-LD as the preferred method for structured data because it sits in the page's code without altering visible HTML, making it easier to add, test, and maintain.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is LocalBusiness Schema?

LocalBusiness schema is a type of structured data from schema.org that describes a physical, place-based business to search engines in a machine-readable format. Added to a page as JSON-LD, it states the business name, address, phone number, hours, geographic coordinates, price range, and service area. Search engines use these facts to confirm the identity of a local business, strengthen its knowledge panel and map presence, and match it to nearby searchers looking for the services it offers.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is FAQPage Schema?

FAQPage schema is structured data from schema.org that marks up a list of questions and their answers on a page so search engines can identify them as a frequently asked questions section. Delivered as JSON-LD, each entry pairs a Question with an accepted Answer. Search engines use it to understand Q&A content, and historically it could produce expandable FAQ rich results in Google, though eligibility has narrowed to certain authoritative sites since 2023.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

What Is Product Schema?

Product schema is structured data from schema.org that describes a product to search engines, including its name, image, description, brand, price, availability, and ratings. Added as JSON-LD, it lets Google understand and display product details as rich results, such as price, stock status, and star ratings beneath a listing, or in Google Shopping and image search. It is essential for ecommerce sites and any page selling a specific item.

UPDATED 2026-07-09 · READ →

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