Passing Core Web Vitals: A WordPress Page Speed Service for a Publisher
Client: A large, 5-year-old, ad-supported blog in the “finance” (YMYL) niche.
Challenges We Faced
The client’s mobile traffic was declining rapidly after Google’s Core Web Vitals update:
Failing All Core Web Vitals
The GSC (CWV Report) showed 100% of their URLs were “Failing” on mobile.
High CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
Their display ads would “pop in” and shift the text while people were reading, creating a terrible user experience.
Bloated Theme
The client was using a heavy, “feature-rich” theme from ThemeForest with 25+ active plugins.
High TTFB (Time to First Byte)
They were on cheap, shared hosting, which couldn’t handle their traffic, causing a slow server response.
Ad Script & Plugin Conflicts
Poorly optimized ad networks and overlapping plugins were competing for resources, increasing main-thread blocking and making Core Web Vitals issues impossible to resolve without structural changes.
Pass Your Core Web Vitals
“Is your slow site and ‘CLS’ score killing your rankings? Our page speed optimization service will get you in the ‘Good’ score and boost your traffic.”
Our Approach – How We Solved These Challenges
Comprehensive Speed Audit
We used WebPageTest and PageSpeed Insights to find the bottlenecks. The CLS and TTFB were the primary culprits.
Core Web Vitals Optimization (CLS)
This was the #1 focus. We worked with their ad provider to “reserve space” in the CSS for all ad units. This immediately fixed the CLS issue.
WordPress Page Speed Optimization Service
We migrated the site from cheap shared hosting to a premium, managed WordPress host (WP Engine). This instantly fixed the high TTFB.
App & Plugin Analysis
We audited their 25+ plugins, found 8 were redundant or unused, and deactivated them.
Results
| Metric | Before | After | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core Web Vitals (Mobile) | “Failing” (100% URLs) | “Good” (96% URLs) | Passed |
| CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | 0.52 (Poor) | 0.08 (Good) | -84.6% |
| Mobile Organic Traffic | 50,000/mo (Declining) | 82,000/mo (Growing) | +64% |
Free Core Web Vitals Analysis
“Failing your CWV test? Request a Free PageSpeed Analysis and let our page speed optimization agency build your optimization plan!”
Advice for Marketers & Brand Owners
- Your ads are killing your CLS. You must reserve a fixed space for your ad units in your CSS. This is the key to passing Core Web Vitals.
- You get what you pay for in hosting. A wordpress page speed optimization service is useless on a slow server. Upgrading your host is the fastest way to fix TTFB.
- Your theme is too heavy. Stop using “all-in-one” themes. A lightweight, clean theme is essential for speed.
- Audit your plugins every 6 months. Deactivate and delete what you don’t use.
Extra Factors That Made It Work
- The fix for CLS by reserving ad space was the single biggest win.
- Migrating the server to a better host had an immediate, site-wide impact.
- Using the Google Search Console (CWV Report) to validate our fixes and see Google “pass” the site’s URLs.
