7 Best WordPress Themes for Core Web Vitals

Improve your Core Web Vitals score and drive more traffic to your website.

Are you looking for a WordPress theme that will improve your Core Web Vital score and user experience?

Since Google released the Core Web Vital update earlier this year, it has become a ranking signal. You don’t want to lose traffic simply because your website failed the Core Web Vital test.

In this article, I’ll go over the seven themes that were created to help you get perfect scores on Core Web Vitals. These aren’t just any random themes, but themes backed by data from the tests we ran on each one.

Let’s get started.

Before we get to the list of best themes for core web vitals, let’s first try to understand the Core Web Vitals.

What Are the Three Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals are three metrics that Google uses to describe the overall experience of the page. The three metrics are:

  • Largest Contentful Paint
  • First Input Delay
  • Cumulative Layout Shift
core web vitals page experience signal
Img Src: Google

The Largest Contentful Paint, or LCP, is the time it takes for a page to load from a white screen to the majority of the content.

The second metric is FID, or First Input Delay, which is the amount of time it takes for the website to load content before a user can interact with the page.

The third metric is CLS, or Cumulative Layout Shift, which basically means whether or not there are any layout shifts in the elements as the page loads. A low layout shift equates to a high CLS score.

If your website receives moderate traffic, you can see how it performs for Core Web Vitals in Google Search Console. You can also test your page’s performance using Google PageSpeed Insights.

Do Core Web Vitals Affect SEO?

Core Web Vital is the result of Google’s commitment to providing the most useful and enjoyable internet experience possible.

In many of their blog posts, Google has clarified Core Web Vitals as one of the ranking signals.

It is not the only one, but one of many ranking factors – there are approximately over 200 in total.

People are more likely to abandon your website if it is slow, which increases the bounce rate. Google does not want to recommend websites that give visitors a bad experience.

7 Best Themes for Core Web Vitals

Themes form the foundation of your website, which is critical for Core Web Vitals.

I performed the test on popular WordPress themes to conclude the best theme for Core Web Vitals.

The test was carried out on a default WordPress installation and on the same server. I did not install any caching plugins or use CDN services to improve the website’s performance.

Themes LCP FID CLS HTTP Requests Page Size PageSpeed Mobile PageSpeed Desktop GTMetrix
GeneratePress1.1s2.0s029232KB939797%
Blocksy1.1s1.1s029250KB919996%
Kadence 1.4s2.4s030254KB949993%
Astra1.1s1.2s033293KB899895%
Neve1.1s2.0s030240KB919695%
Zakra1.2s2.1s34246KB909994%
OceanWP1.2s4.0s048473KB889490%

As you can see, the majority of the themes I mentioned above are solid performers, with only minor differences in test results. You can choose any theme based on its features.

Let’s check out the features one by one.

1. GeneratePress – Best Performance Theme

GeneratePress

GeneratePress is the most lightweight theme with a reputation for great performance, stability and accessibility. It comes with pre-made layouts that are fully responsive to make them work well on any device. The theme also has other features like complete styling controls, infinite scroll, advanced hook system, masonry and columns grids for blog archive, and other settings to completely customize your site.

Key Features:

  • It is accessible for all and conforms to WCAG 2.0 standards.
  • Compatible to work with other popular plugin including page builders.
  • The block based theme builder allows you to design every part of your website from scratch.
  • It has a wide range of hooks and filters, making it ideal for developers.

GeneratePress Core Web Vitals Score

LCP:
1.1 seconds

FID:
2.0 seconds

CLS:
0 seconds

Google PageSpeed: 93

GTMetrix: 97

2. Blocksy Theme – Block Based Futuristic Theme

blocksy theme

Blocksy is a Gutenberg theme based on blocks that is heavy on features but light on structure. It makes use of cutting-edge web technologies such as React, Webpack, and Babel to ensure that the website loads quickly and provides the best user experience possible.

It’s my theme of choice for all personal and client websites. You can read my in-depth Blocksy review to know more about the theme.

Key Features

  • Blocksy has a perfect 5-star rating on WP. org, demonstrating exceptional customer service.
  • It is compatible with all major page builders, including Elementor, Brizy, and Beaver Builder.
  • It includes a drag-and-drop header and footer builder to make customising easier.
  • Global colour and typography options for changing the overall look of the website from a single screen.
  • It includes 5 modern archive page layouts and 4 single page layouts.

Blocksy Core Web Vitals Score

LCP:
1.1 seconds

FID:
1.1 seconds

CLS:
0 seconds

Google PageSpeed: 91

GTMetrix: 96

3. Kadence – Balance Between Performance & Features

Kadence Theme

Kadence theme strikes a perfect balance between performance and features. You can use it to create any type of site from business to blogging.

Key Features:

  • Live drag and drop header and footer builder.
  • Comes with extensive layout controls to set site-wide options for pages, posts, and even custom post types.
  • Global settings for typography, button settings, form layout and color palette.
  • Block based theme builder to create theme templates.

Kadence Core Web Vitals Score

LCP:
1.4 seconds

FID:
2.4 seconds

CLS:
0 seconds

Google PageSpeed: 94

GTMetrix: 93

4. Astra – Most Popular Theme

astra pro

Astra is an extremely lightweight and fast WordPress theme with a number of SEO-friendly features. This WordPress theme is perfect for anyone looking for a clean, minimalistic design with powerful customization options. It has been designed with SEO in mind to make it easier for search engines to crawl your site.

  • It has a huge collection of professionally designed (premium) templates.
  • It works with all page builder pllugins such as Elementor, Beaver Builder, Oxygen and Brizy.
  • The global linked color and typography lets you change the design of the entire website from the customize.
  • You can easily design customized header and footer from the cutomizer using the drag and drop builder.

Astra Core Web Vitals Score

LCP:
1.1 seconds

FID:
1.2 seconds

CLS:
0 seconds

Google PageSpeed: 89

GTMetrix: 95

5. Neve – Mobile First Theme

Neve WordPress theme

Neve is a super lightweight theme that weighs only 28KB on a default WordPress installation. It is flexible and works with the majority of page builders.

Key Features:

  • Neve takes the mobile first approach and loads quickly on all devices.
  • It comes with 100+ ready to import professionally designed templates that you can add to your website with a click.
  • The global linked color and drag and drop header and footer buikder makes it very easy to customize the website.
  • The Elementor Booster module adds 7 extra widgets to the Elementor editor.

Neve Core Web Vitals Score

LCP:
1.1 seconds

FID:
2.0 seconds

CLS:
0 seconds

Google PageSpeed: 91

GTMetrix: 95

6. Zakra – Multipurpose Theme

zakra WordPress theme

Zakra is a multipurpose theme that’s built on a lightweight structure and offers easy customization from the WordPress customizer.

It seamlessly integrates with WooCommerce and allows you to set up a customized online store.

Key Features:

  • It is compatible with page builders that can open up a lot of possibilities for customizations.
  • Zakra is AMP ready and can load instantly even on mobile devices.
  • It is designed to boost your website’s ranking by employing the best SEO practises.
  • The theme is transaltion ready and even works with RTL languages.

Neve Core Web Vitals Score

LCP:
1.2 seconds

FID:
2.1 seconds

CLS:
0 seconds

Google PageSpeed: 90

GTMetrix: 94

7. OceanWP – Free Theme with Pro Features

OceanWP WordPress theme

OceanWP is a feature-rich theme that comes with amazing customization possibilities. It is accessibility-ready and follows the best SEO practices.

To make your website stand out, there are a number of advanced features including free and premium extensions, full support for WooCommerce and BuddyPress, global colors and fonts options, mega menu, and much more.

Key Features:

  • You can set up global styling for colors, typography as well as layout.
  • 7 header styles with unlimted customization options.
  • Complete customization control over single and archive pages.
  • Support for custom post stypes, LifterLMS, LearnDash, BBPress and Easy Digital Downloads.
  • It offer seamless integration with WooCommerce to help you create an online store people will admire.

OceanWP Core Web Vitals Score

LCP:
1.2 seconds

FID:
4.0 seconds

CLS:
0 seconds

Google PageSpeed: 88

GTMetrix: 94

How Can I Improve My Core Web Vitals Score?

The above best theme for core web vitals are not enough to make your website fast and provide visitors with the best possible experience. You’ll need to do more than choose a good foundation for your website.

You can easily improve your Core Web Vitals score by implementing the following on your website:

  • The most important factor is the web hosting. You should opt for a web host that focuses on performance.
  • Install a caching plugin.
  • Optimize images using automated solution such as ShortPixel or EWWW Image Optimizer.
  • Use a CDN service to reduce the distance between the server and the users.
  • Avoid installing too many plugins, especially the ones that are poorly coded.
  • Reduce number of requests to external servers such as Google Fonts, Google Analytics etc.
  • Whereever possible, design pages using the core block editor.

These are just some of the ways that you can implement to improve your Core Web Vitals score.

That’s it! I hope this article helped you pick the best theme for Core Web Vitals.

Affiliate Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase by clicking on them, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Newsletter Updates

Enter your email address below and subscribe to our newsletter

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *