The most common failure on dealer sites
In the Auto Dealer Site Speed Index, 109 of 137 dealership websites were outside Google's good range for layout shift on phones. The typical site scored 0.18, against a limit of 0.1.
What makes a dealer page jump
| What moves | Why | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle photos | No size set, so the page reflows when each arrives | Set width and height, or an aspect ratio, on every photo |
| Price and incentive boxes | Filled in from another system after the page shows | Reserve the box's space before the value arrives |
| Chat bubble and consent banner | Inserted into the page after it loads | Float them over the page instead of pushing it |
| Headings and text | A web font swaps in at a different size | Match the backup font's size to the web font |
How to find what moves
PageSpeed Insights lists the elements that moved the most under its layout shift diagnostic. Search Console's Core Web Vitals report groups pages with the same problem, so one fix to a template can clear hundreds of vehicle pages at once.
Check on a phone too. Load a vehicle page with slow internet and watch the price, the incentive banner and the contact button. Anything that jumps after you can read it is a shift.
How CLS is scored
Google takes the worst burst of movement during the visit, not the total. A burst is shifts less than a second apart, up to five seconds long. Movement a shopper causes by tapping doesn't count.