Why Core Web Vitals Still Matter in 2025 — And Why WordPress Is Struggling
You’ve spent months tweaking your WordPress site — optimizing images, switching themes, and obsessing over PageSpeed scores. Yet your Core Web Vitals still scream red.
Meanwhile, your competitor’s website — built on some “less flexible” CMS like Duda — loads fast, runs smoothly, and dominates the search rankings.
Sound familiar?
This isn’t just your problem — it’s systemic. And the July 2025 Core Web Vitals Technology Report proves it.
Let’s unpack what it reveals, and why WordPress — the most powerful CMS on the web — is also its most problematic.
The Core Web Vitals Showdown: WordPress vs The Rest
Every month, the HTTPArchive team ranks CMS platforms based on how many of their sites pass Core Web Vitals — Google’s benchmark for fast, stable, user-friendly websites.
📊 July CWV Rankings (By % of Sites Passing):
- #1 Duda — 84.96%
- #2 Wix — 73.37%
- #3 Squarespace — 68.93%
- #4 Drupal — 60.54%
- #5 Joomla — 54.78%
- #6 WordPress — 44.34%
📈 Month-over-Month Growth (June to July):
- Joomla: +3.23% ✅
- Wix: +2.61% ✅
- Drupal: +1.47% ✅
- Duda: +1.33% ✅
- Squarespace: +1.27% ✅
- WordPress: +0.90% ❌
WordPress is dead last — not just in performance, but in how fast it’s improving.
What Are Core Web Vitals, Again?
Core Web Vitals are Google’s user experience signals:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): How fast your content appears
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint): How responsive your site feels
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): How visually stable your page is
Websites that nail these keep users happy and convert more. Sites that fail? High bounce, low rankings.
Why WordPress Lags: The Technical Debt Dilemma
Let’s address the elephant in the server room: technical debt.
WordPress wasn’t born as a CMS. It started as a blogging platform. Over time, it evolved to support:
- eCommerce
- Memberships
- Forums
- Custom applications
But with great flexibility comes a mess of legacy code, bloated plugins, and compatibility nightmares.
According to WordCamp EU 2025:
“Contributor burnout is pervasive… Pressure to maintain legacy systems and innovate new features leads to overwhelming workloads… Increasing technical debt and slowed innovation cycles.”
Translation?
The ecosystem is tired. And innovation is stuck.
But Wait… WordPress Sites Still Rank. How?
If Core Web Vitals are so important — why do slow WordPress sites still dominate the SERPs?
Simple:
Google ranks pages — not platforms.
SEO is holistic. You can have:
- Amazing content
- Strong backlinks
- Smart internal linking (see technical SEO for WordPress)
…and still rank well, even if your CWV scores are lagging.
But the cracks are starting to show:
- Higher bounce rates
- Lower mobile conversions
- Slower crawl budget utilization
Performance matters — especially when everything else is equal.
Duda’s Rise: The SEO-Friendly Speed Demon
Duda isn’t just fast. It’s focused.
Built with Core Web Vitals in mind, Duda:
- Limits bloat by design
- Controls hosting environments
- Enforces performance best practices
That’s how 85% of its sites pass CWV tests — a 92% edge over WordPress.
For businesses that care more about speed, UX, and conversions than plugin libraries — Duda makes sense.
Should You Switch From WordPress?
Not necessarily.
WordPress still wins when you need:
- Total flexibility
- Open source freedom
- A massive dev community
But if speed, stability, and scalability are your priorities — it’s time to audit your stack.
Use tools like:
Or plug your site into our GPT-powered audit prompt:
Prompt:
“You are a web performance expert. Analyze this WordPress site for Core Web Vitals issues. Provide prioritized fixes for LCP, INP, and CLS. Recommend plugins, code changes, or hosting improvements.”
Final Word From The Organic Architect
At ABN Junction, we love WordPress — but we don’t wear blinders.
The Core Web Vitals gap is real, and platforms like Duda are proving that speed + simplicity = user love + SEO wins.
If your WordPress site isn’t passing CWV in 2025, don’t just chase scores. Rethink your setup. Audit your plugins. Trim the fat.
And if needed — start fresh with a faster stack.
👉 Want a free Core Web Vitals audit for your site?
Contact us and let’s fix your speed story.
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🔹Behind The Post?
Hey 👋 I’m Rajiv — The Organic Architect
eCommerce SEO & Web Strategist | ABN Junction
🔗 Let’s connect & grow: The Organic Architect
