The State of Web Vitals

Layout shift direction on Wix sites

Horizontal lateral shifts (71.0%) versus downward vertical shifts (46.9%): how shift direction across 1,024 sites predicts real-user Cumulative Layout Shift.

Field data PhoneDesktopAll Scope All sites October 2026 edition · Phone field outcomes · Wix sites only
Wix Scoped to 5,623 sites out of 203,892 analyzed (cms) Compare with all sites →

71.0% of Wix sites use lateral horizontal layout shift direction, and 96% of those sites have a good CLS, against 97% of all Wix sites.

The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Wix: 5,621 crawled sites · 3,077 with phone field data · 1,024 sites with layout shift directionBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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CLS pass rate

Sites with lateral horizontal layout shift direction have a good CLS most often: 96%, against 97% of all Wix sites. Sites with downward vertical shift direction have it least often, at 95%.

SitesGood, needs improvement, poor CLSMedian
All Wix sites3,07797%0.00
Horizontal (lateral) shift 71.0%40196%0.00
Downward (vertical) shift 46.9%26395%0.00
GoodNeeds improvementPoorSites: with Chrome field data
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Wix: 5,621 crawled sites · 3,077 with phone field data · 1,024 sites with layout shift directionBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Layout shift direction usage

Lateral horizontal is the most used: 71.0% of Wix sites.

Sites using each option (sites can use more than one) 1,024 sites
Horizontal (lateral) shift 71.0% Downward (vertical) shift 46.9%
Horizontal (lateral) shift 71.0% Downward (vertical) shift 46.9%
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Wix: 5,621 crawled sites · 3,077 with phone field data · 1,024 sites with layout shift directionBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Layout shift direction per framework

React sets the layout shift direction to lateral horizontal on 71% of its sites, and 97% of React sites have a good CLS, against 97% of all sites.

FrameworkLayout shift direction on its sitesGood CLS
Wix sites with layout shift direction 1,024 sitesHorizontal (lateral) shift 71%Downward (vertical) shift 47%97%
React 1,023 sitesHorizontal (lateral) shift 71%Downward (vertical) shift 47%97%
Horizontal (lateral) shift Downward (vertical) shift
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Wix: 5,621 crawled sites · 3,077 with phone field data · 1,024 sites with layout shift directionBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Layout shift direction or the framework

Does the framework explain the layout shift direction difference?

On React, 95% of sites with lateral horizontal layout shift direction have a good CLS, against 95% of React sites with downward vertical. Within React, sites with lateral horizontal and downward vertical have a good CLS about equally often.

Why downward vertical shifts carry a larger distance fraction

Cumulative Layout Shift multiplies impact fraction by distance fraction. Horizontal shifts (71.0% of shifting sites, 96% good field CLS) typically nudge navigation items by a few pixels during font swap, whereas downward shifts (46.9% of shifting sites, 95% good field CLS) push the entire main column down when top banners or unsized heroes expand.

The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Wix: 5,621 crawled sites · 3,077 with phone field data · 1,024 sites with layout shift directionBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Understanding layout shift direction

Audit downward vertical shifts (46.9% of shifting sites, 95% good CLS) by checking for late-injected announcement bars, cookie banners inserted into document flow, and unsized hero containers. Render overlays with position: fixed rather than pushing document content down, and reserve fixed heights for top-of-page slots.

Go fix it Identify and fix CLS → Fix layout shift from auto-sizing images → Scroll-triggered animations cause CLS →
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Wix: 5,621 crawled sites · 3,077 with phone field data · 1,024 sites with layout shift directionBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
Related signals Largest single shift → Shift concentration → Layout shift count → What shifted → By Arjen Karel · 5,621 crawled Wix sites (3,077 with phone Chrome field data, 1,024 sites with layout shift direction, October 2026) · How we measured