In 2021, Google integrated the Largest Contentful Paint metric into its ranking systems to assess user experience.
Largest Contentful Paint is a key metric among the three essential components of Google’s Core
Web Vitals. This metric aims to guarantee that users have a satisfactory experience when visiting websites. It includes not only the content itself but also its presentation and overall performance. In case a website takes an excessive amount of time to present its content, the likelihood of visitors leaving the page increases significantly. For Google, this indicates that the user experience was less than optimal.
Core Web Vitals illustrate a contradictory situation, as Google highlights their critical nature while also suggesting that they have a lesser impact on ranking positions.
LCP represents one of the three fundamental Core Web Vitals (CWV) metrics that evaluate technical performance aspects that have an impact on user experience.
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ToggleWhat is the Largest Contentful Paint?
LCP refers to the duration required for the primary content of a webpage to load and become available for user interaction. Specifically, this involves measuring the time from when a page load begins to when the largest image or block of text is displayed within the user’s viewport. Content that appears below the fold is not included in this timeframe. The elements that are generally assessed consist of images, video poster images, background images, and block-level text elements, including paragraph tags.
How we can measure a better Largest Contentful Paint?
The process of optimizing for LCP requires attention to each of these metrics, aiming for a loading and display time of LCP resources that is under 2.5 seconds.
For a great user experience and better search engine results, try to keep your LCP at 2.5 seconds or under. Google sees an LCP of 4 seconds or more as a red flag, which can negatively impact your rankings and how users interact with your site.
Largest Contentful Paint assesses the duration required for the most significant content element to become visible on the screen. This element may consist of an image or a substantial block of text. To improve your rankings, focus on providing a good experience for at least 75% of your users.
If the LCP range is below 2.5s, the website has a good loading experience.
If the LCP range is 4S – 2.5S, the website needs improvement in its loading experience.
If the LCP range is above 4S, the website has a poor loading experience.
The components of LCP include the following sub-metrics:
- Time to First Byte (TTFB).
- Resource load delay.
- Resource load duration.
- Element render delay.
Time To First Byte (TTFB):
Time to First Byte is all about how quickly your browser gets the first byte of data from the server. It factors in DNS lookup time, the server’s processing time for requests, and any redirects that might happen.
Improving TTFB can lead to faster load times and a nicer LCP experience.
Server response time mainly depends on:
- Database queries.
- CDN cache misses.
- Inefficient server-side rendering.
- Hosting.
1. Database Queries:
If your response time is notably high, it is important to attempt to identify the root causes.
For example, you might be experiencing delays because your queries are not well-optimized or there’s a heavy load of queries affecting the server’s speed. If you have a MySQL database, you can log the slow queries to identify which ones are causing the lag.
2. CDN cache misses:
A CDN cache miss occurs when the requested resource is not available in the CDN’s cache. This process can lead to increased latency and extended loading times for users.
If you notice that more than 10% of your cache requests are missing, it might be a good idea to reach out to your CDN provider or your hosting support, especially if you’re using managed hosting with integrated caching, to get this sorted out.
3. Inefficient Server-Side Rendering:
You might find that certain features on your website are connected to third-party APIs.
Just imagine if we linked up the share count and GA4 APIs every time a request is sent to the server. Each request would take about 300-500 ms, plus we could add around ~1,000 ms delay from inefficient server-side rendering. So, make sure your backend is in tip-top shape!
4. Hosting:
It is essential to recognize that hosting plays a crucial role in achieving a low Time to First Byte (TTFB). Selecting an appropriate hosting service can potentially decrease your TTFB by a factor of two to three.
Resource Load Duration
The resource load duration refers to the time taken to download the Largest Contentful Paint resource. Even if the browser is quick to locate and start downloading resources, slow download speeds can still affect LCP. It all comes down to the size of the resources, the speed of the server’s network connection, and the user’s own network conditions.
By implementing the following measures, you can decrease the duration of resource load:
- WebP format.
- Properly sized images (make the image compressed and match the visible size).
- Prioritize loading by assigning fetchpriority=”high” to essential resources and fetchpriority=”low” to nonessential ones.
Ways to Improve Largest Contentful Paint
Monitoring your largest contentful paint (LCP) score is an essential component of your website maintenance strategy. However, it is through implementing enhancements that you will achieve improved outcomes. If your LCP score is less than satisfactory and requires attention, there are several simple and more complex measures you can take to enhance your score and provide a superior user experience.
Optimize image Sizes
The use of images can substantially enhance the user experience on your website, but if they are not optimized, they may create serious speed issues. It is imperative to use responsive images with appropriate sizing. Your hosting provider will suggest specific dimensions for both desktop and mobile displays. Optimizing images on your website is crucial to prevent overload and can significantly boost the largest contentful paint scores.
Avoid using JavaScript for loading your images
The concept of JavaScript “lazy loading” proves beneficial for images positioned below the fold; however, it is not advisable for images located above the fold. Lazy loading entails that rather than loading the entire webpage and rendering it simultaneously, only the necessary section is loaded promptly, while the remaining content is deferred until the user requires it.
Implement an Image Content Delivery Network
A content delivery network (CDN) service enhances image loading speeds by caching images on servers located globally. By serving optimized images from a nearby source, web pages can load up to 50% faster, improving the largest contentful paint score.
Resource Load Delay
Resource load delay indicates the period necessary for the browser to discover and start the download of the largest contentful paint resource.
For example: If your hero section has a background image that needs CSS files to load first, expect a delay. This delay represents the period necessary for the browser to acquire the CSS before it can commence the process of fetching the Largest Contentful Paint image.
Improving the speed of resource loading can really help in getting critical content on the screen faster.
Element Render Delay
The time it takes for the browser to process and display the largest contentful paint element is known as element render delay.
This metric is shaped by the level of complexity present in your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Reducing render-blocking resources and optimizing your code can contribute to minimizing this delay. However, it is possible that extensive JavaScript execution is occurring, which may obstruct the main thread, resulting in a postponement of the rendering of the LCP element until these tasks are finalized.
Low Total Blocking Time (TBT) values are crucial because they show how long the main thread is held up by lengthy tasks when the page loads. This can point to heavy scripts that slow down rendering and responsiveness.
How To Measure the Largest contentful paint Score
There are two types of scoring tools out there. The first one is known as Field Tools, and the second one is referred to as Lab Tools.
Lab tools provide a virtual score by simulating a crawl with algorithms that mimic the internet conditions a regular mobile phone user would face.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the optimization of Largest Contentful Paint is critical for achieving an exceptional user experience and enhancing search rankings. By focusing on improving server response times, streamlining resource loading, and minimizing rendering delays, websites can reliably achieve an Largest Contentful Paint score of under 2.5 seconds for at least 75% of users. If your interest lies in understanding about these concepts and more such essential digital marketing skills, one shall consider a complete digital marketing course covering core web vitals, SEO strategies, and more. “Regular performance monitoring and proactive optimizations not only improve usability and user engagement but also contribute to greater visibility and overall website landing page success.