Understanding the Largest Contentful Paint to Optimize Performance

What is LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)?

LCP, or Largest Contentful Paint, is a performance metric used in web development to measure how quickly the largest content element on a page appears on the user’s screen. It is one of the Core Web Vitals metrics used by Google to measure and assess the performance of web pages.

The purpose of measuring the LCP is to know how quickly the main content of the website is visible to the user. A good LCP score means that the page loads faster, which is beneficial for the user experience as well as for SEO.

How is LCP Measured?

To measure the LCP of a web page, the browser looks for the largest visible element on the page (such as an image or text block) and records the time it took to load. This value, known as the “First Contentful Paint”, is then compared to the overall loading time of the page, and the result is the LCP time.

What is a Good LCP Score?

Google recommends that every web page should have an LCP of 2.5 seconds or less. A score higher than this can negatively impact the user experience, as well as your site’s SEO rankings.

There are a number of things that can affect a website's LCP, including the size and complexity of the page, the use of images and videos, and the use of third-party scripts. 

How to improve a website's LCP

• Reducing the size of images and videos
• Minifying and combining CSS and JavaScript files
• Using a CDN to deliver static assets
• Deferring non-critical scripts

Conclusion

LCP is an important metric used to measure website performance. To achieve a good LCP score, ensure that your web page’s main content is visible within 2.5 seconds of the page loading, to provide an optimal user experience and boost your SEO ranking.