Explained: Largest Contentful Paint (lcp)

By Author: Damien Alcock
Total Articles: 143
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Largest Content Paint (LCP) is a metric that shows how long it takes to load the main content of a web page. Luckily, you'll learn all about LCP, how to measure LCP, why it's important for SEO, and how to optimise it in this article. 


What is the most contentious paint?


The greatest content picture is one of the three main Vitals of the site. And if you're wondering why this article decided to talk about the LCPs of the top 3 web lifelines, here's why.


 Recently, Google CEO Philip Walton said, based on publicly available data from his Chrome User Experience report, that LCP is the metric that sites struggle with the most out of the three Important Indicators.


 important about the website. LCP measures the time it takes for a page to load the main content and allows the user to initiate interaction.


 This setting takes into account the largest block of content or image in the viewport above the fold or in the user's ...
... view (elements visible after scrolling are not counted). In addition, LCP only takes into account the load time of certain elements, including;
 

Pictures
Video thumbnails
Picture card

What is the significance of LCP in SEO?


Users rarely wait for a page to completely load. A page may close unexpectedly if it takes too long to load, which Google considers a sign of a bad user experience.


 This user behavior also means your site will have a higher bounce rate. An increased bounce rate is a negative signal for SEO.


 Additionally, slow page load speeds that affect LCP can negatively impact conversion rates and overall traffic. This can affect the company's return on investment, which is obviously the least desirable thing for the company.


 Let's take a real example.


 In 2021, Google published an analysis of Groupe Renault's conversion rates after adjusting its performance metric, Largest Content Quality (LCP). Their findings were astounding, as conversion rates dropped by 50% when latency increased by 3 seconds.


 However, if you want to increase your website's online visibility and achieve higher search rankings, you need to optimize your LCP for a higher profit margin. Yes, drawing the greatest content is very important. 


How is LCP quantified?


Before you know how to optimize your LCP, you need to know your site's current LCP score. This way, you can decide how much effort you need to devote to LCP optimisation, being able to measure LCP with field and laboratory tools. So what is the difference?


 Using the field tool will give you actual measurements of the target location, while the lab tool generates a virtual score based on simulated discoveries using algorithms that estimate conditions internet that mobile users may encounter. First, we list the field tools that can be used to calculate the LCP. You can measure the LCP of your web pages using the PageSpeed Insights tool.


 This tool displays your website's LCP score for desktop and mobile. In addition to LCP, this tool also informs you about the results of other Web Vitals. B. MmFirst Input Delay (FID) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).


 You can also check your site's LCP by visiting Google Search Console's Core Web Vitals report. Alternatively, you can measure your LCP with the Chrome User Experience Report. 


However, we recommend using the first two methods as they are easier. Next, we describe experimental tools for measuring LCP.

Chrome Developer Tools
Headlight
 website testing

 Of these three lab tools, Chrome Dev Tools and Lighthouse are provided by Google, and WebPageTest is a third-party tool. 


What exactly is a Food LCP Score?


CORRECT. Now you know how to measure your website's LCP score. But how do you know if your LCP is good or how far away you are from getting a good LCP score?


 Let me explain what an LCP score looks like.


 According to Google's guidelines, for a good LCP, the main content of the page should load in 2.5 seconds and then the user can access it.


 It simply means that if a page load in less than 2.5 seconds for at least 75% of hits, then Google considers it a good loading experience. On the other hand, if the page loads in about 4 seconds, it indicates you need to improve your LCP. Also, more than 4 seconds indicates bad LCP. 


How can I improve LCP?


Now let's get to the most important part. If your LCP is good, keep it up. On the other hand, if your LCP needs improvement (it most likely does), here's how.


Improve Your Image


As mentioned earlier, images affect LCP and so to get a good LCP score you need to make sure your images are properly optimized.
 
Here are some ways to improve your images;

 Use specific image sizes for desktop and mobile versions
 Compress photos without losing image quality
 Use supported image formats
 Avoid GIFs, use videos instead 

Select Your Website Design Carefully


Customising your website is a great way to make your website stand out from the rest. However, including JavaScript and CSS in the theme and content of your site can affect how fast your page loads. Aim for a cleaner website design that doesn't require a lot of plugins, especially in the above-the-fold area. Make sure to remove render-blocking JavaScript and CSS. 


After all, you don't always need a floral and graphic website design to create a great atmosphere and visuals. Even a smaller site can achieve this, especially if you can prioritise what your site needs and what you don't. 


Fonts should be optimised.


Some fonts come with larger files. What does this mean for your website?


 Using such fonts on your site can cause text elements on your page to load slowly, causing users to wait for the main content to appear, resulting in poor LCP.
 
Therefore, adjust the font style and size appropriately to enable fast loading and avoid a bad user experience. 


Resolve Lazy Loading Issues


Partial loading is a technique that avoids loading non-critical CSS and other content when the page is first rendered and focuses on loading above-the-fold content.


 This way, content appears quickly in the user's view while other content loads slowly. Slow-loading techniques can complement LCP. However, some slow-loading issues can negatively impact your site's LCP score.


 For example, if your site uses naturally slow loading and all images, including featured images, load slowly, you will receive a poor LCP score. This can also happen during lazy loading with JavaScript. The image takes a while to fully load because the browser needs to run some JavaScript before displaying the image. 


Conclusion 


Of the top three web requirements, the Biggest Content is what most websites struggle with. To improve LCP, invest more of your page load time in retrieving LCP elements and less time spent on other resources.


 Remember that anything that prevents your page's LCP elements from loading as quickly as possible is a waste of time, slows down page load times, and is counterproductive to a good LCP. 


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