What is Largest Contentful Paint and how to improve it on your website
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 12:08 pm
Largest Contentful Paint is the metric that allows you to measure the loading time of the largest visual element of a website. It aims to provide a good user experience and is considered one of the most significant parameters of Core Web Vitals.
Eric Mafra
Jan 3, 22 | 5 min read
Discover what Largest Contentful Paint is and how to level up yours
Reading time: 4 minutes
Page loading speed is a factor that every website should consider, ios database especially when it comes to SEO .
Increasingly, Google requires adjustments related to user experience , which also affects the ranking of websites. With this in mind, the company created a new metric: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) .
The goal of this parameter is to ensure that users visiting a website are satisfied with what they find. This does not only involve content, but also performance and presentation.
If a page takes too long to present what it has to offer, there is a high chance that the visitor will abandon it. And for Google, this means that the experience was not the most appropriate.
In this post you will better understand the LCP metric, what it consists of and other essential points on the subject. Today we will see:
What is Largest Contentful Paint?
How to measure LCP?
What is a good LCP score?
Why is Largest Contentful Paint important for SEO?
How to optimize it?
What role do images play in the LCP?
Keep reading and learn much more!
What is Largest Contentful Paint?
Largest Contentful Paint is the Google Core Web Vitals metric that measures the time it takes for a website to display the largest piece of content on the screen to the user in a complete, interaction-ready manner .
Google defines this metric as considering only the content that is at the top of the page, that is, what appears without the need to scroll.
There is another relevant point, which is related to the type of content considered. This metric only counts the loading time of what is relevant to the user experience, i.e.:
images.
Image tags.
Video thumbnails.
Background images with CSS .
Text elements, such as paragraphs, headings, and lists.
How to measure LCP?
You can measure Largest Contentful Paint in two ways:
Directly on the website, using a . field method .
Through performance simulations carried out by algorithms, that is, in the laboratory .
For each of these methods, there are different tools that speed up the work and make the measurement more accurate. Starting with the field method, you can use:
Chrome User Experience Report
PageSpeed Insights
Search Console (Core Web Vitals report)
In the case of laboratory tools, the most recommended are:
Chrome DevTools .
Lighthouse .
WebPageTest .
Since LCP is a metric created by Google, we can easily find it in all these tools. They allow us to measure LCP performance when necessary and, mainly, with continuous monitoring of the results.
What is a good LCP score?
While metrics monitoring is essential, it is also necessary to understand the minimum performance standards expected.
There is a specific demand from Google algorithms regarding page loading time, considering the main content. In this case, up to 2.5 seconds is considered a good result .
A great way to monitor Largest Contentful Paint is to rely on this illustrated meter created by web.dev :
LCP Google Web Vitals
Constantly monitoring this metric is essential to keep the loading time below 2.5 seconds. If a negative variation is detected, increasing this time, it is necessary to investigate the causes and act.
One mistake related to Largest Contentful Paint is not trying to improve this rate, as continued efforts will help you achieve the desired results.
Why is Largest Contentful Paint important for SEO?
When we talk about SEO and its relationship with LCP, we must highlight that Google considers this metric to be a relevant part of Core Web Vitals.
Therefore, Largest Contentful Paint is a vital parameter evaluated by algorithms and websites must score well on this criterion.
In recent years, Google has increasingly focused on defining evaluation parameters to improve the user experience , all integrating the Core Web Vitals.
Since LCP is related to page load time, it naturally influences how Google analyzes and ranks a website on the results page.
User experience is a competitive advantage, as well as a fundamental parameter for sites to be found on the web. That is why it is not enough to have good content, attractive products and a sophisticated design.
Not only does fast page loading contribute to user experience, it also ensures that Google ranks your content well.
How to optimize it?
It is possible to optimize the Largest Contentful Paint. To do so, tracking is a crucial part of the routine for constant improvement.
It is essential to include a series of analyses in your daily tasks, and below we will show you some of them.
Optimize the size of your images
Always use images with the correct size . Your hosting service will suggest specific dimensions for either the desktop or mobile version. When you use the correct size , you avoid overloads and also a high LCP.
Use CDN for your images
A CDN service can make images load faster. ImageEngine , for example, is a tool that does all the work of image adaptation, considering factors such as the accessing device, file size, and user location.
Avoid JavaScript to load images
Loading JavaScript can slow things down so it's best to let the browser do this. This helps prevent any lag , keeping LCP within the recommended range.
Choose a good hosting service
Your web host also affects page loading times. Therefore, look for a quality host that has a good reputation in the market and, above all, offers an infrastructure suitable for the size and volume of access to your website.
What role do images play in the LCP?
Images are generally the largest elements loaded on a page and this is the main reason why it is essential to pay attention to them.
That's also why the tips we're showing you are related to images. After all, they put a lot of demands on browsers, which can sometimes cause delays.
While images aren't the only elements that impact LCP, they can negatively impact it if they're not optimized. So you'll want to make sure your files are compressed, sized appropriately, and in formats like WebP, JPEG, and PNG .
Fast sites usually provide a good user experience. Among the many concerns regarding this, Largest Contentful Paint is considered the most important one within the Core Web Vitals. Therefore, continue monitoring it and also focus on optimizations when necessary.
Eric Mafra
Jan 3, 22 | 5 min read
Discover what Largest Contentful Paint is and how to level up yours
Reading time: 4 minutes
Page loading speed is a factor that every website should consider, ios database especially when it comes to SEO .
Increasingly, Google requires adjustments related to user experience , which also affects the ranking of websites. With this in mind, the company created a new metric: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) .
The goal of this parameter is to ensure that users visiting a website are satisfied with what they find. This does not only involve content, but also performance and presentation.
If a page takes too long to present what it has to offer, there is a high chance that the visitor will abandon it. And for Google, this means that the experience was not the most appropriate.
In this post you will better understand the LCP metric, what it consists of and other essential points on the subject. Today we will see:
What is Largest Contentful Paint?
How to measure LCP?
What is a good LCP score?
Why is Largest Contentful Paint important for SEO?
How to optimize it?
What role do images play in the LCP?
Keep reading and learn much more!
What is Largest Contentful Paint?
Largest Contentful Paint is the Google Core Web Vitals metric that measures the time it takes for a website to display the largest piece of content on the screen to the user in a complete, interaction-ready manner .
Google defines this metric as considering only the content that is at the top of the page, that is, what appears without the need to scroll.
There is another relevant point, which is related to the type of content considered. This metric only counts the loading time of what is relevant to the user experience, i.e.:
images.
Image tags.
Video thumbnails.
Background images with CSS .
Text elements, such as paragraphs, headings, and lists.
How to measure LCP?
You can measure Largest Contentful Paint in two ways:
Directly on the website, using a . field method .
Through performance simulations carried out by algorithms, that is, in the laboratory .
For each of these methods, there are different tools that speed up the work and make the measurement more accurate. Starting with the field method, you can use:
Chrome User Experience Report
PageSpeed Insights
Search Console (Core Web Vitals report)
In the case of laboratory tools, the most recommended are:
Chrome DevTools .
Lighthouse .
WebPageTest .
Since LCP is a metric created by Google, we can easily find it in all these tools. They allow us to measure LCP performance when necessary and, mainly, with continuous monitoring of the results.
What is a good LCP score?
While metrics monitoring is essential, it is also necessary to understand the minimum performance standards expected.
There is a specific demand from Google algorithms regarding page loading time, considering the main content. In this case, up to 2.5 seconds is considered a good result .
A great way to monitor Largest Contentful Paint is to rely on this illustrated meter created by web.dev :
LCP Google Web Vitals
Constantly monitoring this metric is essential to keep the loading time below 2.5 seconds. If a negative variation is detected, increasing this time, it is necessary to investigate the causes and act.
One mistake related to Largest Contentful Paint is not trying to improve this rate, as continued efforts will help you achieve the desired results.
Why is Largest Contentful Paint important for SEO?
When we talk about SEO and its relationship with LCP, we must highlight that Google considers this metric to be a relevant part of Core Web Vitals.
Therefore, Largest Contentful Paint is a vital parameter evaluated by algorithms and websites must score well on this criterion.
In recent years, Google has increasingly focused on defining evaluation parameters to improve the user experience , all integrating the Core Web Vitals.
Since LCP is related to page load time, it naturally influences how Google analyzes and ranks a website on the results page.
User experience is a competitive advantage, as well as a fundamental parameter for sites to be found on the web. That is why it is not enough to have good content, attractive products and a sophisticated design.
Not only does fast page loading contribute to user experience, it also ensures that Google ranks your content well.
How to optimize it?
It is possible to optimize the Largest Contentful Paint. To do so, tracking is a crucial part of the routine for constant improvement.
It is essential to include a series of analyses in your daily tasks, and below we will show you some of them.
Optimize the size of your images
Always use images with the correct size . Your hosting service will suggest specific dimensions for either the desktop or mobile version. When you use the correct size , you avoid overloads and also a high LCP.
Use CDN for your images
A CDN service can make images load faster. ImageEngine , for example, is a tool that does all the work of image adaptation, considering factors such as the accessing device, file size, and user location.
Avoid JavaScript to load images
Loading JavaScript can slow things down so it's best to let the browser do this. This helps prevent any lag , keeping LCP within the recommended range.
Choose a good hosting service
Your web host also affects page loading times. Therefore, look for a quality host that has a good reputation in the market and, above all, offers an infrastructure suitable for the size and volume of access to your website.
What role do images play in the LCP?
Images are generally the largest elements loaded on a page and this is the main reason why it is essential to pay attention to them.
That's also why the tips we're showing you are related to images. After all, they put a lot of demands on browsers, which can sometimes cause delays.
While images aren't the only elements that impact LCP, they can negatively impact it if they're not optimized. So you'll want to make sure your files are compressed, sized appropriately, and in formats like WebP, JPEG, and PNG .
Fast sites usually provide a good user experience. Among the many concerns regarding this, Largest Contentful Paint is considered the most important one within the Core Web Vitals. Therefore, continue monitoring it and also focus on optimizations when necessary.