Learn how Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) affect real users and conversions.
Table of Contents
In 2026, web performance is not an afterthought—it is a core UX requirement. Google's Core Web Vitals evaluate real-world browser telemetry to judge page experience.
Key Core Web Vitals Metrics
1. **Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)**: Measures loading speed. Good threshold is $\le 2.5$ seconds. 2. **Interaction to Next Paint (INP)**: Measures responsiveness to user interactions like clicks and taps. Good threshold is $\le 200$ ms. 3. **Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)**: Measures visual layout stability. Good score is $\le 0.1$.
Actionable Fixes for Fast Pages
- Convert PNG and JPEG images to WebP format.
- Use modern CSS grid and flexbox without excessive wrapper divs.
- Minimize blocking third-party tracking scripts.
- Implement server caching and gzip/brotli compression.
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