Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is a Core Web Vital metric that measures the time from when the page starts loading to when the largest text block or image element is rendered in the viewport.
LCP is the most impactful Core Web Vital for perceived loading speed. Google considers LCP good under 2.5s, needs improvement between 2.5-4s, and poor above 4s. It is measured from real Chrome users via CrUX data.
Common LCP elements are hero images, large heading text blocks, and video poster images. To optimize: preload the LCP resource with `<link rel="preload">`, use responsive images with proper `srcset`, serve modern formats (WebP/AVIF), avoid lazy-loading the LCP image, and minimize render-blocking CSS/JS.
In Next.js, the `<Image>` component with `priority` prop preloads the image. Set `priority` on your hero/above-the-fold images. Use `next/font` to self-host fonts and avoid layout-blocking font loads.
Example
// Next.js — prioritize the LCP image
import Image from "next/image";
<Image
src="/hero-screenshot.webp"
alt="Indxel dashboard showing SEO scores"
width={1200}
height={630}
priority // Preloads the image — critical for LCP
/>Related terms
Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are a set of three Google metrics — Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) — that measure real-world user experience.
First Contentful Paint (FCP)
First Contentful Paint (FCP) is a performance metric that measures the time from when the page starts loading to when any part of the page's content (text, image, SVG, or canvas element) is rendered on screen.
Time to First Byte (TTFB)
Time to First Byte (TTFB) is a metric that measures the duration between a user's HTTP request and the first byte of the server's response reaching the browser.
Page Speed
Page speed is the measurement of how quickly a web page's content loads and becomes interactive, typically measured by metrics like Time to First Byte (TTFB), First Contentful Paint (FCP), and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP).
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