Learn · Performance & optimization
LCP measures how long it takes for the largest visible element (usually the main image or heading) to load and appear. It's the closest single number to "how fast does this page feel to load." The target is under 2.5 seconds for the good rating, measured on real visitors.
A slow LCP usually comes from large unoptimized images, slow servers, render-blocking code, or loading the important content last. Fixing it means serving smaller images, speeding up the server response, and making sure the main content loads early rather than behind scripts.
LCP is often the most impactful vital to improve because it directly shapes first impressions. A visitor staring at a blank or half-loaded page for several seconds is a visitor who may already be leaving.
Updated July 2026
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Core Web Vitals are Google's three metrics for real-world page experience: LCP (loading speed), INP (responsiveness), and CLS (visual stability). As of July 2026 the "good" targets are LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds, and CLS under 0.1, measured on real visitors at the 75th percentile.
Compress images, use modern formats like WebP or AVIF, size them to how they'll actually be displayed, and load offscreen ones lazily. Images are usually the heaviest part of a page, so optimizing them is the single biggest speed win on most sites.
The highest-impact steps: optimize and properly size images, reduce and defer JavaScript, enable caching, use a CDN, and choose fast hosting. These few changes address most speed problems on most sites and directly improve Core Web Vitals.