Introduction to Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
When Google updates its search algorithm, it’s crucial for website rankings to meet the latest requirements. The rollout of Core Web Vitals adds to this importance. In this post, I’ll guide you through optimizing your site for Core Web Vitals with practical tips and examples to enhance user experience and maintain high search result rankings. Ignoring these metrics could harm your site’s performance.
What is Interaction to Next Paint (INP)?
INP measures the time between when a user interacts with your web page (like clicking a link) and the next paint of the screen. As a web developer, improving INP is crucial for providing a good user experience.
I know how important it is to optimize my clients’ websites for the best user experience. One of the key metrics I pay attention to is Interaction to Next Paint (INP). INP measures the time between a user interacting with the page (like clicking a link or button) and the next visual update or “paint” on the screen. If INP is high, it means users will experience lag or jank on the site, users today expect fast, responsive websites. If someone clicks a link or button on your site and nothing happens for a while, they’re going to get frustrated. Optimizing INP helps ensure your site feels snappy and responsive.
According to research, even delays of just 100 milliseconds can negatively impact user experience and satisfaction. So optimizing for INP helps ensure my clients’ sites feel fast, responsive and high quality to visitors.
Optimizing for metrics like INP does require time and effort, but the payoff of a fast, high-quality user experience is well worth it.
How INP affects Core Web Vitals
INP is one of the Core Web Vitals, Google’s metrics for measuring web page quality. Having a low INP score means your site provides a good user experience, which Google uses as a ranking signal. If your INP numbers are high, it indicates your site may feel sluggish to users and could hurt your search rankings.
Optimizing for a good INP score does take work, but by focusing on website performance and responsiveness, you’ll build a better experience for your users and rank higher in search results. Keeping on top of metrics like INP and the other Core Web Vitals is key to success today.
How Interaction to Next Paint (INP) impacts Core Web Vitals
As a digital marketer, I’m always keeping an eye on Google’s algorithms and ranking factors. Recently, they announced a new metric called Interaction to Next Paint, or INP, which measures how long it takes for a user interaction on your site to result in visual feedback on the screen. This is going to become an important part of Google’s Core Web Vitals in 2024, so I wanted to share how INP works and what you can do to optimize it.
How to optimize INP
Optimizing INP is crucial for providing users with a seamless web experience. As a developer, there are several things I focus on to improve INP.
Minimize render-blocking resources
Render-blocking resources like CSS and JavaScript files can delay how quickly content is displayed to users. I make sure any CSS is loaded asynchronously or inline, and JavaScript files are deferred. This allows the HTML to load immediately so users see content right away.
Optimize CSS delivery
How CSS is delivered impacts how quickly content can be rendered. I employ techniques like pruning unused CSS, minifying files to reduce size, and loading CSS asynchronously. I also split CSS into multiple files based on the components they style. This means only the CSS needed to display current content loads.
Lazy load images
Images are a major factor in how fast a page loads. I lazy load images so they only load as a user scrolls to them. This means the browser isn’t bogged down loading images that may never even appear on screen. For hero images or content above the fold, I make sure file sizes are properly optimized.
Reduce server response times
Slow server response times directly translate to slower INP. I optimize my server to handle requests as efficiently as possible. Things like implementing a CDN, caching static files, and optimizing database queries help reduce server response times. Keeping third-party scripts and embeds to a minimum also avoids additional network requests that can slow things down.
Use a cache-friendly framework
The framework I choose to build my websites has a big impact on performance and INP. Frameworks that follow cache-friendly principles, like avoiding template changes and keeping components modular, make websites faster. When components can be cached in the browser, less information needs to be downloaded on repeat visits. Popular options like React and Vue.js are designed with performance and caching in mind.
Optimizing for INP provides benefits like higher rankings, lower bounce rates, and better user experiences. By focusing on the key areas of render-blocking resources, CSS and image delivery, server response times, and caching, I’m able to build websites that feel instantaneous to users. Keeping on top of web performance best practices will ensure my websites continue to lead in INP and user experience into the future.