Several methods of LCP optimization, one-click optimization of LCP plugin WP Meteor LCP indicator optimization

WP Meteor, a fool-proof LCP optimization plugin, explains in detail how to optimize LCP

Optimizing LCP It can make the website more visible in search engines, thereby obtaining more traffic.LCP Optimization The easiest way is to install  WP Meteor ,thisPluginsYou can optimize the speed of LCP with one click, delay the loading of JS files, etc. WP Meteor does not have complicated settings, only a simple button, it is ready to use out of the box, easy to use, and very suitable for novice users. The following is a detailed introduction to several methods of LCP optimization.

useWP Plugins, the LCP index after LCP optimization is less than 2.5, search for WP Meteor in the plugin and install it. WP Meteor is a brand new way to optimize page speed. It can even run on top of your existing optimizations, including:

1. Automatic Optimization
2. WP Rocket
3. WP Total Cache
4. WP Super Cache
5. LiteSpeed Cache

Several methods for LCP optimization

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures how long it takes for the largest above-the-fold element to load on the page.
• Reducing your site's LCP helps users view essential content on your site more quickly.
• The Diagnostics section in PageSpeed Insights shows you which element is triggering the LCP metric.

The Performance panel in DevTools does the same thing.

To improve the LCP time of the page, you must optimize the loading time of this element. Here are five effective ways to improve your LCP index, which will of course also help improve the FCP, CLS and TTI scores.

LCP Optimization, How to Improve Your LCP Time

1. Image optimization;
2. CSS and JavaScript optimization;
3. Faster server response time;
4. Limited and optimized client-side rendering;
5. Preload and preconnect.

1. Image Optimization

Image optimization is a set of techniques that improve all load metrics and reduce layout shift (CLS). Image compression is an even more important part of it. Compression means applying different algorithms to remove or group parts of the image, making it smaller in the process. There are two types of compression - lossy and lossless.

• Lossy CompressionSome data is removed from the file, resulting in a lighter image of lower quality. JPEG and GIF are examples of lossy image types.
• Lossless compressionMaintains approximately the same image quality, i.e. it does not remove any data. It produces heavy, high-quality images. RAW and PNG are lossless image types.

There are many great tools out there to do this, such asimageminorOptimizilla.

Also, as your website grows, you'll likely add more and more images. You'll need a tool that can automatically optimize your images to the level you need.

Choose the Right Format

The tricky thing about choosing between image formats is finding the balance between quality and speed. High-quality images are heavy but look great. Low-resolution ones look terrible but load faster.

In some cases, high-pixel images are needed to stand out from the competition, such as photography and fashion websites. For news websites and personal blogs, etc., low-pixel images are completely fine. Here is a quick rule that can be used as a guide.

• Use SVG for images composed of simple geometric shapes, such as logos;
• Use PNG when sacrificing speed while maintaining quality;
• To strike the best balance between quality and UX, use WebP while keeping the original format as a fallback. Because WebP has no browser support for 100%.

Don't forget to try compressing your pictures after selecting the image type.

Using the srcset attribute

A typical mistake when working with images is to serve the same large image to all device sizes. Large images look good on smaller devices, but they are very slow to browse.

A better approach is to provide different image sizes so that the browserAccording to the equipmentDecide which one to use. To do this, use the srcset attribute and specify the different widths of the image to be served. Here is an example:

As you can see, for srcset we use w instead of px. If you want a version of the image that is 600px wide, you would have to write 600w. Again, this approach outsources the choice of image size to the browser. You simply provide the options.

Airbnb’s website uses this approach:

When deciding on the right image size, use Google Analytics to calculate the percentage of your audience that accesses your site via desktop or mobile. The Devices report also contains in-depth information about the specific devices your visitors use.

You should also use DevTools to check how your image looks on different viewports.

When you need to resize an image, useSmart ResizeBatch resizing.

Note for WordPress users:Starting with version 4.4, WP automatically creates different versions of images. It also added the srcset attribute. If you are a WordPress user, you only need to Provide the correct image size.

Preload hero images

The last tip is about optimizing browser discovery of heroes The speed of the image. Images often make the most sense above the fold, so loading them faster is critical to the user experience.

Forbes preloads the largest foldable image on the homepage:

This technique tells the browser to prioritize that specific image when rendering the page. Preloading can significantly improve LCP, especially on pages that load hero images that:

• JavaScript;
• The background-image property in CSS.

2. CSS and JavaScript optimization

Before the browser can render a page, it must load, parse, and execute all CSS and JavaScript files it finds while parsing the HTML. This is why both CSS and JavaScript are render-blocking by default. If not optimized, they can slow down page loads, hurting your LCP. Here's how to optimize them:

• Zoom outand compressed code files

Minification removes unnecessary parts from code files, such as comments, spaces, and line breaks. It can reduce small to medium file sizes. Compression, on the other hand, reduces the amount of data in a file by applying different algorithms. It usually reduces file size significantly.

Both technologies are necessary in terms of performance.Hosting CompanyandCDN ProvidersThese techniques are applied by default. It is worth checking if they are implemented on your website.

You can use the Network tab in DevTools and analyze the response headers of the file to see if this is the case:

Most minified files have ".min" in their name . Zipped files have a Content-Encoding response header, usually with a value of gzip or br.

If your site’s files are not minified or compressed, I recommend you start now. Ask your hosting company and CDN provider if they can do this for you. If not, there are many minification and compression tools out there.

Implementing critical CSS

Implementing critical CSS is a three-step process that includes:

• Find CSS for styles above the fold content on different viewports;
• Place (inline) the CSS directly into the head tag of the page;
• Defer the rest of the CSS.

You can start by using the Coverage panel in DevTools to count the usage of each CSS file on the page.

You can arrange the assets by type and browse through each CSS and JS file.

Obviously, the unused CSS on the page is not important. At this point, it’s worth trying to remove or reduce this unused CSS as it will slow down rendering.

Next, to extract the critical CSS, you need to manually inspect the code or use a tool. Two good options for this job arecriticalCSSandcritical.

Once extracted, the critical CSS is inlined into the head tag of the page.

Finally, load the rest of the CSS asynchronously.Google SuggestionsUse link rel="preload" , as="style" , an empty onload handler, and nest the link to the stylesheet in a noscript element.

Also, don’t forget to account for different viewports. Desktop and mobile users won’t see the same above-the-fold content. To fully utilize this technique, you’ll need to use different critical CSS depending on the device type.

Serving a smaller JavaScript payload

JavaScript is one of the main reasons for slow loading times across the web. Like images, you have to optimize your site’s JavaScript if you want great performance.

For LCP,Splitting JavaScript bundlesis a great way to improve your score. The idea is to only send the code needed for the initial route. Anything not included in the initial bundle should be provided later. This way, there is less JavaScript that needs to be parsed and compiled at once. Some popular tools for this are WebPack, Rollup, and Browserify. For more information on code splitting, check outThis article from web.dev.

3. Faster server response time

Reducing server response time is one of the most common recommendations in PageSpeed Insights.

Here are some steps you can take to fix this problem:

Upgrade your hosting planIf you are using a cheap shared hosting plan, you need to upgrade. It is impossible to have a fast website and a slow host server;

Optimize your serverMany factors can affect server performance, especially during periods of traffic surges.This tutorial by Katie HempeniusTo evaluate, stabilize, improve and monitor your servers;

Reduce your site's reliance on 3rd party plugins, tools, and librariesThey increase the amount of code that must be executed on the server or browser. This increases resource consumption and hurts metrics such as Time to First Byte, First Contentful Paint, and LCP;

Maximize cache usage.Caching is the backbone of great web performance. Many assets can be cached for months or even a year (logos, navigation icons, media files). Also, if your HTML is static, you can cache it, which can significantly reduce TTFB;

Use CDN. CDN shortens the distance between visitors and the content they want to access. To make your job as easy as possible, use a caching tool with built-in CDN;

Using Service WorkersService Workers reduce the size of HTML payloads by avoiding duplication of common elements. Once installed, a service worker requests minimal data from the server and converts it into a complete HTML document.Check out this tutorial by Philip Walton for more details.

4. Limited and optimized client-side rendering

Client-side rendering (CSR) refers to rendering a page directly in the browser using JavaScript. This approach offloads tasks (data fetching, routing, etc.) from the server to the client. CSR might be a perfect solution at first, but as you add more JavaScript, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain.

If you have implemented CSR, you need to be extra careful when optimizing JavaScript.Code splitting, compression, and minification are a mustIn addition, useHTTP/2 Server Push andLink rel=preload can help deliver critical resources faster.

Finally, you can try combining CSR with prerendering, or adding server-side rendering into the mix. The approach you take here depends on your site’s technology stack. It’s important to understand how much work you’re putting in on the client side and how this affects performance.

For a deeper dive into the topic, I recommend reading this comprehensive guide to rendering on the web.

5. Use rel=preload , rel=preconnect and rel=dns-prefetch

These three attributes help the browser by pointing it to the resources and connections that need to be processed first.

First, use rel=preload on resources that the browser should prioritize. Typically, these are above the fold images, videos, critical CSS, or fonts. It’s as simple as adding a few lines to your head tag, like this:

When preloading fonts, things like as="font", type="font/woff2", and crossorigin can help the browser prioritize resources during rendering. As a bonus, preloading fonts also helps them meet FCP, which reduces layout shifts.

Forbes.com uses this technique to reduce their font loading times:

Next, rel=preconnect tells the browser that you intend to establish a connection to the domain immediately. This reduces round trips to important domains. Again, implementing this is very simple:

But be very careful when preconnecting. Just because you can preconnect to a domain doesn't mean you should. Only do this for domains you need to connect to.It's timeUsing it for unwanted hosts will block all other DNS requests, causing more harm than good.

Finally, to save DNS lookup time on less critical connections, use rel=dns-prefetch.

Prefetch can also be used as a fallback to preconnect.

All of these techniques are great for improving your site’s performance metrics. If you haven’t implemented them yet, be careful when choosing which resources to preload and which hosts to preconnect to.

Reducing the LCP Metric on Your WordPress Site

The techniques listed above can help improve LCP on all sites, including those built on WordPress (WP). However, two additional tips can also help optimize this metric on WP sites:

Choose a lightweight theme.A theme that is too cumbersome can significantly increase loading time and hurt your Core Web Vitals, including LCP. That's why you should choose your theme carefully. For more details, check outThis study by Kinsta;

Don't use too many plugins.While plugins provide useful functionality, most of them also have a performance cost. They increase the amount of code that must be executed, resulting in higher resource consumption. Study each plugin carefully and monitor your site's performance after adding it.

Both of these tips are a must when working with WP sites. Combine them with the techniques listed above and you should see significant improvements in your LCP.

Additional Tools and Best Practices for Monitoring Core Web Vitals

Even if you don't have any issues with LCP optimization, it's a good idea to review field data regularly to detect potential problems.

Field data is collected by Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX). This data showsReal usersHow your site is performing. You can find the field data directly below the overall score in PageSpeed Insights:

Because Google evaluates a page's Core Web Vitals for the past 28 days, you should test your important pages at least once a month.

If PageSpeed Insights doesn't show this section due to missing data, you can use a different tool to access the CrUX dataset:

• LCP Optimization Chrome UX Report API - Some JavaScript and JSON experience required;
• LCP Optimization BigQuery - Google Cloud projects and SQL skills are required;
• LCP Optimization Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console- Great for beginners, useful for marketers, SEOs, and webmasters.

Which tool you choose depends on your preference. It’s important to pay attention to your site’s LCP as well as any potential issues with other Core Web Vitals.

Likewise, make sure to check the Core Web Vitals report at least once a month. Sometimes problems crop up in unexpected places and go undetected for a long time.

After optimizing LCP to the extreme, you will have unexpected gains. You will find that the ranking in the search engine has been improving. This is the role of LCP. Please do not ignore the LCP indicator. LCP optimization is very important!