An Advanced Guide On Improving the Largest Contentful Paint Scores In WordPress

LCP resource loading times will hamper, so will bounce rates rise unless LCP scores in WordPress websites are optimized. The process involves a series of steps.?

Largest Contentful Paint or LCP is one of the Core Web Vital metrics representing how soon a web page's main content loads. LCP specifically, measures the time right when the user clicks on an URL to initiate the loading page till the largest size image or text block has been rendered within the screen view. LCP is segregated into four parts which are?Time to First Byte, Resource Load Delay, Resource Load Time, and Element Render Delay.?

What is A Good Largest Contentful Paint Score??

A good LCP score is the LCP less than or equal to 2.5 seconds for a minimum of 75% of page visits. When successful, the page will be receiving the green score, thus qualifying the assessment. But when the LCP is found to be between 2.5 and 4.0, then the score will need improvements – as will be marked by the orange grade.?

If the LCP exceeds 4 seconds, then the score is poor and should be fixed at the earliest.?

How Should LCP Scores Be Measured??

By using specific tools, the LCP scores can be measured. PageSpeed Insights is the simplest tool where the webpage URL has to be entered and “Analyze” clicked on to generate the full report on the page's overall performance within a few seconds. PageSpeed Insights generates two reports for that very webpage – for mobile and desktop performance, respectively. The Core Web Vitals scores, along with LCP can be seen on the report’s top.?

Scrolling down will display the potential performance improvements to be done for the website. You shall get a loading times estimate from PageSpeed Insights, for each suggested improvement. You can save the estimate.??

If Google Search Console is used, then by staying on the platform, you would get access to PageSpeed Insights. A few WordPress plugins such as Site Kit enable in display of Core Web Vitals score exactly within the dashboard.?

How Should Largest Contentful Paint Scores Be Improved and Optimized For WordPress Sites??

To improve and optimize LCP scores for WordPress sites, these are the important ways to be followed –?

1. Optimizing the Images, Background Images, and Video Sliders

Image optimization lessens the web page load times and further aids in user experience improvement. The solutions to optimize the images, background images, and video sliders are resizing, using lower-resolution photos and the newer file types, and deleting the insignificant images if they are not impactful.?

2. Selecting the Right File Format

??? JPG is the master of compression and the best format option for images like photographs having several colors, which are the most extensive files. JPG represents Lossy compression that deletes unnecessary data to shrink files. While it might affect quality, still JPG compression is almost invisible when correctly done. Photographic images and photographs are to be saved in JPG format.?

??? PNG is the ideal, lossless file format for line art and all other pictures having limited color palettes when the design needs transparent backdrops. The compression method is used in the image files for these file types. Transparency is maintained.??

The format used makes a massive difference.?

By using different new file types, web designers can create smaller and more detailed graphics. One of the maximum used formats is WebP. Google directs to convert an image to WebP for a 25-34% size reduction. This format combines lossless and lossy compression for decreasing the image and enhancing web page load times. Selective material is removed from the file for lowering the file size.?

Among hundreds of potential tools available for image conversion of different file formats, we have briefed cwebp, Imagemin for WebP, and Squoosh.?

??? Cwebp –?

This is a command-line tool; an excellent alternative to use for simple projects. Lossy or lossless compression, alter pixel values, and other related settings can also be used.?

??? Imagemin for WebP?

Imagemin for WebP is the image converting program into WebP format. This npm plugin is a better option when building tools or build scripts are being used. If needed, the compression kinds, quality settings, sharpness, and other parameters can be selected.?

??? Squoosh?

Google has created this Squoosh app to enable designers to compress, resize and modify image quality. It has a slider that notably allows image comparison in various formats.?

3. Serving Responsive Images

To boost the LCP score, the right image size for the device where it will be viewed should be served right. Typically, desktop photos use 2-4 times more data than mobile images since desktop screens are larger than mobile screens. Resizing the photos for different device types pays off in the long run.??

4. Using Global Content Delivery Network CDN

CDNs are excellent for image optimization. The popular CDN for Amazon Web Services websites is Amazon CloudFront. For serving its photos, Duda's platform used AWS which decreases the size while speeding up the page loading times.?

5. All Important Resources Must be Pre-Loaded

CSS and JavaScript files are the website elements that should be given loading priority. So, the files to load first and the ones to load later should be categorized. Above-the-fold graphics or videos, fonts, and crucial CSS or JavaScript are the elements to be preloaded.?

6. Serving the Flexible

Conditionally fetching the different materials according to the user's device while loading resources which are the page's primary content is rather useful. This is an adaptive serving technique. Adaptive serving is of more importance when materials are to be loaded on mobile devices.?

7. Assets To Cache Serves Smaller HTML

Responses with a Service Worker are good to use for different functions, along with serving the smaller HTML responses. Designers can even use them to cache any static resources being served to the browser, other than repeatedly requesting from the network.?

8. Eliminating Render-Blocking JavaScript and CSS

JavaScript or CSS is said to be "blocking" when the browser has to analyze and execute CSS or JavaScript earlier than rendering any content material.?

With high-quality practices, the time needed for displaying a blocked element can be reduced. To achieve this, the priority should be on the elimination of render-blocking CSS and JavaScript to generate a great Core Web Vitals report. The outcome is progressive loading that ultimately brings down the bounce rate.?

9. Minifying CSS

By disposing spacing, indentation and feedback from the CSS documents helps in minifying the CSS. It reduces the CSS documents as much as possible. It is similar to compressing the overall report size.?

?The site minifycode.com has a simple and elegant UI that offers minifies for JavaScript, HTML, and CSS that minifies the code with just a button click. It has a "beautifier" tool for decompressing the minified code while making reading easier, that is to say, the opposite of minification.?

How To Minify CSS By Using minify.com??

These are the steps to follow –??

??? The source code has to be either copy-pasted or the source code file has to be uploaded.

??? Minify CSS button has to be selected for minifying or compressing the code.?

??? The minified code’s output has to be copied or the minified code file should be saved.?

10. Deferring Non-Critical CSS, Using Inline Critical CSS, and Reducing JavaScript

??? Deferring Non-Critical CSS?

Any ineffective CSS must be removed. If there is any unwanted CSS for the preliminary rendering, it could be loaded asynchronously.?

??? Using Inline Critical CSS?

In-lining the essential CSS helps the browsers to load the pages faster. It allows the page to first load the maximum number of vital documents.?

??? Reducing JavaScript?

Most present-day websites are dependent on JavaScript closely, which is commonly referenced within the element. It activates the browsers' processing or loading abilities of those assets first. Next, it prioritizes the maximum vital content material.?

So, it is clear prioritizing the content material above the fold has a great deal of importance. Nevertheless, it is challenging to download and serve the minimum quantity of JavaScript. So, Google recommends minifying and compressing JavaScript documents along with deferring unused JavaScript.?

11. Selecting a Web Server With Low Server Response Times

Reducing server response times is among the most effective approaches for fixing the most serious contentful paint element difficulties of a WordPress website. The hosting plan is a common cause of why the resources do not load quickly. A shared hosting plan is not going to provide lightning-fast server response times for several online stores. A slow host server detains a fast, responsive website.

Hence, choosing an appropriate hosting type is crucial. A dedicated hosting server helps at resolving most issues while enhancing performance. So, hosting based on website traffic and other requirements should be chosen. Aside from hosting, the server should be improved for handling traffic spikes. This smart approach minimizes LCP element problems.?

For SEO, the server reaction time is much more important to better user experience. These indexed approaches will help in improving the server reaction time –?

??? Using a more significant and effective server, that is greater RAM and CPU.?

??? Upgrading a community gadget at the server.

??? Optimizing the underlying code to the server for giving quicker replies to inbound requests.?

12. Compressing Text Files

LCP improves when the text files like CSS, HTML, or JavaScript resources are compressed. LCP loads quickly when the ZIP files are compressed into smaller sizes. Sooner the file sizes are reduced, these files are instantly transferred from the browser and server. The files in ZIP or Brotli format should be compressed.?

Enable Gzip compression plugin, WP Rocker, and other relevant plugins can be utilized. Ultimately, it will improve the LCP and load time.?

LCP optimization at a high level can be summarized as ensuring the LCP resource begins to load at the earliest. The LCP element has to be rendered once its resource has finished loading. Even reducing the LCP resource load time without sacrificing quality is important. Finally, the initial HTML document will be delivered as fast as possible. Following the instructions we have discussed here gives you the confidence of delivering an optimal loading experience to users, and it would be reflected in real-world LCP scores.?