Interaction To Next Paint (INP) – Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics that measure the quality of user experience on web pages. They include three aspects: loading, interactivity, and visual stability. INP stands for Interaction To Next Paint, which is one of the interactivity metrics.
Interaction To Next Paint measures how long it takes for the browser to update the screen after a user’s input, such as clicking a button, typing a text, or scrolling a page. A low INP means that the page is responsive and interactive, while a high INP means that the page is laggy and frustrating.
Why is Interaction To Next Paint (INP) important?
INP is important because it affects how users perceive the performance and usability of a web page. A page with a low INP can provide a smooth and engaging experience, while a page with a high INP can cause user dissatisfaction and abandonment.
According to Google, the recommended threshold for INP is 300 milliseconds or less. This means that the browser should update the screen within 300 milliseconds or faster after a user’s input. Anything longer than that can negatively impact the user experience and the page ranking.
How to measure and improve Interaction To Next Paint (INP)?
There are several tools that can help you measure and improve INP on your web pages. Some of them are:
- Chrome User Experience Report: This is a public dataset that provides real-world user experience data for millions of websites. You can use it to see how your website performs on INP and other Core Web Vitals across different devices, regions, and connection types.
- PageSpeed Insights: This is a tool that analyzes the performance and optimization of your web pages. It provides you with a score and suggestions on how to improve your INP and other Core Web Vitals.
- Lighthouse: This is a tool that audits the quality and accessibility of your web pages. It gives you a report and recommendations on how to improve your INP and other Core Web Vitals.
- Web Vitals Extension: This is a browser extension that measures and displays the Core Web Vitals of any web page you visit. You can use it to monitor your INP and other Core Web Vitals in real-time.
By using these tools, you can identify and fix the issues that cause high INP on your web pages. Some of the common causes are:
- Heavy JavaScript execution: If your web page has too much JavaScript code or runs it on the main thread, it can block the browser from updating the screen after user input. You can optimize your JavaScript code by splitting it into smaller chunks, using code splitting, lazy loading, or web workers.
- Slow server response: If your server takes too long to process and deliver the content of your web page, it can delay the browser from updating the screen after user input. You can improve your server response time by using caching, compression, CDN, or serverless technologies.
- Poor network conditions: If your web page has too many or too large resources, such as images, fonts, or scripts, it can take longer to download and render them on the browser. This can also affect the INP. You can reduce the size and number of your resources by using minification, compression, responsive images, or preload hints.
How does Interaction To Next Paint (INP) affect SEO?
INP affects SEO because it is one of the Core Web Vitals metrics that Google uses to measure and rank the quality of user experience on web pages. Core Web Vitals are a set of signals that reflect how fast, responsive, and stable a web page is. They include loading, interactivity, and visual stability metrics.
INP is an interactivity metric that measures how quickly a web page reacts to user input, such as clicking, typing, or scrolling. A low INP means that the page is responsive and interactive, while a high INP means that the page is laggy and frustrating.
According to Google, the recommended threshold for INP is 300 milliseconds or less. This means that the browser should update the screen within 300 milliseconds or faster after a user’s input. Anything longer than that can negatively impact the user experience and the page ranking.
Therefore, optimizing INP can help you improve your SEO performance by providing a better user experience and satisfying Google’s ranking criteria. You can measure and improve your INP by using various tools and techniques that optimize your web performance, such as reducing JavaScript execution, improving server response time, and minimizing resource size.
For more information on INP, you can check out these articles:
- Interaction To Next Paint (INP): Everything You Need To Know by Brian Harnish
- Interaction To Next Paint (INP). How It Works & How To Improve INP. by Olga Zarr
How can I optimize Interaction To Next Paint (INP)?
As I mentioned before, you can optimize INP by using various tools and techniques that improve your web performance. Some of the common ways to optimize INP are:
- Reduce input delay: Input delay is the time between a user’s input and the browser’s response. You can reduce input delay by minimizing JavaScript execution on the main thread, using code splitting, lazy loading, or web workers.
- Minimize processing time: Processing time is the time between the browser’s response and the next paint. You can minimize processing time by optimizing your server response time, using caching, compression, CDN, or serverless technologies.
- Decrease presentation delay: Presentation delay is the time between the next paint and the screen update. You can decrease presentation delay by reducing the size and number of your resources, using minification, compression, responsive images, or preload hints.
You can also use the content-visibility property to improve the rendering of off-screen elements and reduce the INP of your web page.
Conclusion
Interaction To Next Paint (INP) is one of the Core Web Vitals that measures the interactivity of your web pages. It is important to keep it low to provide a good user experience and rank higher on Google. You can measure and improve your Interaction To Next Paint (INP) by using various tools and techniques that optimize your web performance.