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How to Reduce LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) Time?

·9 dk min read·Technical SEO Editor

What Does LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) Really Measure?

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) refers to the time it takes for the largest visible element of a web page (which can be a giant hero image, slider or a huge block of text) to fully appear on the screen. The user believes that your site loads "fast" when it is actually the "largest piece" on the screen. According to Google's Core Web Vitals benchmarks, LCP should ideally be under 2.5 seconds. Scores exceeding 4 seconds are in the penalty area.

Root Issues Paralyzing LCP Score

  • Lethargic Server Response Time (TTFB): If your server is having trouble sending the first byte, it will not be possible to render the LCP element on your screen.
  • Render-Blocking Codes: When huge CSS and concurrently running Javascript codes bottleneck the browser, the downloading of the image is always put on hold.
  • Heavy Media Factors: Often the LCP element on the page is a banner image. Uncompressed JPEGs will leave your LCP score comatose.
  • Client-Side Rendering (CSR): Only in CSR-based Single Page Application (SPA) systems such as React/Vue, the browser must download all the Javascript, read it and then draw the page, which is a huge disadvantage for SEO-focused LCP times.

Recipe for Reducing LCP Score to Below 2.5 Seconds

1. Critical Priority Assignment (Preload & FetchPriority)

If your LCP element is visual, instruct the browser to "Post this file first and download it immediately." You can give a hint to the browser by adding the following preload definition to the HTML head tag:

<link rel="preload" as="image" href="/hero-resim.webp" fetchpriority="high" />

2. Dangerous Mistakes When Using Lazy Load

The most common fatal mistake is that WordPress or plugins print loading="lazy" feature even on LCP images at the TOP of the page (above the fold). Lazy load should only be applied to the objects that the user sees below when scrolling. If there is lazy loading on the main image of the screen, the LCP score will be disastrous.