The three measurements
| Metric | Plain meaning | Good |
|---|---|---|
| LCP, Largest Contentful Paint | How long until the biggest thing on screen, usually the main image or headline, is visible | 2.5 seconds or less |
| INP, Interaction to Next Paint | How long the page takes to respond after a tap or click | 200 milliseconds or less |
| CLS, Cumulative Layout Shift | How much content moves unexpectedly while the page loads | 0.1 or less |
Why Google cares
These numbers describe frustration. A slow LCP is staring at a blank screen. A poor INP is tapping a button and nothing happening. A high CLS is tapping the wrong thing because the page jumped. Google includes page experience among its ranking signals, and visitors notice it whether Google does or not.
Lab data and field data
PageSpeed Insights shows two things: a lab test run on the spot, and field data collected from real Chrome users over the previous weeks, when your site has enough visitors. Small sites often have no field data yet. That is normal, and the lab test is the guide.
Typical fixes
- LCP: compress and correctly size the main image, remove sliders, use faster hosting.
- INP: remove unnecessary scripts and heavy page-builder code.
- CLS: give every image and embed a fixed size so nothing jumps.