What is First Contentful Paint (FCP)?

First Contentful Paint measures when the browser first renders any text or image from the page. It's a supporting speed metric (not a Core Web Vital); a good FCP is 1.8 seconds or less.

First Contentful Paint (FCP) — SEO Library

What FCP tells you#

FCP marks the moment a visitor first sees something — text, an image, an SVG or a non-white canvas — after clicking a link. Until then, they’re staring at a blank screen and wondering whether the page works. It isn’t one of the three Core Web Vitals, but it’s a key diagnostic: a slow FCP almost always means a slow LCP too.

Thresholds#

Good	Needs improvement	Poor
≤ 1.8 s	1.8 – 3 s	> 3 s

What delays FCP#

Slow server response — see TTFB.
Render-blocking CSS — large stylesheets the browser must download before painting.
Synchronous JavaScript in the head.
Web fonts that hide text until they load.
Redirects before the final page.

Improving FCP#

Fast hosting, full-page caching and a CDN.
Inline the small amount of CSS needed for above-the-fold content; load the rest normally.
Add defer to scripts that don’t need to run before the page shows.
Use font-display: swap so text appears immediately in a fallback font.
Preconnect to critical third-party origins (e.g. font CDNs).

What FCP tells you#

Good

Needs improvement

Poor

≤ 1.8 s

1.8 – 3 s

> 3 s

Improving FCP#

Fast hosting, full-page caching and a CDN.

Inline the small amount of CSS needed for above-the-fold content; load the rest normally.

Add defer to scripts that don’t need to run before the page shows.

Use font-display: swap so text appears immediately in a fallback font.

Preconnect to critical third-party origins (e.g. font CDNs).