First Contentful Paint (FCP).

First Contentful Paint (FCP) measures the time from when a page starts loading to when the browser first renders any DOM content—text, images, SVGs, or non-white canvas elements. It marks the moment the user first receives visual feedback that the page is loading, distinguishing it from a blank white screen.

FCP vs LCP

FCP fires at the first piece of any content. LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) fires when the largest above-the-fold element renders. FCP is always earlier than or equal to LCP. Google's Core Web Vitals assessment uses LCP (not FCP) as the primary load metric, but FCP is a useful diagnostic—if FCP is slow, it indicates render-blocking resources or slow TTFB are delaying all rendering.

FCP Targets and Optimisation

Google classifies FCP as: Good (0–1.8s), Needs Improvement (1.8–3.0s), Poor (>3.0s). Improving FCP focuses on eliminating render-blocking CSS and JavaScript, inlining critical CSS, preloading key fonts, and reducing TTFB. A slow FCP is nearly always accompanied by a slow LCP—fix the upstream causes and both metrics improve together.