Google has announced that it will be replacing First Input Delay (FID) with Interaction to Next Paint (INP) as a Core Web Vitals metric. This change is expected to take place in July 2023.
FID measures the time it takes for a user to interact with a page after it has loaded. INP, on the other hand, measures the time it takes for a page to render the first new content after a user interaction.
Google says that INP is a better metric for measuring user experience because it takes into account the time it takes for a page to become responsive after a user interaction. FID, on the other hand, can be affected by factors that are outside of a user’s control, such as network latency.
Site owners can start optimizing their sites for INP now by following the best practices outlined by Google. These best practices include:
- Reducing the size of your page’s JavaScript and CSS files
- Using lazy loading to load images and other resources as needed
- Caching static resources
- Deferring non-critical JavaScript
Google will provide more guidance on optimizing for INP in the coming months.
What does this mean for SEOs?
For SEOs, the change from FID to INP as a Core Web Vitals metric is a reminder of the importance of keeping their sites fast and responsive. Pages that load quickly and respond to user input quickly will rank better in Google search results.
SEOs can help their clients improve their site’s performance by recommending the following:
- Using a CDN to deliver static resources from a nearby location
- Minifying and gzipping HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files
- Using a caching plugin for WordPress or another content management system
- Optimizing images for the web
- Eliminating unnecessary JavaScript and CSS
By following these best practices, SEOs can help their clients improve their site’s performance and make it more likely to rank well in Google search results.
