Skip to main content

What does the “LCP issue: longer than 2.5s” in Core Web Vitals mean, and how would you fix it?

 The “LCP issue: longer than 2.5s” warning in Core Web Vitals means your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) — a key performance metric — is taking too long to load (more than 2.5 seconds), which can hurt both SEO rankings and user experience.

What does the “LCP issue: longer than 2.5s” in Core Web Vitals mean, and how would you fix it?

✅ What Is LCP?

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) measures how long it takes for the largest visible content element (like an image, video, or large block of text) to load and become visible in the viewport.

  • Good: ≤ 2.5 seconds

  • Needs Improvement: 2.5 – 4.0 seconds

  • Poor: > 4.0 seconds

🚨 Why It Matters

A slow LCP often indicates that your users are waiting too long to see meaningful content, which increases bounce rate and negatively affects your Google rankings (as part of the Page Experience signals).

🛠 How to Fix LCP Issues

1. Identify What the LCP Element Is

Use tools like:

  • Google PageSpeed Insights

  • Lighthouse (in Chrome DevTools)

  • Web Vitals extension

These tools will point out which element (usually an image, heading, or hero section) is causing the issue.

2. Optimize and Prioritize Above-the-Fold Content

  • Move large images, carousels, or videos below the fold, or load them lazily.

  • Keep critical content visible quickly with inline styles and minimal blocking assets.

3. Optimize Images (Most Common Cause)

  • Compress with tools like Squoosh, ImageOptim, or use next-gen formats like WebP/AVIF.

  • Set correct dimensions using the width and height attributes to avoid layout shifts.

  • Use priority loading (<img loading="eager" fetchpriority="high"> for LCP images).

4. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

  • CDNs like Cloudflare, Akamai, or CloudFront help reduce latency and serve assets faster.

5. Minimize CSS and JavaScript Blocking

  • Defer non-critical JavaScript and eliminate render-blocking CSS.

  • Use minification, code splitting, and async loading where possible.

6. Use Efficient Caching

  • Enable browser caching for static resources.

  • Cache HTML where applicable to reduce server response times (TTFB).

7. Preload Key Resources

  • Use <link rel="preload"> to load critical fonts, images, or hero section assets earlier.

<link rel="preload" as="image" href="/images/hero.jpg">

📊 Example Before & After

IssueFix
Hero image 2.5MB JPEGCompressed to 200KB WebP
Render-blocking CSSMoved to inline critical CSS
TTFB 1.2sAdded caching & CDN
JS-heavy slider above foldMoved below fold / loaded async
✅ Final Step: Re-Test and Validate

Once changes are deployed:

  • Run PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse again.

  • In GSC, go to Core Web Vitals, click the LCP issue, and click “Validate Fix”.

Popular posts from this blog

Explain the Angular compilation process: View Engine vs. Ivy.

 The Angular compilation process transforms your Angular templates and components into efficient JavaScript code that the browser can execute. Over time, Angular has evolved from the View Engine compiler to a newer, more efficient system called Ivy . Here's a breakdown of the differences between View Engine and Ivy , and how each affects the compilation process: 🔧 1. What Is Angular Compilation? Angular templates ( HTML inside components) are not regular HTML—they include Angular-specific syntax like *ngIf , {{ }} interpolation, and custom directives. The compiler translates these templates into JavaScript instructions that render and update the DOM. Angular uses Ahead-of-Time (AOT) or Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation modes: JIT : Compiles in the browser at runtime (used in development). AOT : Compiles at build time into efficient JS (used in production). 🧱 2. View Engine (Legacy Compiler) ➤ Used in Angular versions < 9 🔍 How It Works: Compiles templat...
Read more

Explain the concept of ControlValueAccessor in custom form components.

 In Angular, the ControlValueAccessor interface is what allows custom form components to work seamlessly with Angular forms (both reactive and template-driven). 🧠 What is ControlValueAccessor ? It’s an Angular bridge between your custom component and the Angular Forms API . When you use a custom form component (like a date picker, dropdown, slider, etc.), Angular doesn't automatically know how to read or write its value. That’s where ControlValueAccessor comes in. It tells Angular: How to write a value to the component How to notify Angular when the component’s value changes How to handle disabled state 📦 Common Built-in Examples: <input> and <select> already implement ControlValueAccessor You implement it when creating custom form controls 🔧 Key Methods in the Interface Method Purpose writeValue(obj: any) Called by Angular to set the value in the component registerOnChange(fn: any) Passes a function to call when the component value ch...
Read more

What are the different types of directives in Angular? Give real-world examples.

In Angular, directives are classes that allow you to manipulate the DOM or component behavior . There are three main types of directives: 🧱 1. Component Directives Technically, components are directives with a template. They control a section of the screen (UI) and encapsulate logi c. ✅ Example: @Component ({ selector : 'app-user-card' , template : `<h2>{{ name }}</h2>` }) export class UserCardComponent { name = 'Alice' ; } 📌 Real-World Use: A ProductCardComponent showing product details on an e-commerce site. A ChatMessageComponent displaying individual messages in a chat app. ⚙️ 2. Structural Directives These change the DOM layout by adding or removing elements. ✅ Built-in Examples: *ngIf : Conditionally includes a template. *ngFor : Iterates over a list and renders template for each item. *ngSwitch : Switches views based on a condition. 📌 Real-World Use: < div * ngIf = "user.isLoggedIn...
Read more