What is INP?

What is INP?

INP stands for Interaction to Next Paint and is a key metric within the Core Web Vitals that measures a website’s interactivity. INP analyzes how quickly a website responds to user actions, such as clicking a button, typing in a form, or navigating to a new section.

The goal of INP is to provide insight into how responsive a website is throughout an entire session, not just during the first interaction.

Why is INP important?

A quick response to user actions is essential for a positive user experience. Slow websites frustrate visitors, which can lead to a higher bounce rate, lower conversion rates, and a negative impact on your online visibility.

INP provides valuable information about how responsive and user-friendly your website is. It has become an important ranking factor because Google is placing increasing emphasis on user-friendliness in its search results.

What is a good INP?

Google provides the following guidelines for INP:

• Good: ≤ 200 milliseconds
• Needs improvement: 200–500 milliseconds
• Poor: ≥ 500 milliseconds

The lower your INP score, the faster and more responsive your website will feel to users.

How is INP measured?

INP measures the total time between a user action and the moment the next visual update appears on the screen. For example, this could be the time it takes to:

• Press a button and see what happens next.
• Fill out a form and receive feedback.
• Load an item on the page after an interaction.

INP not only analyzes the first interaction but also examines all interactions within a session, providing a more complete picture of interactivity.

How can you improve INP?

• Reduce the amount of JavaScript that runs with every interaction. Optimize scripts to shorten load times and ensure that important tasks are given priority.
• Make sure visual updates are immediately visible after a user action. Avoid complex recalculations and render-blocking elements.
• External scripts can slow down your website’s responsiveness. Use only the necessary scripts and load them asynchronously.
• Animations can slow down interactivity if they aren’t properly optimized. Use GPU-accelerated animations and avoid heavy, complex animations.
• With lazy loading, load only the essential scripts and elements needed for the initial interaction. This significantly speeds up response time.

INP in Practice

Suppose you have an online store with an “Add to Cart” button. If it takes a few seconds for the action to become visible—such as the shopping cart being updated—this can result in a poor INP score. By optimizing JavaScript and running only the necessary scripts, you can significantly reduce the time between the click and the visual update.

Do you want to lower your INP?

INP is an essential metric for improving your website’s interactivity and user-friendliness. A fast-loading website not only ensures satisfied visitors but also boosts your search engine visibility. Want to know how your website scores on INP and how you can improve it? The specialists at SmartRanking are here to help. Contact us!