What is First Contentful Paint?
Also called: FCP
The short answer
First Contentful Paint is the moment the browser first draws any text or image from the page, the first sign to a visitor that something is happening.
First Contentful Paint, explained
It is a diagnostic metric: a slow FCP points to a slow server, render-blocking CSS or blocking scripts.
Questions people ask about First Contentful Paint
What is First Contentful Paint?
First Contentful Paint is the moment the browser first draws any text or image from the page, the first sign to a visitor that something is happening.
Related terms
Largest Contentful Paint measures how long it takes for the largest visible element, usually the hero image or headline, to appear; good is 2.5 seconds or less.
Time to First ByteTime to First Byte is how long the browser waits after requesting a page before the first byte of the response arrives; it reflects server and network speed.
Render-blocking resourcesRender-blocking resources are stylesheets and scripts the browser must download and process before it can draw the page, delaying the first paint.
Page speedPage speed is how quickly a web page loads and becomes usable, measured by metrics like Largest Contentful Paint, Interaction to Next Paint and layout stability.
Part of the Web Encyclopedia by Apex Flow Digital. Definitions are general knowledge, kept current, with no invented statistics.