Mobile & speed

First Contentful Paint

Example: A Silver Spring taqueria swaps its slow background video for a single optimized photo, dropping First Contentful Paint from 3.4 to 1.5 seconds, so the menu headline appears almost instantly instead of behind a blank white screen.

FCP

The moment the browser paints the first piece of your page — usually a headline, a logo, or a patch of background color. Measured in seconds. Under 1.8s is good, over 3s is poor.

Why it matters

FCP is the "something is happening" signal. A blank white screen for three seconds reads as broken even if the page is about to load; first paint before 1.8s tells the visitor the site is working and buys you time to finish loading.

Frequently asked

What is First Contentful Paint?

First Contentful Paint is the moment the browser paints the first piece of your page — usually a headline, a logo, or a patch of background color. Measured in seconds. Under 1.8s is good, over 3s is poor.

Why does First Contentful Paint matter for a restaurant?

FCP is the "something is happening" signal. A blank white screen for three seconds reads as broken even if the page is about to load; first paint before 1.8s tells the visitor the site is working and buys you time to finish loading.

Glossary

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