FP

First Paint

A web performance metric that measures the moment when the browser first renders any pixel from a web page to the screen. It marks the transition from a blank page to visible content, even if that content is not yet meaningful or usable. For example, the first paint could be a background color, a logo, or a header image—anything that breaks the empty white screen. While it is not one of the official Core Web Vitals metrics, FP plays a supporting role in diagnosing perceived load speed and user experience.

In the context of Core Web Vitals (CWV), FP is often used alongside First Contentful Paint (FCP), Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), and other rendering milestones to help developers understand how quickly their pages begin to display something to users. FP is more of a raw visual benchmark, showing when rendering starts, whereas FCP is concerned with when meaningful content—such as text or an image that’s part of the main page structure—first appears. Because of this distinction, a page can have a fast FP but still feel slow to users if important content takes much longer to load.

Improving First Paint typically involves reducing the time it takes for the browser to receive and process the initial HTML, CSS, and render-blocking JavaScript. Techniques like minimizing server response time, leveraging browser caching, and using a content delivery network (CDN) to serve critical assets can help speed up FP. Optimizing CSS delivery and deferring non-critical JavaScript ensures the browser can paint the first pixels without unnecessary delays.

While FP is just one piece of the performance puzzle, tracking it can provide valuable insights. A slow FP might indicate delays in server response or issues with initial rendering logic. By combining FP measurements with Core Web Vitals data, site owners can get a more complete picture of how quickly their pages not only start to render, but also become usable and engaging for visitors.

Additional Acronyms for FP

• FP - False Positive