10 Ways To Improve First Contentful Paint (FCP) in WordPress

Website Speed Optimization Blog
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The First Contentful Paint (FCP) is a critical performance metric that measures how quickly a user can see the first piece of content on your WordPress website. It’s a key factor in user experience and SEO rankings, as search engines like Google prioritize sites that load quickly and provide immediate value to visitors. If your WordPress site has a slow FCP, visitors may leave before engaging with your content, which can negatively impact your bounce rate and conversions. This blog post will look at 10 ways to improve the First Contentful Paint on your WordPress site

1. Choose a Fast WordPress Theme

Not all WordPress themes are created equal. Some are bloated with unnecessary features and complex code that slow down your site’s loading speed. Opt for lightweight themes like GeneratePress or Astra that are optimized for performance.

Why It Matters: A fast theme ensures minimal render-blocking resources, reducing the time it takes for the browser to display the first piece of content.

Action Steps:

  • Audit your current theme using PageSpeed Insights.
  • Choose a theme with a proven performance record.
  • Avoid multipurpose themes with excessive features unless necessary.

Pro Tip: Before committing to a theme, use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to test its speed on a demo site.

2. Optimize Images

Large, unoptimized images are a common cause of slow FCP. Use tools like TinyPNG or plugins like Smush to compress images without sacrificing quality. Additionally, serve images in next-gen formats like WebP to reduce file size further.

Steps to Optimize Images:

  • Compress images before uploading using tools like TinyPNG.
  • Use responsive images by adding the srcset attribute to HTML tags.
  • Enable lazy loading for images that are not immediately visible on the page.

Example: A high-resolution image file of 5MB can be reduced to 500KB without noticeable loss in quality. Implementing this for all images will significantly improve FCP

3. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A CDN distributes your site’s content across multiple servers worldwide, ensuring faster delivery to users based on their geographic location. Popular options include Cloudflare and StackPath.

How a CDN Improves FCP:

  • Reduces latency by serving content from the nearest server to the user.
  • Offloads traffic from your main hosting server, ensuring faster processing.

Implementation Tips:

  • Choose a CDN that integrates seamlessly with WordPress.
  • Use plugins like Cloudflare to set up and manage your CDN.
  • Test the impact of your CDN using tools like Pingdom.

4. Minimize Critical CSS and JavaScript

CSS and JavaScript files can block the rendering of visible content, delaying the FCP. Minify and defer non-essential CSS and JavaScript to reduce their impact.

Tools to Minify Code:

How to Minimize Critical CSS:

  • Identify above-the-fold elements using Chrome DevTools.
  • Inline critical CSS directly into the HTML to prioritize its loading.

Pro Tip: Avoid excessive use of JavaScript libraries and defer loading non-critical scripts to after the FCP.

5. Enable Browser Caching

Browser caching allows returning visitors to load your site faster by storing static resources like images, CSS, and JavaScript in their browser cache. Use plugins like W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache to implement caching effectively.

Benefits of Browser Caching:

  • Reduces the number of HTTP requests.
  • Speeds up page load times for repeat visitors.

Implementation Tips:

  • Set long expiration times for static resources.
  • Test your caching setup using tools like GTmetrix.

6. Implement Server-Side Compression

Gzip or Brotli compression reduces the size of your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files, making them quicker to download. Check with your hosting provider or use plugins like Enable Gzip Compression to activate compression.

Steps to Enable Compression:

  • Check if your server supports Brotli or Gzip.
  • Use .htaccess to enable compression manually if needed.
  • Verify compression using Check Gzip Compression.

Pro Tip: Brotli generally offers better compression ratios compared to Gzip.

7. Upgrade to Faster Web Hosting

Your hosting provider plays a significant role in your site’s performance. Shared hosting plans can be slow due to limited resources. Consider upgrading to a managed WordPress hosting solution like Kinsta or SiteGround.

What to Look For in Hosting:

  • SSD storage for faster data retrieval.
  • High-performance servers with HTTP/2 support.
  • Built-in caching and staging environments.

Example Hosting Providers:

  • Kinsta: Known for its speed and reliability.
  • SiteGround: Offers excellent customer support and performance.

8. Use a Performance Optimization Plugin

Performance optimization plugins can handle multiple tasks such as caching, minification, and image optimization in one go. Popular options include WP Rocket and LiteSpeed Cache.

Features of Performance Plugins:

  • Combine and minify CSS and JavaScript files.
  • Enable lazy loading for images and videos.
  • Preload fonts and other key resources.

Pro Tip: Regularly update these plugins to ensure compatibility with your WordPress version.

9. Reduce Third-Party Scripts

Third-party scripts like ad trackers, social media widgets, and analytics tools can slow down your site. Limit the use of these scripts or load them asynchronously.

Examples of Third-Party Scripts:

  • Google Analytics
  • Facebook Pixel
  • YouTube embeds

Action Steps:

  • Audit all third-party scripts using tools like WebPageTest.
  • Remove unused or redundant scripts.
  • Use tools like Google Tag Manager to streamline script management.

10. reload Key Resources

Preloading tells browsers to prioritize loading specific resources, such as fonts or images, improving the FCP. Add preload tags for critical assets in your site’s header.

How to Add Preload Tags:

  • Edit your theme’s functions.php file or use plugins.
  • Specify the resource type (e.g., fonts, stylesheets).

Example Code:

<link rel="preload" href="/path-to-font.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin="anonymous">

Pro Tip: Avoid over-preloading as it can lead to resource contention.

Conclusion

Improving the First Contentful Paint in WordPress requires a combination of optimizing your site’s code, images, and server configurations. By implementing these 10 strategies, you can create a faster, more user-friendly website that performs well in search engine rankings.

Take the time to analyze your site’s current performance using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and WebPageTest. With consistent effort and the right tools, you can achieve a blazing-fast FCP and enhance the overall experience for your users.