Interaction to Next Paint. Or INP (SEO acronyms are never too many). This is Google’s new metric and it will be a relevant indicator when it comes to the speed of a site.
In fact, INP is a new Core Web Vitals metric designed to give a representation of the speed at which a given page interacts with the user. And how is it calculated? Through a sample of the longest interactions that take place when a user visits the page. If the page has fewer than 50 interactions, the one with the longest delay is calculated.
What does the INP take into account?
Interaction to Next Paint takes into account three types of interactions. A mouse click on an interactive element, any click on an interactive element via a touchscreen device and the press of a key on a physical keyboard or screen.
In terms of numbers, what are the best INP values? According to Google's Web.dev, an INP below 200 milliseconds indicates that your page is performing well. Between 200 and 500 milliseconds, your page needs improvement. Above 500… well, not only does it need improvement, but it also has a very slow response time.
So how can you measure the Interaction to Next Paint? Google helps its users with a Chrome extension called Lightouse.
And can you lower your INP score? Cutting back on plugins is like cutting back on carbs when you’re trying to lose weight. Anything that’s unnecessary should be removed from your website so that it runs smoothly for users… and for Google.
