What Is Interaction to Next Paint?
Interaction to Next Paint (INP) measures how fast your website responds when visitors click, tap, or press keys. Google tracks every interaction a person makes on your site and records the delay between their action and when they see a visual response on screen.
The metric captures the longest delay during a visit. If someone clicks a button and waits 600 milliseconds to see something happen, that delay becomes part of your INP score.
Google measures INP in milliseconds. A good score is 200ms or less. A score between 200ms and 500ms needs improvement. Anything above 500ms is poor.
Why Google Cares About INP
In March 2024, Google replaced First Input Delay (FID) with INP as an official Core Web Vital. Core Web Vitals are ranking factors that affect where your website appears in search results.
Google made this change because INP provides a complete picture of user experience. FID only measured the first interaction. INP measures all interactions throughout a visit.
Your INP score directly affects your search rankings. Sites with poor INP scores rank lower than competitors with better scores, assuming other factors are equal.
How INP Affects Your Business
Slow response times cost you money. When visitors click a button and nothing happens immediately, they leave. They go to your competitor instead.
Research shows specific impacts:
53% of mobile users abandon sites that take longer than 3 seconds to load
Every 100ms delay in response time reduces conversion rates by 7%
Slow sites receive fewer clicks from Google search results
Your website speed affects three business metrics:
Search visibility: Google ranks faster sites higher
Conversion rates: Faster sites convert more visitors into customers
Customer satisfaction: People trust and return to responsive websites
What Causes Poor INP Scores
Several technical issues slow down your website’s response time:
Heavy JavaScript files block your site from responding to clicks. When someone taps a button, your browser must process JavaScript code before showing a response. Large code files create delays.
Long-running scripts freeze your site. Some code takes too long to execute. During execution, your site stops responding to user actions.
Large images and media files consume processing power. Your browser struggles to handle interactions while loading heavy content.
Third-party scripts from ads, analytics, and chat widgets compete for resources. Each additional script increases the chance of delays.
Slow server response times add delays before anything loads. If your hosting server takes 2 seconds to respond, every interaction suffers.
How to Check Your INP Score
Google provides free tools to measure your INP:
Google Search Console shows your INP data under the Core Web Vitals report. This tool displays real data from actual visitors to your site.
PageSpeed Insights analyzes any URL and provides an INP score. Visit pagespeed.web.dev, enter your website address, and review the results.
Chrome User Experience Report contains INP data from Chrome browser users worldwide.
Check both mobile and desktop scores. Mobile devices typically show worse INP scores because they have less processing power.
How to Improve Your INP Score
Fixing INP requires technical work, but the improvements follow clear patterns:
Reduce JavaScript execution time. Your developer should break large scripts into smaller pieces and delay non-essential code until after the page loads.
Optimize event handlers. Code that responds to clicks and taps should execute quickly. Move complex operations to background processes.
Remove unnecessary third-party scripts. Audit every plugin, widget, and tracking code. Delete tools you don’t actively use.
Upgrade your hosting. Shared hosting plans often cause slow response times. Consider VPS or dedicated hosting for better performance.
Implement lazy loading for images and videos. This technique loads media only when visitors scroll to view it.
Use a content delivery network (CDN). CDNs store copies of your site on servers worldwide, reducing distance between users and your content.
Minimize main thread work. Your browser’s main thread handles user interactions. Keep this thread free by moving intensive tasks to web workers.
Who Should Fix INP Issues
You need technical help to improve INP scores. This work requires a web developer or technical SEO specialist.
Your developer should understand:
JavaScript optimization
Browser rendering processes
Performance monitoring tools
Server configuration
Expect to invest $1,000 to $5,000 for professional INP optimization, depending on your site’s complexity. The investment typically pays for itself through improved conversion rates and search rankings.
When to Prioritize INP
Focus on INP if:
Your Google Search Console shows INP warnings
Your bounce rate exceeds 60%
Competitors rank higher for your target keywords
You run an e-commerce site where conversions matter
You rely on organic search traffic for leads
Don’t ignore INP warnings. Google increasingly weights Core Web Vitals in ranking decisions. A poor INP score puts you at a competitive disadvantage.
Measuring Success
After making improvements, monitor these metrics:
Track your INP score weekly through Google Search Console. Look for consistent scores below 200ms.
Watch your organic search traffic. Better INP scores should correlate with increased visibility and clicks.
Monitor conversion rates. Faster response times typically increase the percentage of visitors who complete desired actions.
Review bounce rates. Lower bounce rates indicate visitors stay engaged with your responsive site.
Compare your scores to competitors using PageSpeed Insights. Your goal is to match or exceed their performance.
The Bottom Line
INP measures how quickly your website responds to visitor actions. Google uses this metric to rank websites. Poor scores hurt your search visibility, drive away customers, and reduce revenue.
You need technical expertise to fix INP issues. The investment in optimization typically returns value through better rankings and higher conversion rates.
Check your INP score today. If Google Search Console shows warnings, prioritize fixes before your competitors gain an advantage.
