If you’ve put time and effort into improving your website’s performance, you would have likely heard the term Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). It’s one of Google’s Core Web Vitals—and it affects your users’ experience on your site. But what many publishers don’t consider is that LCP doesn’t just matter from an SEO or user experience standpoint—it can also impact your ad revenue.
In this blog post, we will define what LCP is, why it is important, and how improving this will help make the most of your site’s ad monetization.
What is Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)?
Put simply, Largest Contentful Paint is the time it takes for the biggest thing on your page – an image, video, or a block of text – to load and render fully on the user’s screen.
When a visitor clicks on your page, they are waiting for something meaningful to show up – the faster that happens, the faster they feel your site is usable. Google measures that moment with LCP.
Anything under 2.5 seconds is a good score. Anything over 2.5 seconds is in need of improvement. Anything over 4 seconds is considered “poor”.
What is an LCP in Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are a set of performance signals Google uses to measure user experience. Along with First Input Delay (FID) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), LCP is one of the three main metrics.
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): How quickly your main content loads
- FID (First Input Delay): How fast your site responds to clicks or taps
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): How stable your page elements are while loading
Together, these shape how “fast” and “smooth” your site feels to visitors. Among them, LCP is especially important because it’s directly tied to the first impression a user has when your page loads.
Why LCP Matters for Publishers
If you’re running a site that earns from ads, you’re not just thinking about traffic—you’re thinking about how long visitors stay and how engaged they are. That’s where LCP comes in.
- Better user experience: A fast-loading main element makes readers more likely to stick around.
- SEO benefits: Google factors Core Web Vitals into rankings. Better LCP can mean better visibility, which can increase impressions and revenue.
- Ad viewability: If content loads slowly, ads may also appear later, hurting impressions and reducing the chance they’ll be seen or interacted with.
Simply put: poor LCP can create a chain reaction that impacts both your traffic and your ad earnings.
How Does LCP Affect Ad Revenue?
Here’s where things connect: ad revenue depends on two main factors—traffic and engagement. LCP touches both.
Traffic through search rankings
Sites with poor LCP scores are more likely to drop in search results. Lower rankings mean fewer clicks, fewer visitors, and ultimately, fewer ad impressions.
Engagement and session duration
A site that takes forever to load frustrates users. Visitors may bounce before your ads even render. On the flip side, a fast LCP keeps users engaged, leading to higher pageviews per session.
Viewability and CPMs
Advertisers want their ads seen. If your LCP delays content (and ads), your viewability score can take a hit. Lower viewability often results in lower CPMs (cost per thousand impressions).
Mobile experience
Since a majority of traffic comes from mobile, LCP issues can be amplified on smaller screens with slower connections. Poor mobile performance can directly reduce revenue opportunities.
Common Causes of Poor LCP
If your LCP is lagging, you’re not alone. Some of the most common culprits include:
- Large, unoptimized images that take too long to render
- Slow server response times that delay content delivery
- Render-blocking JavaScript and CSS slowing down the load
- Client-side rendering where the browser has to do heavy lifting before showing content
The good news? These are all fixable.
How to Improve LCP (and Protect Ad Revenue)
Improving your LCP score requires both technical and strategic steps. Here are a few practical ways publishers can optimize:
Optimize images and videos
Compress files, use modern formats (like WebP), and implement responsive sizing.
Use a fast hosting provider or CDN
Faster server response times reduce delays in delivering your content.
Eliminate render-blocking scripts
Defer non-critical JavaScript and CSS so your main content loads first.
Prioritize above-the-fold content
Make sure the largest visible element loads early instead of being buried behind scripts.
Lazy-load offscreen elements
This way, only what’s visible loads first, improving perceived speed.
Test regularly
Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse to track your LCP and monitor improvements.
Balancing Ads and Performance
One challenge publishers often face is balancing ad placements with performance. Ads can sometimes slow down page speed and affect LCP. But with thoughtful integration, you can strike the right balance:
- Avoid placing heavy ads as the largest visible element
- Use asynchronous loading for ad scripts
- Test layouts to see how different placements affect speed and engagement
Remember, better user experience usually leads to better ad performance in the long run.
Final Thoughts
LCP is not just a technical measurement, it is a direct measure of the time you take to get value to the user. For publishers, more speed not only translates into better SEO; it translates into more engaged visitors, and ultimately more ad revenue.
If LCP is lagging behind, you might leave too much money on the table. When you optimize your site’s performance, you’re not just positively impacting your Core Web Vitals; you’re providing an easier experience for users and a healthier experience for advertisers.
