Is Your Website a Drag? Speed Up User Interaction! INP metric explained.
Alright. So today, we're gonna, really, like, get under the hood of websites right. Like, really figure out what makes them tick. We're talking about INP. Have you heard of those?
Chris:Oh, yeah. INP. That's a big one. It can really make or break the whole experience for people. You know?
Alice:It really can. Ever, like, slam your laptop shut in frustration because a page is just taking forever.
Chris:It's like that universal sign for, ugh, this website.
Alice:Exactly. But the good news is we're gonna figure out how to, like, banish those loading screens to the shadow realm. And we've got a secret weapon. This awesome research from Bcommerce. These guys, they know ecommerce.
Alice:They know websites, and they really break down this whole INP thing.
Chris:They're like the speed demons of the Internet. They could sniff out a slow website from a mile away.
Alice:Okay. I love that. So first things first, what even is INP? Like, break it down for us.
Chris:INP stands for interaction to next paint. It's basically how we measure how responsive a website feels. Not just loading speed, but how quickly it reacts when you do something. Like, you click a button, does it take a whole second to even acknowledge you exist? That's INP.
Alice:Oh, okay. So it's like the difference between a snappy conversation and waiting for someone to text back for, like, 5 minutes.
Chris:Exactly. And Google, they're obsessed with this stuff. Good INP can actually help your website rank higher.
Alice:No wonder everyone's talking about it. So give us the numbers. What's a good score? What's a bad score? How do I know if my website's, like, going the speed limit?
Chris:So b commerce, they have this great breakdown under 200 milliseconds. You're golden. Users won't even notice a delay between 205100. You're getting into that danger zone. People are starting to notice.
Chris:Anything over 500
Alice:You're in the slow lane.
Chris:Way, way in the slow lane. People are gonna start
Alice:bouncing. Makes sense. And it's not just about the tech stuff. Right? It's the actual feeling you get when you're on a slow website.
Alice:Like, imagine you're trying to buy something.
Chris:Oh, tell me about it. I've abandoned so many online shopping carts because of this. It's like the website can sense your urgency and just slows down even more.
Alice:Like, you're about to get those limited edition sneakers.
Chris:And then, bam, loading icon. Mhmm. It's heartbreaking.
Alice:Okay. But for real, though, Bcommerce doesn't just tell us why it matters. They go deep on why those delays happen, which is what I really wanna get into. Yeah. And this is where Bcommerce, happen, which is what I really wanna get into.
Chris:Yeah. And this is where b commerce, they really roll up their sleeves and get into the nuts and bolts. They actually show us some websites they've worked on, like real world examples.
Alice:Okay. So they're like website doctors giving us the inside scoop on those patient files.
Chris:Exactly. And they have this really cool way of breaking down how an interaction works. They say it's like a 3 act play, and you don't want a long intermission in the middle. Alright.
Alice:I'm listening. Set the stage for us.
Chris:So act 1 is input delay.
Alice:Yeah.
Chris:That's that tiny bit of time between when you do something, like click your mouse, and when the website actually gets the message.
Alice:So it's like that awkward silence when you ask a question in a crowded room. Everyone heard you. They're just processing.
Chris:Yeah. Exactly. Now act 2. This is where things can get messy. This is processing time.
Chris:The website is, like, scrambling backstage, trying to make sense of what you just told it to do. It's running code, loading images, the works.
Alice:Mhmm. And this is where those delays usually pop up. Right? Like, if the website has to load a ton of stuff.
Chris:Bingo. This is where you get those heavy JavaScript files, unoptimized images, all that fun stuff that slows things down.
Alice:Like trying to stuff a giant suitcase into the overhead bin on a plane. It's just not gonna be pretty.
Chris:Perfect analogy. Okay. So act 3, the grand finale, presentation delay.
Alice:Okay. This is
Chris:when the website finally shows you the result of what you asked for.
Alice:But if act 2 took too long, the audience is already gone. Right? They're on to the next show.
Chris:Unfortunately, yeah. And ecommerce, they actually well, walk us through this one website they worked on, had this really slow pop up.
Alice:A slow pop up? That's, like, the worst kinda slow.
Chris:The worst. And they found out it was something called code bloat.
Alice:Code bloat sounds unhealthy.
Chris:Basically, the pop up it was trying to load way too much code like the entire website's worth just for this little pop up.
Alice:So instead of just grabbing a snack, it's like making a 5 course meal.
Chris:Exactly. They ended up using something called code splitting. Basically gave the pop up its own little script so it wouldn't be so bloated.
Alice:Much more efficient. So, like, instead of carrying around a whole library, you just bring the one book you need.
Chris:You got it. And they found all these other little scripts that were just hanging out. The pop up didn't even need them, just slowing things down.
Alice:Cluttering up the place. So what happened? Did the pop up get faster?
Chris:Oh, way faster. It went from, like, 409 milliseconds down to 80.
Alice:Okay. That's gotta be a new record. But what about those of us who aren't, like, coding ninjas? How do we even know if our website has an INP problem?
Chris:Well, the good news is, Bcommerce gives us some tools to use. One of them is called Chrome Dev Tools.
Alice:Chrome Dev Tools. Is that, like, a free thing?
Chris:Totally free. It comes built into the Chrome browser, and it's surprisingly easy to use. Bcommerce walks you through it step by step in the article. You can see exactly what's slowing your website down.
Alice:It's like a free website checkup. I like it. Yeah. But you mentioned bottlenecks earlier. What are those exactly?
Chris:Imagine, like, a highway. Right? Data is flowing through your website's code like cars on a highway. A bottleneck is anything that slows that flow down.
Alice:So like an accident or a traffic jam.
Chris:Exactly. It could be a huge image that's taking forever to load or some clunky code that's hogging all the resources.
Alice:Sounds like we need to call in the INP tow trucks to clear those out.
Chris:That's what b commerce is all about. They talk a lot about streamlining your code, making sure there's nothing extra in there.
Alice:So less is more when it comes to website code.
Chris:For sure. And remember those big images we talked about. Those could be big bottlenecks too. Ecommerce recommends optimizing your images.
Alice:So, like, shrinking them down without making them look blurry.
Chris:Yeah. And they have this whole thing about choosing the right image format, like JPEG versus PNG versus webp.
Alice:It's like, you wouldn't wear, like, hiking boots to run a marathon. Right? You gotta use the right tool for the job.
Chris:That's a great way to put it. And speaking of tools, Bcommerce has another trick up their sleeve, lazy loading.
Alice:Lazy loading. Okay. Now that sounds interesting and kinda lazy, in a good way, I hope.
Chris:In a good way. Definitely. It's all about efficiency. So with lazy loading, you only load the images that are actually visible on the screen. As the user scrolls down, then the other images load.
Alice:So it's like the website's giving you just enough to keep you interested, but saving all the heavy lifting for later.
Chris:You got it. It's like a magic trick, making things load faster without even realizing it.
Alice:These b commerce folks, they're like the magicians of the Internet.
Chris:That's one way to put it. But I think the biggest takeaway here is this, INP optimization, it's not about just checking boxes for Google. It's about the actual humans using your website.
Alice:It's about making the experience enjoyable. Right? Because let's be honest. If a website is slow, I'm out of there.
Chris:Nobody's got time for that.
Alice:Mhmm.
Chris:And bcommerce, they leave us with this really interesting thought. What if instead of trying to fix INP problems after we build a website, we just bake it into the design from the beginning?
Alice:Oh, I like where you're going with this. It's like building a house with a strong foundation, right, so it doesn't fall apart later.
Chris:Exactly. If we start thinking about performance as a core part of design, we can create websites that are both beautiful a and d fast.
Alice:So it's not just about building websites anymore. It's about creating these really smooth, enjoyable experiences for people.
Chris:Exactly. It's about the whole package.
Alice:Man, this has been eye opening. I feel like I need to go back and apologize to all the websites I've ever closed in frustration.
Chris:Uh-huh. Right. But seriously, INP is something that every website owner should care about. It can literally make or break your online presence.
Alice:No joke. So to all our listeners out there, next time you're on a website, pay attention to how it makes you feel. Is it zippy and responsive, or is it making you wanna pull your hair out?
Chris:Chances are, INP is the culprit. So if you're in charge of a website, take ecommerce's advice. Your users will thank you for it.
Alice:They definitely will. And with that, we've reached the end of our deep dive into the world of INP. Remember, a fast website is a happy website, so keep those milliseconds in check.
