First Input Delay is one of the values that can be measured on a website. It is also one of the most important ‘Vitals’ that are relevant to the value of a web page. The accessibility of the page is exceptionally important for its visibility. If the website is not easily accessible to the general public or does not function adequately, this will affect its visibility within major search engines. Therefore, it is important for both website and webshop owners to do everything they can to also technical SEO The First Input Delay measures the page's response time. But what exactly is the First Input Delay? How important is it? And why?
First Input Delay tells you everything about the website's response time. This means that the response speed is measured between a user action and how the page reacts to it. This can be absolutely anything. From just clicking the main menu to go to another page, to placing an item in the digital shopping cart. This value says a lot about the usability of the website. If the response speed is too slow, it results in lower usability.
But how important is a fast website response, really? A little logical reasoning quickly tells us that this means a lot to the website user. Everyone has shopped in a webshop where it took minutes for a product to even appear in your shopping cart and it sometimes took hours to fill your cart completely. Although, eventually, you threw in the towel and simply looked for another webshop that worked properly. This personal experience also tells you a lot about the importance of FID.
It not only costs you visitors and customers, but also affects the organic search traffic to your web page. The slower the FID, the greater its impact on your search engine results.
The FID is expressed in seconds. A good score takes somewhere between 0 and 100 milliseconds. Anything between 100 and 300 milliseconds indicates a need for improvement. If it takes (much) longer than 300 milliseconds, it's a very poor score and immediate intervention is required to improve the SEO to save your web page and attract visitors again.
The First Input Delay can be improved in various ways. It's best not to tackle this yourself if you don't have the expertise, but to engage a specialist. This way, you can be sure it's done correctly.
A carefully curated guide with essential points of attention and proven steps for maximum impact.
