Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
Interaction to Next Paint (INP) measures how quickly a page visually responds to user interactions throughout a visit.
What is Interaction to Next Paint?
Interaction to Next Paint (INP) is a Core Web Vital that measures how quickly a page gives visual feedback after user interactions such as clicks, taps and keyboard input. It observes qualifying interactions throughout the visit and uses a near-worst interaction to represent the page’s overall responsiveness.
Each interaction has three parts: input delay before the browser starts the event handlers, processing time while those handlers run, and presentation delay before the next frame appears. This makes INP broader than a loading metric such as Largest Contentful Paint.
What is a good INP score?
Google recommends an INP of 200 milliseconds or less at the 75th percentile of page visits, measured separately across mobile and desktop. Between 200 and 500 milliseconds needs improvement; above 500 milliseconds is poor. Use PageSpeed Insights to review Chrome UX Report field data when it is available.
Why does INP matter for B2B websites?
A page can load quickly and still feel slow when a menu, form, filter or button takes too long to react. On a B2B marketing website, that friction matters most on high-intent pages where buyers are trying to navigate, compare information or convert.
Use Google Lighthouse and Chrome performance diagnostics to investigate long main-thread tasks, but use real-user interaction data to understand which experiences actually produce poor INP.
What causes poor Interaction to Next Paint?
Common causes include long JavaScript tasks, expensive event handlers, large DOM updates, complex rendering work and third-party scripts competing for the main thread. Total Blocking Time can help expose main-thread blocking in lab tests, although it is a different metric from INP.
How do you improve INP?
Start with the slow interaction, then identify whether the delay comes before processing, inside the event handler or during rendering. Break up long tasks, keep event callbacks focused on immediate visual updates, defer non-essential work, reduce unnecessary DOM complexity and avoid expensive repeated layouts.
On a Webflow website, audit custom JavaScript, third-party marketing scripts, animations and dynamic components that run after load. Include INP in ongoing technical SEO and performance work rather than treating responsiveness as a launch-only check.
Key takeaway
INP measures how responsive a page remains when people actually use it. Aim for 200 milliseconds or less for most users, find the slowest important interactions, and fix the specific part of the interaction that creates the delay.
