First Contentful Paint (FCP) measures how long it takes for the browser to render the first visible piece of content on screen — typically text or an image. It signals to the user that the page is loading and is one of the metrics tracked in Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights. Google considers FCP under 1.8 seconds as "good." While FCP is not a direct ranking factor, it contributes to perceived performance and correlates with user engagement. It differs from [Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)](/glossary/lcp), which tracks when the main content element finishes loading.