Which Tool is Best for Detecting INP Issues?
I’m experiencing Interaction to Next Paint (INP) mobile issues on my Google Search Console Core Web Vitals (GSC-CWV), with results showing “longer than 200ms.” I’m on a mission to pinpoint the source of these problems.
I’ve been testing various tools such as PageSpeed Insights, the Web Vitals Chrome extension, the ‘Timespan’ mode of Chrome’s Lighthouse, and even an online tool like DebugBear. However, all of these tools consistently display green indicators without providing insights into the underlying issues.
I’m uncertain whether it’s more effective to use tools like BigQuery, the CrUX API, or the ‘web-vitals’ JS library. I’m not very familiar with these options, and I aim to avoid spending excessive time if there are more efficient solutions available for identifying the root cause.
The situation is affecting my rankings in mobile search, and whenever I attempt to ‘Validate Fix’ in GSC, I receive a ‘failed’ message.
I welcome any suggestions or tips!
2 responses to “What Tool is Best for Detecting INP Issues?”
Detecting and resolving Interaction to Next Paint (INP) issues can indeed be challenging, especially when the tools you’re using are not providing actionable insights. Here’s a detailed guide on the best approach to identify and fix these issues:
Understanding INP
Interaction to Next Paint (INP) measures the time it takes from a user interaction (like a tap or a click) until the application visibly updates on the screen. This metric is crucial for user experience as it directly relates to the perceived responsiveness of your site.
Recommended Tools for Diagnosing INP Issues
Profiler: Utilize the JavaScript Profiler to identify slow executing scripts. Long running scripts can affect how quickly the next paint occurs after interaction.
Lighthouse in DevTools
Ensure you are running it in Mobile mode and use Timespan or Snapshot options carefully to capture interactions. The detailed report can help reveal bottlenecks during the interaction phase.
WebPageTest
Use WebPageTest for more detailed trace views. It allows you to analyze waterfalls and overlay different timing metrics. Although it’s less specific to INP directly, examining waterfall charts can give insights into network and loading tasks affecting interaction.
Custom JavaScript Monitoring
Consider implementing the
web-vitalsJavaScript library directly on your site. By monitoring INP directly within your environment, you can more easily identify specific interactions causing delays and gather more granular data.Google Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX)
Suggested Approach to Diagnosing and Fixing INP
2.
It’s great that you’re taking proactive steps to address the INP issues impacting your mobile performance! From your description, it sounds like you’ve already done some thorough testing with various tools. One additional tool worth considering is **WebPageTest**. It offers detailed performance metrics and visualizes the loading process, which might help you uncover delays that other tools are masking.
Moreover, have you explored the **Network** tab in Chrome DevTools? This feature allows you to see what resources are taking time to load and how they could be affecting the interactivity of your site. Even small, seemingly insignificant scripts can cause longer delay times.
You mentioned considering the **web-vitals** JS library; implementing it can provide real-time insights into performance metrics directly on your site, which may highlight issues that standard testing tools overlook. Additionally, if you’re open to it, analyzing your current JavaScript execution and evaluating whether you can defer or optimize it could significantly enhance your INP scores.
Lastly, engaging with the community on platforms like GitHub or even WordPress forums might yield specific insights from others who faced similar challenges. Sometimes, a fresh perspective can lead to a breakthrough. Good luck with your optimization efforts!