Core Web Vitals in 2026: What Changed and How to Hit 95+

Core Web Vitals have been a ranking factor since 2021, but 2026 brought the most significant update yet. Google retired the old FID (First Input Delay) metric entirely and made INP (Interaction to Next Paint) the definitive measure of interactivity. If your site scores above 200ms on INP, you are losing search visibility.

What Is INP and Why Does It Matter?

INP measures the latency of every interaction a user makes with your page — clicks, taps, keyboard input — and reports the worst one. Unlike FID, which only measured the first interaction, INP holds your entire page accountable throughout the session.

A score under 200ms is considered Good. 200-500ms needs improvement. Over 500ms is Poor — and Google treats Poor pages as less worthy of top rankings.

The Three Biggest Causes of High INP

**1. Long JavaScript tasks blocking the main thread**

Any JS task that runs for more than 50ms is a Long Task. If a user clicks a button while a Long Task is running, that interaction is delayed until the task completes. The fix is to break long tasks into smaller chunks using scheduler.yield() or structuring code to yield back to the browser between operations.

**2. Unoptimised event handlers**

Event handlers that do too much work synchronously — querying the DOM, recalculating layout, updating large state trees — inflate INP. Move expensive work off the critical path using requestIdleCallback or deferring it to the next animation frame.

**3. Third-party scripts**

Analytics, chat widgets, and advertising scripts routinely add 50-200ms to INP scores. Audit every third-party script using Chrome DevTools Performance panel and load non-essential scripts after the page is interactive.

How We Consistently Hit 95+ Lighthouse Scores

At Aurixa Digital, every project we ship goes through a performance audit before launch. The key practices that reliably get us to 95+:

• **Code splitting at the route level** so each page only loads what it needs
• **requestIdleCallback wrapping** for all non-critical animations and third-party initialisation
• **Image optimisation** with AVIF and WebP formats, correct sizing, and lazy loading
• **Font subsetting** to eliminate render-blocking font loads
• **Edge caching** via Vercel's CDN for sub-100ms TTFB globally

The result is pages that feel instant to users and score well with Google — which directly translates into more organic traffic and lower bounce rates.

If your current site is scoring below 80 on Lighthouse, get in touch for a free performance audit. We will identify exactly what is holding you back and give you a prioritised action plan.