What is LCP by U-turns
LCP by U-turns shows how the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) differs for users who make a U-turn compared to those who stay and interact with the page.
A U-turn occurs when a user lands on a page, stays for five seconds or less, doesn’t interact (no clicks, scrolls, or inputs), and then navigates back to the previous page. It’s a signal that something didn’t resonate — or possibly didn’t load properly.
This breakdown helps you understand whether slow loading experiences are causing users to abandon pages almost instantly. Since LCP represents the loading time of the largest element on the page, it’s one of the strongest indicators of whether your content became visible fast enough to prevent a U-turn.
LCP by U-turns sample
Should you worry
In a healthy view, U-turns won’t show significantly worse LCP than engaged sessions. Users may leave quickly for reasons unrelated to performance (wrong page from search intent, irrelevant content, or simple mis-clicks).
A healthy setup typically shows:
Green LCP values for both U-turns and non-U-turns.
Only a small gap (if any) between the two groups.
Consistent rendering times across page types.
If your LCP is stable and fast even for U-turns, performance is not likely the root cause of the abandonment.
Unhealthy LCP by U-turns
If your data shows that U-turn sessions have consistently slower LCP than engaged sessions, it’s a strong signal performance is pushing users away before they can interact.
Common reasons include:
Hero images or banners loading too late.
Above-the-fold content shifting or being blocked by scripts.
Fonts or critical CSS not being delivered fast enough.
Slow server response times on landing pages.
In this case, the U-turn is less about intent and more about frustration: the content simply didn’t load quickly enough to give the user a reason to stay.
Resolving unhealthy LCP by U-turns
Go-to action plan to resolve an unhealthy LCP by U-turns:
Ask Uxi to analyze your LCP by U-turns values and suggest improvements.
Use Filters to isolate slow LCP on key pages.
Simulate LCP of the suspected breakdown to see if fixing it will resolve the slow LCP by U-turns. If yes, this is where the resolution focus should be.
Use an automated LCP optimization tool like Navigation AI to improve your LCP by U-turns values.
Once you’ve improved LCP, set an alert to be the first to know if it starts worsening again.
Try it yourself
Discover how your website performs with real user data.