Page Speed Concepts: TTFB

What is TTFB?

Time to First Byte (TTFB) is the total amount of time from the start of the request to when we receive the first byte of the response. To put it in more technical terms: TTFB is the sum of the Redirect Duration, Connection Duration, and Backend Duration.

Why Improve TTFB?

A slow TTFB significantly impacts your website performance; your visitors will see a blank screen while waiting for your server to respond with the first byte.

What is a Good TTFB? 

TTFB needs to be less than 200 milliseconds (ms). This number also differs by the type of content on your page. Static content should load at 100ms while dynamic content should load at a speed of 200 – 500ms. The 500ms mark is the maximum amount for both Google and your users to tolerate – especially because the rest of the page still needs to load after the first byte hits.

How to Improve TTFB?

You can improve your TTFB by making changes to the code that runs your website, the settings with your website host, and the quality of your website hosting plan. Implement the following:

1. Optimize application code
2. Implement caching
3. Fine-tune your web server configuration
4. Upgrading web server hardware