Mobile
Streaming Platform Products
Virtual & Dedicated Servers Products
Containers Products
Serverless Computing Products
AI & Machine Learning Products
Private and Hybrid Solutions Products
Monitoring Products
Custom Services Products
Media & Entertainment
Financial Services
IT / Technology
Retail
Education
Website Acceleration
Video Streaming
Security & Protection
Cloud
Partnership Solutions
Corporate Solutions
High load speed is important for almost any web resource. Fast load improves user experience and increases the engagement rate, which results in increased conversion. This conclusion comes from many modern studies.
Yet website load speed is a pretty broad concept that includes many different metrics. TTFB (Time To First Byte) is one of them.
Let’s discuss what this metric means, how important it is, and how we can measure and improve it.
Time To First Byte is a period of time between sending a request to the server and receiving the first byte of information from it. Some sources call this metric the Server Response Time.
During this time period, the client and the server perform the following actions:
This parameter can be measured for the entire page as well as for any of its elements. Different elements can be downloaded from various sources, resulting in different server response time. Yet most TTFB measuring tools show the time that passes until the first byte of the entire page is received.
TTFB is a very important metric. Many other parameters including the website load speed depend on it. It means that:
Apart from TTFB, there are hundreds of other factors that affect SEO and conversion rates. But we believe that this factor is also very important and shouldn’t be overlooked. Improving this metric is one of the key steps to improving your website ranking and user experience.
TTFB involves the time required to transmit a request and a response over the network, and the time needed to process the server request. Hence, all factors affecting the metric can be divided into two types.
1. Network and content delivery specifics:
2. Web server settings and parameters:
Most experts recommend that the TTFB value shouldn’t exceed 100–200 ms. But in some cases, it is possible to achieve the level of 50–100 ms.
Neil Patel whose study we mentioned above characterizes the TTFB values in a similar way.
According to Google’s recommendations, TTFB shouldn’t exceed 600 ms. If your website has a higher TTFB value, it is advisable to start improving this parameter as soon as possible.
There are many different speed measurement tools, including the ones meant for TTFB.
You can check the TTFB value on your own in the Google Chrome browser. It is very convenient to use, and the information is shown for each loaded page element individually.
Click on one of the requests and switch to the Timing tab. You will see the TTFB value for this request.
Alternatively, you can just hover your mouse over the diagram opposite the request in the Waterfall section and you will see the same information.
If you are already using Google Analytics, the easiest solution for you will be to use this tool. There is no need to look for any third-party apps.
This is yet another simple website speed measuring tool.
1. Set the parameters. Paste the link to your website and specify your location and your browser on the main page. Then click on the Start Test button.
Specifying your test location is necessary because the tool needs to know where the request will come from. The results for different locations will vary. For example, if your server is located in Germany, and the request comes from China, it will take longer for such a request to reach the server than for a request coming, say, from France. That’s because the distance between Germany and China is bigger.
2. Take a look at the result. When the analysis is complete, head to the Details section. At the top of the page, you will see a metrics table. TTFB will stand on the first place.
3. Analyze the detailed information. On this page below, you will see information about each request. You can click on any request and get detailed data about it.
This is a special test used to check how much time actually passes until the first byte of information is received. This is the simplest tool ever. All you need to do is paste a link to your website into a special field and click on the TEST TTFB button. The result will look as follows:
We’ve enlisted the most popular and convenient tools, yet there are more. Nowadays there are a lot of speed testing services. You can choose the one that suits you best.
There are quite a lot of recommendations to give, and all of them will depend on the situation. We’ll enlist the key points to consider.
For more information on how to reduce server response time, read our article “How to increase your web resource speed”.
Gcore CDN provides excellent content delivery speed. The total capacity of our network exceeds 75 Tbps, and the average response time around the world is 30 ms.
We have a free plan and a 14-day free trial period for advanced plans. Connect our CDN and speed up your website efficiently.
Learning how to use the ‘man’ command can significantly enhance your understanding and productivity when using Linux systems. This command,…
As reliance on digital technologies to improve efficiencies grows, a cloud server presents a cost-effective solution for organizations and businesses…
Ubuntu is a popular, Linux-based, open-source operating system. In this Ubuntu installation guide, we will explore how to install Ubuntu…