Improving your WordPress site’s Time to First Byte (TTFB) is crucial for both user experience and search engine rankings. A slow TTFB can turn visitors away and hurt your site’s performance. Here’s how to make it faster:
- Choose optimized WordPress hosting for better speed.
- Implement caching with plugins like WP Rocket to reduce load times.
- Enable a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute content faster globally.
- Optimize images to reduce their size and load times.
- Tune your database for efficiency to improve response times.
By focusing on these areas, you can significantly improve your site’s loading speed and make a better impression on your visitors.
What is TTFB?
TTFB stands for the time it takes from when you ask to see a webpage to when the website starts to show up on your screen. It includes the time it takes to find the website’s address (DNS lookup), connect to the website, wait for the website to get ready to send information, and finally start sending that information.
In simpler terms, TTFB is made up of:
- DNS lookup time – How long it takes to match the website’s name to its internet address
- Initial connection time – How long it takes to say ‘hello’ to the website
- Server processing time – How long the website takes to get your request ready
- Response time – How quickly the website starts to send data back to you
These steps together decide how fast a website begins to load on your screen.
TTFB Components
When you want to view a webpage, this is what happens:
- You ask to see the page
- Your request goes across the internet to the website’s server
- The server gets your request and starts working on it
- The server sends the first bit of the webpage back to you
- The rest of the webpage follows bit by bit
Breaking it down, we have:
- Client request time – Looking up the website and connecting
- Server processing time – The website preparing your request
- Response time – The website starting to send data back
Any delay in these steps can make the website slower to start loading.
Importance of TTFB
Why does TTFB matter?
- Overall site speed – A faster TTFB means the website starts showing up quicker
- User experience – Websites that respond quickly are nicer to use
- Core Web Vitals – TTFB affects how well your website performs on certain Google tests, which can help it show up higher in search results
By making your TTFB faster, your website doesn’t just load quickly; it also makes visitors happier and can even get you a better spot in search rankings. Next, we’ll look at ways to make your WordPress site’s TTFB quicker.## Common Causes of Slow TTFB in WordPress
Some of the main reasons WordPress sites might take a while to start loading include where your server is, using old software, how your website makes pages, and how it gets information from the database.
Server Location and Hosting
How far your website’s server is from your visitors can make your site slower. If you’re using a shared hosting service, it might not be as quick as a hosting service that’s specially made for WordPress because it might not have enough resources.
Picking a hosting service that’s closer to your visitors and designed for WordPress can help your site start faster.
Outdated Software
Using old versions of PHP, MySQL, WordPress itself, plugins, and themes can make your site slower because you’re missing out on new improvements.
Updating your software means your site can work faster, use better caching, and have cleaner code.
Dynamic Content
When WordPress has to make pages on the spot from the database and different parts, it takes longer. This is because WordPress has to put each page together whenever someone asks to see it.
If you use caching to save fully made pages, your site can start showing them right away instead of taking the time to build them each time.
Database Queries
If your site has to ask the database for a lot of information or in a complicated way, it can slow down how fast the page shows up for the visitor.
Making these database requests simpler, using caching, and cutting down on how much you need to ask the database can make your site faster.
Measuring TTFB on Your WordPress Site
Finding out how fast your WordPress site starts to load is key to making it better. Here are some easy-to-use tools that help you see your site’s TTFB, or how quickly it begins to send data after someone asks to see a page.
Using Google PageSpeed Insights
Google PageSpeed Insights is a tool that tells you how fast your site loads, including TTFB. Here’s how to use it:
- Visit https://pagespeed.web.dev/
- Put in your website’s address
- Hit "Analyze"
- Look for the "Metrics" section after the results show up
- Find "Time to First Byte" under "Lab Data"
- Write down the TTFB number it shows, especially for mobile
This number helps you understand how quickly your site starts to load. It’s especially good to look at the mobile score.
Using WebPageTest
WebPageTest lets you see detailed info about your site’s loading time. To check your TTFB here:
- Head to https://www.webpagetest.org/
- Enter your site’s URL
- Press "Start Test"
- Scroll to the chart labeled "First Byte Time"
- Move your mouse over the blue bar to see the TTFB
You can test from different places around the world, so pick one that’s close to your visitors.
Using Chrome DevTools
Chrome DevTools lets you see how your site loads in great detail. Here’s how to find your TTFB with it:
- Open your website in Chrome
- Press Ctrl+Shift+I (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Opt+I (Mac) to open DevTools
- Click on the Network tab
- Refresh the page
- Look at the "Waiting" part of the first request
This "Waiting" time is your site’s TTFB. The Network tab also breaks down how long DNS lookup, connecting, and getting a response take.
How to Improve TTFB in WordPress
Upgrade to Optimized WordPress Hosting
If you switch to a hosting service that’s made just for WordPress sites, like Kinsta, your site can start loading faster. Here’s why it’s better:
- Uses a global content delivery network (CDN) to send your site’s stuff faster
- Has built-in ways to store pages so they load quicker
- The servers are set up to make WordPress sites run fast
- Uses the newest versions of PHP and MySQL
- Gives you SSL certificates for free
Choosing a hosting that’s all about WordPress means your site can respond and load faster.
Implement Caching
Adding a caching plugin, such as WP Rocket, to your WordPress site helps it load faster because:
- It keeps pages ready to show instantly without needing to load them again
- It makes files smaller and combines them so they load faster
- It remembers database requests so it doesn’t have to ask again
- Works well with CDNs for even faster loading
Caching makes your site much quicker because it doesn’t have to build each page from scratch every time.
Enable Content Delivery Network
Using a CDN, like Cloudflare, means your site’s files are stored all over the world so they get to visitors faster. This is good because:
- Files load quicker no matter where people are
- Your main server has to do less work
- You can save money on data transfer
- It makes caching more effective
A CDN can cut down the wait time by more than 50 ms because it sends files from a place closer to the visitor.
Optimize Images
Making your images smaller and loading them smarter can help your site start faster. Here’s how:
- Make sure images are the right size for how they’re shown
- Make images smaller without losing quality
- Only load images when they’re about to be seen
- Use a CDN to send images
Smaller images mean there’s less data to load, which can make your site quicker.
Tune Database
Making sure your database runs smoothly can also make your site faster. Here’s what helps:
- Keep an eye on slow database requests
- Use object caching to remember frequent requests
- Keep your database tidy and organized
- Consider using Redis or Memcached for better performance
A quick database means your site can get the information it needs faster, lowering the wait time.
sbb-itb-77ae9a4
Conclusion
Making your WordPress site’s time to first byte (TTFB) better is really important for making your site feel faster and work better. This guide has shown you the basics and how to make improvements.
Here’s a quick summary of what we’ve covered:
- TTFB is about how long it takes from when someone asks to see your site to when the server starts sending data back. It includes looking up the site’s address (DNS lookup), making a connection, the server getting ready, and starting to send data.
- A faster TTFB means your site starts loading quicker, which is good for your visitors and can help your site show up higher in search results. A slow TTFB can make your site feel slow and rank lower.
- Common reasons for a slow TTFB on WordPress include not so great hosting, using old software, how your site makes pages on the fly, and how it talks to the database.
- To check your site’s TTFB, tools like PageSpeed Insights, WebPageTest, and the Network tab in Chrome DevTools are really helpful.
- You can make your TTFB faster by choosing a better hosting service specialized for WordPress, setting up caching on your WordPress site, using a content delivery network (CDN), making your images smaller, and making sure your database is running smoothly.
Starting with server tweaks and then fixing things on the front end of your site can lead to a quicker TTFB. Keep an eye on how your site is doing and make changes based on what you find. Every little bit helps.
Making your TTFB faster is a big step towards having a faster site and a better experience for your visitors. With the tips we’ve talked about, you’re ready to make your WordPress site quicker.
Related Questions
How do I optimize time to first byte in WordPress?
To make your website start faster, turn on caching in WordPress. Caching means your site doesn’t have to work as hard each time someone visits, which can make it load quicker. Sometimes, you can ask your hosting service to help with this by enabling something called object caching.
How can I speed up time to first byte?
Here are a few steps to make your site respond faster:
- Choose a speedy web host
- Turn on caching to make your site faster
- Use a CDN (content delivery network) to spread your content around, so it gets to people quicker
- Cut down on redirects that make your site slower to start
- Send out the basic structure of your pages as soon as possible
- Consider using a service worker to help with caching
- Look into using Early Hints to start loading important stuff earlier
What is the acceptable time to first byte?
Google suggests aiming for a TTFB of 800ms or less. If your site takes between 800ms and 1800ms to start showing, that’s pretty normal for sites that create pages on the fly. But if it’s taking longer than 1800ms, especially if you’re testing from a place close to where your server is, it usually means there’s something slowing things down on the server side.
How do I reduce initial server response time in WordPress?
Here are some ways to make your WordPress site respond faster:
- Pick a web host that’s optimized for WordPress
- Use caching plugins to speed things up
- Keep your database in good shape
- Turn on GZIP compression to make files smaller and quicker to load
- Use a CDN to speed up content delivery
- Make sure your themes and plugins are up to date
- Get rid of any plugins that are slowing your site down