Performance & Core Web Vitals · Glossary term

TTFB (Time to First Byte) explained without jargon.

Time between HTTP request and first byte received. Reflects server speed.

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Extended definition

Time between HTTP request and first byte received. Reflects server speed.

Context and application

TTFB isn’t a direct Core Web Vital, but affects LCP and general user experience. Reasonable target: under 800ms (Google), ideal under 200ms. Components: DNS lookup + TLS handshake + server processing time + network latency. For weak WordPress sites, TTFB can be 2-5 seconds — typical cause: undersized shared hosting, unlimited DB queries, heavy plugins running on every request without cache. Solutions: decent hosting (Hetzner, MochaHost LiteSpeed, Cloudways), page cache (LiteSpeed Cache), CDN (Cloudflare).

Related terms

Core Web Vitals.

Rest of the glossary

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