DIY guide
How to Reduce Server Response Time or TTFB (Time to First Byte)
Updated October 15, 2026
Time to First Byte (TTFB) is the time between a browser asking for your page and the first byte of the answer arriving. Nothing else on the page can start until that happens, so a slow TTFB slows every other metric. Google’s web performance guidance treats 800 milliseconds or less as good.
Measure your TTFB
Run your page through PageSpeed Insights and look for the server response time audit. You can also measure it from a terminal:
curl -o /dev/null -s -w "TTFB: %{time_starttransfer}s\n" https://example.com/Test several times, and test from the region where your visitors are. TTFB is higher when the server is far away from the visitor.
The usual causes, and how to fix them
1. No page cache
This is the biggest one. Without caching, WordPress runs PHP and database queries for every visit. With page caching, the finished HTML is served directly. Use your host’s built-in cache or one caching plugin, and exclude pages that must stay dynamic, such as the cart, checkout and account pages.
2. Slow or overloaded hosting
Cheap shared plans put many sites on one server. If your TTFB stays high even with caching, ask your host about CPU limits and, for WooCommerce, the number of PHP workers. Managed WordPress hosting or a VPS often responds faster.
3. Outdated PHP
Newer PHP versions are generally faster. Test on a staging site first, then move to a currently supported version.
4. Redirect chains
Each redirect costs a full round trip. A visitor typing http://example.com should not be redirected to https://example.com and then again to https://www.example.com. Check your chain with:
curl -sIL http://example.com/ | grep -i -E "^(HTTP|location)"Make every link and redirect point straight to the final address.
5. Distance to the visitor
A CDN puts copies of your files closer to visitors. Static files are cached by default; caching the HTML page itself needs extra configuration, for example cache rules or an HTML caching feature at your CDN.
6. Heavy plugins and a bloated database
Plugins that run many queries add to every uncached response. See the guide on optimizing database queries.
7. Slow DNS
DNS lookups happen before the first byte. A fast DNS provider shortens this step.
Check the result
Re-test while logged out, so you measure what visitors get. A cached page should respond much faster than an uncached one. If it does not, caching is probably not active for that page.
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