When someone visits your website, the browser sends a request to your server: "give me this page." The time it takes before the server sends back the first bit of data is called TTFB: Time To First Byte.
This is a pure server signal. Before a single letter appears on screen, the server has to have done its thinking and started answering. Slow TTFB = slow site, no matter how well optimized your content is.
What are good TTFB values?
- Under 500 ms: excellent. Fast hosting, good optimization.
- 500 to 1000 ms: acceptable but not ideal.
- Over 1000 ms: slow server. Visitors feel it.
- Over 2000 ms: serious problem. Action needed.
Why is TTFB high?
The most common causes:
- Budget hosting: 3-euro-a-month shared hosting puts your site on a server with hundreds of other sites all fighting over resources
- Server in the wrong region: if your hosting is in the US but your visitors are in the Netherlands, the data has to travel further
- Heavy WordPress installation: 40+ plugins that each do their thing on every page load
- Inefficient database queries: your site keeps asking the database for the same information without caching it
- No caching: every visitor triggers a full rebuild instead of getting a cached version
What can you do?
Concrete steps:
- Upgrade your hosting. If you are on budget shared hosting (Vimexx, TransIP starter, etc.), consider a managed WordPress host or a VPS. It costs 15-30 euros a month extra and is worth every cent.
- Install a caching plugin. WP Rocket, WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache. It can sometimes cut TTFB in half.
- Use a CDN. Cloudflare (free) puts your site on servers around the world so visitors always find a server close by.
- Clean up unused plugins. Every active plugin is a potential load on your server.