Time to First Byte
Example: A neighborhood cafe's pages take 900 milliseconds just to send their first byte on cheap shared hosting, so the owner moves to a faster host and the whole site feels quicker before a single image is even touched.
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TTFB, server response time
How long it takes your web server to send the very first byte of a page after a visitor requests it. Measured in milliseconds. Under 200ms is good, over 600ms points at a slow host or a misconfigured site.
Why it matters
Bad TTFB is almost always a hosting problem, not a design problem. Every other speed metric inherits it — you can't render what hasn't been sent yet. If your TTFB is poor, switch hosts or add a CDN before optimizing anything else.
Frequently asked
What is time to First Byte?
Time to First Byte is how long it takes your web server to send the very first byte of a page after a visitor requests it. Measured in milliseconds. Under 200ms is good, over 600ms points at a slow host or a misconfigured site.
Why does time to First Byte matter for a restaurant?
Bad TTFB is almost always a hosting problem, not a design problem. Every other speed metric inherits it — you can't render what hasn't been sent yet. If your TTFB is poor, switch hosts or add a CDN before optimizing anything else.
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