Performance expert explains everything you need to know about Time to First Byte (TTFB)

Navigating the world of Core Web Vitals can sometimes feel like deciphering a secret code — one where understanding the nuances can make or break your website’s performance. With Google’s ever-evolving standards, mastering these metrics is not just nice-to-have, it’s critical for every developer who wants a website that performs.

Welcome to the first session of Vitality: A 5-Part Webinar Series Decoding Core Web Vitals, hosted by Kyle Van Deusen with expert guest Brian Jackson from Perfmatters.

Each session, we’ll dive deep into the your vitals and the metrics that affect them most, starting at the beginning with Time to First Byte (TTFB).

Why TTFB? Understanding and optimizing TTFB is essential because it sets the pace for loading times and affects how quickly your content reaches your users. It’s not just a metric; it’s the foundation of a high-performance website.

In this session, we’ll cover:

🚀 The Basics of TTFB: What it is and why it matters more than you think.

🔍 Deep Dive into Factors Affecting TTFB: DNS lookups, server response, networking latency, caching — oh my!

🛠 Practical Optimizations: Step-by-step guidance on reducing TTFB with caching strategies, server configuration, and more.

This session is not just about understanding TTFB but mastering it to ensure your site starts strong. Whether you’re dealing with a portfolio site or a large e-commerce platform, the principles we’ll discuss are universally applicable and will set the stage for improving subsequent Core Web Vitals.

Download the slides from this webinar: https://theadmin.bar/ttfb

Get 20% off Perfmatters with the coupon code THEADMINBAR at https://perfmatters.io


More from this series...
Part 1: https://theadminbar.com/fix-ttfb/
Part 2: https://theadminbar.com/fix-lcp/
Part 3: https://theadminbar.com/fix-fcp/

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Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction
07:18 - TTFB Defined
11:05 - What is a good TTFB?
15:00 - What makes up TTFB?
16:14 - How to measure TTFB
18:28 - PSI vs. Real-World Data
23:25 - Redirects, DNS, and TLS
26:05 - Hosting, Hosting, Hosting
32:06 - Caching
34:40 - The Distance Problem
35:50 - Edge Caching
48:30 - Avoid Excessive DOM Size
1:00:22 - Cache Length
1:03:17 - Preloading Cache
1:06:36 - Cache Time to Live Settings
1:09:05 - TTFB Summary
1:14:30 - Q&A: Apache v. NGINX v Litespeed
1:16:17 - Q&A: Google's Testing Connection
1:16:58 - Q&A: Cloudflare and TTFB
1:17:39 - Q&A: Page Builder and TTFB
1:18:13 - Q&A: eCommerce and TTFB
1:19:47 - Q&A: "Premium" Shared Hosting
1:22:50 - Next in the Vitality Series: LCP