How to improve Time to First Byte? Page Load Speed
-
I am working with a ecommerce site that is having major issues with their load speed. The ttfb is...wait for it...7911 ms.
I am not even sure where to start with this issue. If you have any recommendations, it would be appreciated.
Is it the clients servers that are slow? They have went through multiple redesigns and have some code that could probably be deleted but I don't think it would make it that slow.
-
Hi Ian
These are all good suggestions. Accidentally (SSL excluded) these are all covered by modern CDNs, which do much more than just proxy.-
Memory vs. disk caching: Memory is faster
CDNs will cache from memory by providing free/low-cost access to very large pool of resource, which most website owners couldn't utilize otherwise. (each proxy location will have ~10 high-powered servers that allocate memory for caching)
-
Server configuration: Is your database on the same server as your web server? That's a problem, if true.
This is a core CDN capability. The cached web content is served from proxy while database complies in the background and serves the rest of the materials.
-
Database caching: Is your e-commerce system using it? The first hit on the database is a huge hit on performance.
This is a great suggestion and - unlike other points - this is not a default CDN feature. However, this problem can be solved by intelligent caching heuristic. What I mean is that by monitoring resource usage over large pool of visitors an intelligent CDN system can identify dynamically generated objects which are not often changed, yet still un-cached due to their dynamic "origin".
Pinpointing such objects and caching them in the way that ensures personalization and freshness will reduce the impact of database processing. For example, typical e-commerce site and will dynamically generate the product list from DB when in fact most products specifics (the image, the text, the pricing, etc) will not change over the product life-cycle. For all states and purposes these are static resources, yet they are being generated dynamically, for the lack of the better option...
If you CDN can identify such instances and move in to cache these parameters, you will benefit from 30-50% improvement, on top of the usual 30-40% CDN factor.
What I`m describing here is not future-tech but a patent-pending algorithms which are already used by the industry. You can find out more here:http://www.incapsula.com/the-incapsula-blog/item/414-advanced-caching-dynamic-through-learning
-
-
True TTFB is improved by changes to your basic server configuration, not a CDN. A CDN will improve delivery of static and cached files, but may not impact TTFB the way you need it to.
My gut tells me you need to look at:
- Database caching: Is your e-commerce system using it? The first hit on the database is a huge hit on performance.
- Memory vs. disk caching: Memory is faster
- SSL versus non-SSL for non-secure pages. SSL will slow performance and should only be used where security is an issue, like during checkout or on login pages.
- Server configuration: Is your database on the same server as your web server? That's a problem, if true.
-
Generally speaking, the best answer is to use a CDN.
CNDs proxy technology, which was designed to minimize "physical" distances between the site's content and browsers, directly influences TTFB. Being an in-house SEO for a CDN company I get a lot of questions about this from our support and clients. I have to admit, until recent Moz post, I wasn't aware of full implications of TTFB and considered it to be one of few page load speed related metrics. (http://moz.com/blog/how-website-speed-actually-impacts-search-ranking)This post really helped me get a better grasp on things. Interestingly enough, few month ago one of our clients Guest Posted in our blog about speed improvement gained by our free plan. Among other things, he mentioned 70% improvement in TTFB (grade going from F to A)
(http://www.incapsula.com/the-incapsula-blog/item/718-what-incapsula-free-did-for-my-site)At the time I didn't give it much attention. Because, like many others, I was focusing on overall load speeds....
I can't help but feel that this was a missed opportunity. This post could be even better with the added SEO angle...
If anyone here is interested in giving this a try and guest posting about it, I`ll be happy to provide all resources needed on our end. -
I guess by just looking at the IP, it's in Atlanta. I changed the settings on the page load tools to various places across the US so this shouldn't be a factor should it?
-
I thoroughly enjoyed your response Harald. I never would have considered switching from Amazon S3 to Amazon Cloud Space. The improved performance you experienced is amazing.
-
Hi Lhawk, First of all I advice you to look at below link for proper understanding of the Time to First Byte.
Time to first byte (TTFB)
I hope that above content helps you to understand the TTFB.
Now its time to reduce the TTFB which is most important for a web page because it overall reduces the loading time & helps to load page faster & overall website performance is increased.
For more details see the 12 steps to faster web pages.
I hope tat your query had been solved.
editor's note: source for this answer at http://www.creativedevelopment.com.au/web-design/reducing-time-to-first-byte-ttfb/
-
Where are the servers relative to your access point?
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
About how much time should I budget for an adwords audit?
Hi, I'm considering devoting either my time to or jobbing out an adwords audit. The account has about a dozen campaigns and in total about 60 ad groups, 15 landing pages. About 6000 clicks and about 450 lead gen conversions. Conversions are phone and thank you page. The account involves search, display and retargeting. Client is looking for actionable insights about both the account and the landing pages, prioritized, in order to lower cost per lead. Here are my questions: How many hours of work? How extensive of a deliverable is the result? What might this cost if I hired a knowledgeable individual (not a big firm)? Thanks!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | 945010 -
How can I track if a landing page assists a lead/goal to another page in Google Analytics?
For example, I'm running a PPC campaign for site.com/landing-page and it consists of different product pages like below: site.com/product-1 site.com/product-2 site.com/product-3 How to determine if /landing-page assists a lead/goal to a specific product page in Analytics? Example scenario: /landing-page -> /product-3 -> Lead TIA!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | zpm20140 -
No form on PPC landing page
My client has explained to me that they want to drive sales CALLS instead of form submissions because they feel they have a better chance of "closing the deal" on the phone. So my company is working to design a PPC landing page that focuses on the phone number. But the question is, do you still think we should include a simple form on the landing page? There are two competing trains of thought in my office. One is concerned that if we offer a form, people won't call. The other is that if we DON'T offer a form, we will lose out on possibly good customers. In addition to the form, no form question is the question of providing additional links to other parts of the website. One person I work with is concerned visitors will leak away and not pick up the phone. My concern is that if we do not offer a way to "learn more" the visitor will become agitated and not call at all. This is specifically for a focused PPC effort. To recap:
Conversion Rate Optimization | | WestAdvertising
1- Form or no form?
2- Links or no links?0 -
How To Rank Landing Pages In The SERPs
Hi, am hoping someone can give me a little advice.. We have created an Ebook for a client, which we will ‘hide’ behind a landing page for the purpose of collecting email addresses in return for a link to the Ebook. We are thinking of using Unbounce landing pages, integrated with Mailchimp. The problem however is that I’m assuming it will not be possible for Unbounce landing pages to rank well in the SERPs.. which is essential. The obvious solution would be to write a blog post detailing the contents of the Ebook, and then to ‘SEO’ this post.. this however will not provide a positive user experience as below; Visitor lands on blog post Visitor then has to click through to Ubounce landing page (very similar content) Visitor completes form to download Ebook My question is; What’s the best way to rank a direct landing page in the SERP’s, whilst providing the best possible user experience (less steps)? Many thanks in advance, your time is appreciated 🙂 Lee.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Webpresence0 -
How to make use of those traffics on non-conversion page?
I am working on a website which sells eBooks softwares, most of posts on the site are teaching people how to solve eBook-reading problems and will lead visitors to download and try the software. But some posts are not related to the software, we just write it for traffic, for example: link-bait post such as top xxx romantic eBooks, free eBooks tools review, etc. These posts have got a pretty considerable traffic, but visitors just come here, read, like/share/comment, then leave. Is there any way I can make use of these pages to convert? Thanks
Conversion Rate Optimization | | JonnyGreenwood0 -
Keeping pages indexed but making sure they fill out a form before access - confusing Q's
OK so let me break down this little scenario we have going on. I work for a b2b company so we have a lot of gated content that is behind a form fill out - this is how we get a lot of our lead generation. Some pages that we have behind the form are showing up in search which allows people to view the documents bypassing the form. At first I thought, well why dont we just no index that page so that it does not appear in search. But then I thought it would be smart to keep the pages indexed to keep the SEO value, Is there a way to keep these pages indexed but make sure that when they click the link in the SERPS that they need to fill out the form in order to gain access to the document? Something on the backend that checks to make sure that the referral URL was completed or something like that? Anybody deal with this before?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | PatBausemer0 -
Any SEO tips for optimizing / driving traffic to category pages?
Hello! I listened to Adam Audette at Linklove in Boston this month and he spoke a little on creatively linking product pages back to their respective category pages - as it had an effect on the SEO... However, I don't know much about "internal" linking... Any other SEO tips for optimizing / driving traffic to category pages? Thanks!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | BGroup0 -
What company/person do you recommend for improving conversion rates on landing pages?
Hello! I'm looking for specific recommendations of companies with whom you have been "Tickled pink at fantastic conversion improvement results!" I'm the customer for this service. 🙂 I seek a page-level review of a specific area of my site. I'm looking for output of specific recommendations for improving conversion rates. I want to avoid paying for a "generic best practices report" with one or two ideas for my site sprinkled in. I realize that I will be called to complete proper input into the process. I am ready to do my share with the level of detail required. So, if you have an enthusiastic recommendation, please share. Details are appreciated. Most important, please tell me why this company made you very happy. I sincerely look forward to SEOMozzer input. Thank you kindly, Loren
Conversion Rate Optimization | | groovykarma0