Imagine you’re browsing a website, excited to find the information you need, but it takes forever to load. Frustrated, you leave and never return. This is a common scenario, and the culprit is often slow server response time. For businesses, slow responses can mean lost customers and missed opportunities. But the good news? There are ways to fix this. Let’s dive into the best methods to reduce server response time and keep your visitors happy.
What Is Server Response Time?
Server response time is the time it takes for a device (like a computer) to get a reply from a server after sending a request to load a web page. It’s important to track because many web apps can’t work without this response.
If the server takes too long to respond, users have to wait longer for the page to load, which can lead to errors like half-loaded images or broken layouts. So, slow server response time affects not only how fast a page loads but also how stable it looks.
In technical terms, server response time is often called Time to First Byte (TTFB) because it measures how long it takes for the server to send the first byte of data in response to the user’s request.
Why You Should Reduce Server Response Time
According to Google, people leave a website if it takes more than three seconds to load. Server response time is a big factor in how fast your page loads.
If your server response time is slow, your bounce rate will be higher. This means more people leave your site quickly, which affects both user experience and SEO rankings. Page load speed is already an important SEO factor, which is why Google offers tools like PageSpeed Insights.
Reducing server response time is important for three main reasons:
- It improves visitor experience.
- It lowers bounce rates.
- It boosts your SEO performance.
What Is A Good TTFB?
According to Google Lighthouse, anything lower than 600ms is a good time to the first byte for any web page. A TTFB of over 600 ms causes a failed audit. If it ranges between 300 and 500 ms, it’s considered ‘reasonable,’ and below the 200 ms limit, Google finds it ‘good.’
Lower TTFB is better, making many technical SEO experts recommend keeping it at 150 to 200 ms, and below 150 is an excellent response time.
How To Reduce Server Response Time
1) Ensure You’re Using The Right Hosting Service
The time it takes for the server to respond is crucial for page loading. Even if other factors improve loading speed, a slow server response can still prevent you from reaching your target Time To First Byte (TTFB) because of the server’s delay.
Most importantly, it relies on your hosting provider; you can upgrade to higher-tier plans with better server response times or switch to a different hosting provider.
We highly recommend you test the ping, latency, etc., before choosing your web hosting in order if you don’t want to face tough times in reducing TTFB in the future.
Numerous web hosts boast about excellent ping and latency, yet only a handful openly display such metrics, with Accuweb Hosting being one of them. You can visit our page and test the ping across our 15 available servers.
Accuweb Hosting is currently among the best web hosts in the world when it comes to minimum server response times.
2) Configure Caching
When users visit a website, they often make requests similar to those made to the server. To avoid processing the same requests repeatedly, you can use caching to store frequently requested data. This allows the server to deliver the stored content faster.
There are different caching strategies to reduce server load and speed up content delivery. For example, you can cache database queries to avoid repeating resource-heavy tasks, save fully loaded web pages to send them quickly, and instruct browsers to store certain files locally. Pre-caching predicts what users will need next, and object caching saves complex calculations or API responses.
For website owners using a Content Management System (CMS), caching plugins make it easy to set up caching features. Popular WordPress plugins like WP Rocket, WP Super Cache, and W3 Total Cache offer simple ways to manage page, object, and browser caching.
3) Reduce Page Bloat
If your website is on WordPress, it’s important to pick the right Theme. WordPress themes may include JavaScript and PHP codes, and if these codes aren’t optimized, they can slow down your server’s response time. Make sure to read reviews and check the reputation of the Theme creator before installing it.
The same goes for Plugins (or extensions/add-ons if your site isn’t WordPress-based). Use optimized plugins that aren’t overloaded with unnecessary features so they don’t slow down your server.
Here are some extra tips:
- Minify JavaScript and CSS: Remove unnecessary spaces and characters from the code to reduce file size and improve speed. WordPress plugins can help with this.
- Optimize images and videos: Compress files before uploading to reduce size and improve server response time. Bulk compression tools are available.
4) Optimize Your Database
Optimizing your database in your CMS is a simple way to boost your server’s performance.
As your content grows (more blog posts, comments, etc.), your database gets larger, which can slow down your website.
Most modern CMS platforms make it easy to optimize the database. For example, WordPress offers plugins like WP-Optimize that help you do this with ease.
5) Optimizing Your Application Code
The application code is key to improving web performance.
We highly suggest getting help from a developer since you’re now working with your website’s core functions.
When optimizing code, you can:
- Simplify the code and make functions run more efficiently
- Reduce complex tasks or make sure code runs only when needed
- Improve database queries by removing any unnecessary ones
6) Eliminate 404 Errors
A 404 error occurs when users try to access a no longer existing page. Even though the page isn’t available, these requests still use your server’s resources and could slow it down if there are too many.
You can find 404 error pages on your website using free and easy-to-use tools like Google Webmaster Tools.
After finding the 404 errors, check how much traffic they get. You can leave them as is if they don’t get any traffic. But if they still get some visitors, consider setting up redirects and fixing internal links.
Keep in mind only use redirects if necessary, as they add extra HTTP requests, which could slow down your site.
7) Keep Everything Updated
New software updates often improve performance.
If you use WordPress, it’s important to keep your themes and plugins updated, as updates often include features that boost speed. It’s also a good idea to keep only the themes and plugins you need and delete the others to save space.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, reducing server response time is essential for a fast, efficient website that keeps visitors engaged and improves SEO performance. Taking the above steps will help create a better user experience and boost your site’s overall performance.
