Load time (TTFB)

Load time is how long a page takes to show in the browser ✕ A browser is the program you use to open websites and surf the internet — such as Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. More in the glossary → from the moment it is requested, and it is one of the factors that weigh most on user experience: people who wait more than two or three seconds tend to leave. A key technical indicator is TTFB (time to first byte), the time the server ✕ A server is a powerful computer that provides data or services to other devices — for example serving a website or storing your cloud files. More in the glossary → takes to send the first byte, closely tied to hosting ✕ Web hosting is renting space on a server so your website is reachable around the clock. The host takes care of the technology, security, and availability. More in the glossary → quality. Speed is influenced by the server, caching ✕ Caching temporarily stores frequently needed content so it doesn't have to be generated anew each time. This noticeably speeds up your website. More in the glossary → , using a CDN ✕ A CDN (Content Delivery Network) stores copies of your website on servers worldwide. Visitors are served from the nearest server — speeding up loading. More in the glossary → , image size and clean code. Google measures these metrics ( Core Web Vitals ✕ Core Web Vitals are a set of Google metrics that measure a page’s real-world experience: how fast it loads, how quickly it responds and how visually stable it is. More in the glossary → ) and factors them into ranking, so speed is also SEO. Good hosting is the foundation a fast website is built on. More in the best web hosting comparison.