---
title: "Server Response Time"
description: "Server response time (Time to First Byte) is the duration between when a server receives an HTTP request and when it sends the first byte of the response back to the client."
category: "Server Log Analysis"
date: "2026-03-05"
url: "https://getbeast.io/glossary/server-response-time/"
type: "glossary"
---

# Server Response Time

**Category:** Server Log Analysis | **Updated:** 2026-03-05

Server response time (Time to First Byte) is the duration between when a server receives an HTTP request and when it sends the first byte of the response back to the client.

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## What Is Server Response Time?

Server response time, often measured as Time to First Byte (TTFB), is the elapsed time from when a web server receives an HTTP request to when it begins sending the response. It includes DNS lookup, TCP connection, TLS handshake, and server processing time. A fast TTFB is typically under 200ms; anything over 600ms is considered slow.

## Why It Matters for SEO

Server response time is a **Core Web Vitals supporting metric** and directly affects crawl efficiency. If your server takes 2 seconds to respond to each request, Googlebot will crawl fewer pages per session, reducing your effective crawl budget. Google has confirmed that TTFB is a factor in their page experience signals. Slow TTFB also increases Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which is a Core Web Vital.

## How to Measure and Improve

Enable the `%D` (microseconds) or `%T` (seconds) directive in your Apache log format, or use the `$request_time` variable in Nginx. This records the actual processing time for each request in your access log. Analyze these values by URL pattern to find slow endpoints. Common fixes include database query optimization, caching, and CDN deployment.

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## Related Terms

- [Core Web Vitals](/glossary/core-web-vitals/)
- [Largest Contentful Paint](/glossary/largest-contentful-paint/)
- [Page Speed](/glossary/page-speed/)
- [Bandwidth Analysis](/glossary/bandwidth-analysis/)
- [CDN](/glossary/cdn/)

## Further Reading

- [Core Web Vitals Guide](/blog/core-web-vitals/)

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*Part of the [GetBeast SEO Glossary](/glossary/). Visit [GetBeast.io](https://getbeast.io) for professional SEO and log analysis tools.*