Speed Test

What is a Website Speed Test?

A website speed test measures how quickly a web server responds to requests and delivers content. It checks the Time to First Byte (TTFB), total response time, compression, and analyses the HTML for security headers, SEO tags, and linked resources. Unlike browser-based audits, this is a server-side test that shows raw performance without client rendering overhead.

Key Metrics Explained

• TTFB (Time to First Byte) — The time between sending the request and receiving the first byte of the response. A good TTFB is under 200ms. High TTFB indicates slow server processing, database queries, or network latency.
• Total Time — The full time to download the complete HTML document. This includes DNS lookup, TCP connection, TLS handshake, and content transfer.
• HTML Size — The size of the raw HTML document. Smaller documents load faster. Aim to keep initial HTML under 100KB where possible.
• Compression — Whether the server uses gzip or Brotli compression to reduce transfer size. Brotli typically achieves 15-20% better compression than gzip.

Security Headers

Security headers are HTTP response headers that protect your website and visitors from common attacks:

• Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS) — Forces browsers to use HTTPS, preventing protocol downgrade attacks.
• Content-Security-Policy (CSP) — Controls which resources the browser is allowed to load, preventing XSS attacks.
• X-Content-Type-Options — Prevents MIME-type sniffing, reducing exposure to drive-by download attacks.
• X-Frame-Options — Prevents your page from being embedded in iframes on other sites (clickjacking protection).
• Referrer-Policy — Controls how much referrer information is sent with requests, protecting user privacy.
• Permissions-Policy — Controls which browser features (camera, microphone, geolocation) your site can use.

SEO Essentials

The SEO checks verify that your page includes the fundamental elements search engines look for:

• Title tag — The page title shown in search results. Should be unique and under 60 characters.
• Meta description — The snippet shown below the title in search results. Should be 150-160 characters.
• Canonical URL — Tells search engines the preferred URL for the page, preventing duplicate content issues.
• Open Graph tags — Controls how your page appears when shared on social media platforms.
• Viewport meta tag — Ensures proper rendering on mobile devices.
• Language attribute — The lang attribute on the HTML element helps search engines understand the page language.
• Heading structure — A single H1 tag per page, followed by properly nested H2-H6 tags.