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Performance

What do the website timing numbers mean?

A website response happens in several stages. WebWatch times each stage so you can see whether a delay starts with the address lookup, the connection, the server, or the download.

The four parts of a response

WebWatch measures four stages in order. Select a stage to see what it records and where to look if that part is slow.

~30ms
~60ms
~140ms
→ Total

TTFB, time to first byte

How long WebWatch waits for the server to start replying. It includes the connection and the time the server spends preparing its response.

Check: slow database work, busy hosting, or code that takes too long before sending anything.

Each leg hands the baton to the next. Total time is the whole race, start to finish.

Read the average and P95 together

One number describes a typical check. The other shows how slow the less reliable checks can be.

Average

The total response times added together and divided by the number of checks. A few very slow checks can pull this number upwards.

Use it for: spotting a general change in speed over time.

P95

95% of checks finished faster than this number, while the slowest 5% took longer. A high P95 shows delays that the average may hide.

Use it for: finding occasional slow responses that happen often enough to investigate.
How WebWatch colours the timings

WebWatch marks time to first byte green below 200 ms, amber from 200 to 799 ms, and red at 800 ms or more. Total response time is green below 1 second, amber from 1 to 2.99 seconds, and red at 3 seconds or more. These are useful warning levels, not a promise about how a full page feels in a visitor's browser.

TTFByour site: 180ms
0ms500ms1s+
Total loadyour site: 1.4s
0s2s4s+
Repeated slowness deserves attention

A rising response time can be an early sign of an overloaded server or slow database. The uptime guide explains the status labels used when a check fails. You can also run an instant check to see each timing for your own site.