Website takes 5 to 8 seconds until first paint

  • wpandy82

    (@wpandy82)


    3 years ago

    I’ve set up a WordPress site (see link) but when opening it for the first time on a machine where it hasn’t been opened previously it takes about 5 to 8 seconds until some content becomes visible (first paint) so for the user it feels like the server is down because it takes veeeery long until something happens.

    I’ve talked to my hoster about it and they say that it’s not their fault and I should try a different network. I did that and tried it from my workplace where we have extremely fast internet but still it took more than 5 seconds before bits of my site’s content became visible.

    Now the confusing thing is this: I’ve tried to measure my site’s performance using gtmetrix.com and their benchmark says that first paint happens after 1.5 seconds or so which would be fine. I’ve also tested benchmarking the site using hostpress.de and their benchmark says that the page renders in less than 1 second which sounds even better!

    But the problem is that those benchmarks don’t match my experience and as I said, I’ve tried several different networks and got the same 5+ seconds delay on all of them so there MUST be a problem but since all the benchmark sites pretty much say that everything’s fine I’m out of ideas what I can do to fix this problem.

    So I’d be glad if somebody could visit the site and check if they also experience the 5+ seconds delay when first opening the site and if they do, I’d really like to hear what could be done to fix this. Thanks!

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • stfrosty

    (@stfrosty)

    Hello,

    You have to understand the difference between the first byte (how long it takes the server to respond) and the complete loading of the page, which will depend to a large extent on how optimized the page is.

    The best thing you can do is to have a caching plugin, which will make the website take less time to load. Also, there are free plugins such as Autoptimize or W3 Total Cache that allow you to optimize various aspects of the website.
    Although in this sense, I recommend using something paid like WP Rocket.
    Another thing to consider, for example, is to use a CDN like Cloudflare that has a free plan.
    A CDN allows you to store a cached copy of your website on different nodes, which allows faster delivery than some depending on the node used.
    Cloudflare has paid extensions such as APO, an interesting tool (and one that I personally use) that serves web content from a network specially designed for WordPress websites.

    Hope it helps,
    Have a good day ??

    Thread Starter wpandy82

    (@wpandy82)

    I’ve already installed a caching plugin (WP Super Cache) but that didn’t really make a difference.

    What is confusing me is that the benchmarking sites I’ve tried say that the page loads in about 1 second but my tests on various different networks have shown completely different results and I always seem to be getting a 5+ second delay when opening the page for the first time on a new machine. I don’t understand why this happens when the benchmarking sites say it loads in 1 second.

    Thread Starter wpandy82

    (@wpandy82)

    It’s really mysterious. When I use Chrome’s DevTools, switch to the “Network” tab, select “Disable cache” and press F5 (= page reload), the whole page loads in 0.8 seconds! But when opening the page tomorrow in Chrome, it’ll surely take 5+ seconds again when opening the page the very first time. I don’t understand this.

    MarkRH

    (@markrh)

    Using Firefox 97.0.1 in Windows 10, the site loads in at most about three seconds. I did several CTRL-F5 refreshes to make it not use the cache and some using the cache with similar results. Sometimes when using the cache it would load in 1 second.

    So, I don’t think it’s the site itself.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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