How to choose hosting: TTFB and what shared servers really mean
Cheap hosting stops being cheap when it slows your site down. Here is how to tell whether your server is really the problem.
Hosting is the server your site lives on. It's a bit like renting a cheap flat. The rent may be low, but if the taps don't work you haven't really saved anything.
Luckily, checking whether your server is slow is very easy.
What is TTFB and how do you measure it?
Time To First Byte is how long the browser waits, after connecting, for the first piece of data. It tells you how quickly the server responds.
To measure it, look at the "Server response time" line in a PageSpeed Insights report. Or press F12 in your browser and check how long the first request takes in the Network tab.
Under 200 ms is excellent
200–600 ms — normal
Over 600 ms means you have a server problem
If TTFB is above 600 ms, compressing images won't help. The problem is the machine your site runs on.
What shared hosting actually means
Hundreds of sites sit on one physical machine and share the same processor and memory. When a site next door runs a campaign and gets a rush of traffic, yours slows down. This is called the "noisy neighbour" effect.
For a small brochure site, shared hosting is fine and there's no need to spend more. If you run an online shop or get a few thousand visitors a day, though, you'll pay for the cheap plan on campaign day when the site goes down.
When do you need a VPS?
On a VPS you get a reserved share of resources, so neighbours can't affect you. It costs several times as much as shared hosting, but the numbers are still modest.
Move to a VPS if you regularly get more than 2,000 visitors a day, if you sell online, or if your site slows down during campaigns.
Where should the server be?
Data travels a physical distance too. If your customers are in Türkiye, a server in Türkiye or Europe is noticeably faster than one in the United States.
If your customers are spread across countries, use a CDN. It keeps copies of your site around the world and serves each visitor from the nearest one.
Questions to ask before signing
Are backups automatic, how often are they taken, and do you charge to restore them?
Is an SSL certificate included?
What hours is support available, and in what language?
If I want to move to another company, can I take my files?
That last one matters most. Some companies sell plans built to make leaving difficult. Before you sign, ask how you'd move out if you wanted to.