1. Measure & Baseline Log current TTFB using: Chrome DevTools (Network → Waiting) Lighthouse (TTFB + Server Response Time) Add basic request timing logs in Express (req → res duration). 2. Remove Blocking Work from Initial Request Ensure landing page route does NOT: Call databases Call external APIs Run heavy middleware (auth, parsing, validation) Move any non-essential logic to: Background jobs Client-side fetch after page load 3. Optimize Express Middleware Order Load only required middleware for / route. Defer or remove: Body parsers Auth checks Compression (if handled by Nginx) Ensure static routes are handled before dynamic routes. 4. Enable Aggressive Caching for Landing Page Cache HTML response at Nginx or CDN level. Set headers: Cache-Control: public, max-age=600, stale-while-revalidate Avoid per-request rendering if content is static.