Internet users want their information quickly. If they don’t get it fast, they will likely go to another website. Losing web traffic because your site is not loading fast enough for your users can be devastating to your online business. To ensure you don’t lose valuable traffic, consider a Content Delivery Network (CDN).

Here at Gabfire we use an we recommend MAXCDN

What Is a CDN?

CDN is a way for you to provide alternative server nodes to your users. These are download resources for static content such as images and Javascript, which are known to slow down sites. With them on a server closer to your users’ locations, you’re ensuring a quicker response and download time.

Why Do You Need a CDN?

The biggest reason you need a CDN is to improve users’ experiences. Since speed has a lot to do with the experiences users have on a site, that’s the top reason website owners turn to a CDN. As you know, when you’re online searching for information, slow websites can be annoying to deal with. You click on something, wait, click on something else, wait, and before you know it, you’re done waiting and just find what you need elsewhere. With a CDN, you will never have to worry about your users feeling frustrated.

While speed is important, it’s not the only reason you should use a CDN. There are many others benefits you should be aware of before deciding to use it.

Prevents Site Crashes

As your site becomes more popular, thousands of people at one time may flood it. Bandwidth can only handle so much traffic before the site crashes. When a website crashes, you can lose data and traffic. With a CDN, you won’t have to worry about that at all. With many servers around the world, bandwidth increases to lower the risk of your site crashing.

Users Can Download As Many Files as They Need

If your site has file downloads available, it’s likely people can’t download multiple large files at one time, unless you have a CDN. Most browsers limit the number of downloads at a single time from one domain. With a CDN, the files download from different domains, so that limit no longer affects users.

Increases Download Speed

Not only can your website’s visitors download as many files as they want, they will also enjoy faster downloading time. The closer the server is to them, the faster the files will download.

Pre-Caches Files

When users visit your site the first time, their computer will download many of its files. Instead of users’ computers downloading those files again, a CDN caches those files, leading to a faster site load.

Improves Search Engine Optimization

All Google wants is to provide quality websites to people who use the Internet. One of the factors Google uses to decide if a site is good for its users is speed. When your site has a fast response time, Google and other search engines want to rank your site higher on search engine results pages. Since most people only click on websites on the first page of search results, it will benefit you if your site ranks better. You’ll get an increase in targeted website traffic.

Provides Detailed Analytical Reports

Everything you do with your website should be effective in helping you achieve your goals. You won’t know if what you’re doing is working, if you don’t track the results. CDNs often send users reports on usage. These reports can help you understand what your website’s visitors are doing while on your site. You’ll be able to see the number of video views and downloads.

Reduced Hosting Costs

It’s probable your current hosting service doesn’t offer everything a CDN does, and if it did, it would cost you a lot of money. With a CDN, you get all its benefits for one low price or free depending on the one you choose.

Reasons to Not Use a CDN

Not everyone needs a CDN. If you’re website is new and doesn’t get a lot of traffic, it’s likely it doesn’t lag like many large, older websites do. If your site doesn’t have large files available for download, you may also not need to use a CDN. Websites owners who have a large amount of traffic from around the country or world or offer users large files to download benefit the most from a CDN.