Published on May 20, 2023 by Simon Wright
Page loading speed is a key factor search engines use when determining page rank. One of the most efficient ways of boosting your site’s performance to ensure it pleases Google, Bing, Yahoo, et al. is to use a WordPress CDN (Content Delivery Network.)
In this article, we’ll explain why you need to use a WordPress CDN and show how easy it is to add one to your website.
As already mentioned, website loading speed is one of the key factors search engines use when determining page rank. This is because twenty-first century dwellers are an impatient bunch, unwilling to waste their precious time on slow performing websites.
If you have an online store, slow website performance can seriously hurt your business. In fact, a survey undertaken by Unbounce shows that nearly 70% of consumers admit that their willingness to purchase from an online retailer is driven by page performance. In other words, if a site’s loads too slowly, the customer will simply go elsewhere. And another report from Deloitte Digital titled Milliseconds Make Millions states that according to Google, where page loading speeds are over a second long result in users losing interest. Unsurprisingly, a ten-second loading time usually sees customers to leave forever.
Typically, when someone visits your web address, their web browser requests the site data it needs from your host server. Invariably, that server will be a vast distance (we are talking thousands of miles or more) from the visitor. Laws of physics then dictate that transferring the required data will take longer than if the server were much closer to the visitor.
We all know the cornerstone of site speed is to have a decent hosting provider such as WP Bolt. However, once your site is live, a WordPress CDN can turbocharge loading times.
In a nutshell, a WordPress CDN brings the website data and user closer together. It does this by utilizing a network of servers located around the world. Copies of the site data are cached (a fancy name for stored) statically on these servers. Then, whenever someone visits your site, they are provided with the cached copy of the content located on the server nearest to them. The result is significantly improved page loading times and happy visitors.
Regardless of what type of website you have – whether it is a blog, online store, affiliate marketing site, etc. – a CDN can significantly improve your site’s performance, particularly where you are trying to build an international audience. The only types of websites that would not particularly benefit from a WordPress CDN are:
We’ve already mentioned improved page loading speeds as a key reason for using a WordPress CDN. However, there are other valuable benefits they bring, including:
Thanks to trusty plugins, adding a CDN to your WordPress website is easy. Depending on the plugin you choose, accessing the CDN is done in one of two ways:
When deciding on the most suitable plugin and service for your needs, you should consider factors like:
Now that you know what a WordPress CDN is and how it can benefit your site, let’s look at some of the best currently available. And don’t worry, free options are available if you have no spare budget.
Jetpack is a multifunction WordPress plugin with a free CDN to help improve your site’s performance. Furthermore, this plugin can optimize images before serving them with other static content from its global CDN, thereby ensuring the fast possible page speeds.
Despite being free, Jetpack has an impressive feature set, including:
While the core JetPack plugin is free, to serve videos through its CDN will require the addition of their video hosting service, VideoPress. That costs $59.40 for the first year ($119.40 thereafter) and includes several other useful features, including 1TB of storage and a customizable video player.
Another reputable and well-known CDN service is Cloudflare. With data centers scattered across 275 cities and more than 100 nations, Cloudflare has one of the largest server networks. Therefore, it is unlikely that any visitors to your WordPress website will be located far from Cloudflare server.
Cloudflare is available with free and paid plans. While the free one is relatively simple, it will be an excellent foundation for many website owners. With the free plan, you get:
The cheapest premium Cloudflare plan, Pro, costs $20 per month. This version adds the following features to the free version:
Two more premium plans, Business and Enterprise, are available. Compared to the other plans, both these have fewer restrictions on page rules, scripts, etc., plus they add extra security features. However, the Business plan costs $200 per month, so unless you have an established business with good cash flow, you’d be better off sticking with the free plan initially, upgrading to a premium plan only if the restrictions get bothersome.
KeyCDN optimizes the speed of your site via an ever-expanding network of 60+ data centers strategically located around the globe. The service also bundles integral security features aimed at protecting your data.
KeyCDN key features include:
Pricing-wise, KeyCDN uses a combination of bandwidth and region, with the highest cost being $0.10 per GB for up to 10TB in the Africa and Latin America region. However, for North America and Europe, the price per GB drops to $0.01 per GB for bandwidths exceeding 100TB. Furthermore, volume-based discounts are available. Unfortunately, KeyCDN does charge extra for image processing and storage.
Bunny.net offers a WordPress-compatible CDN that uses a global network of 114 points of presence (PoPs) to deliver super-fast content. The key selling points of Bunny.net are its ease of use and scalability.
As a premium service, Bunny.net is available with two “pay-as-you-go” pricing plans, namely:
In both cases, pricing is based on the bandwidth volume, more details of which are available here. Moreover, a monthly cap can be added to either plan, giving you complete control over your expenditure.
Each Bunny.net plan includes the following features:
Overall, Bunny.net is an ideal CDN for small to medium-sized businesses needing to keep a tight grip on expenditure.
Did you realize Amazon also offers a WordPress-compatible CDN service called Amazon CloudFront? A product of Amazon Web Services, the Amazon CloudFront platform can cache most content types, including images, videos, data, CSS, and APIs, giving your website blisteringly fast performance.
The features list of Amazon CloudFront is extensive and includes the following:
A free Amazon CloudFront tier is available, which includes 1TB of data transfer, 10 million HTTP/HTTPS requests, and 2 million function invocations per month. However, everything under this tier is only free for the first year, after which volume-based pricing kicks in.
SimpleCDN is a popular premium (i.e., no free option available) WordPress CDN that offers high performance and strong reliability thanks to a continually expanding network that currently comprises 120+ global server locations.
Feature-wise, SimpleCDN is impressive, boasting goodies like:
Plans start at $19 per month.
Like most of the other services we have looked at, Sucuri combines a WordPress CDN with website security. As such, your site will be both fast and secure.
Sucuri has ten DDoS/WAF/CDN and two CDN Edge servers globally. While that does not appear to be many, it is sufficient to provide a 70% improvement in website performance when the CDN is combined with the firm’s caching options.
Sucuri offers two firewall / CDN pricing plans costing $120 and $240 annually. Depending on the plan purchased, expect to get access to some or all these features:
Unfortunately, because Sucuri is rather pricey, it won’t be for everyone. However, those who can afford it will get great features that can significantly improve their website’s performance and security.
A fast page loading speed is crucial in ensuring your website ranks well with search engines and keeps visitors to your site engaged.
Aside from using quality web hosting, one of the most effective ways to optimize your WordPress site’s performance is to use a content delivery network (CDN.) This is easily done using a WordPress CDN plugin, and options are available to suit even the most restricted budget and inexperienced user.
Therefore, if you are not currently using a WordPress CDN, we strongly recommend you try one. Google will love you and your site visitors will thank you for it.
I’m a former construction industry professional who came out of the writer’s closet and am now totally comfortable with my creative side. My pronouns are smart, creative, witty, and dependable. I have written content in a number of niches including WordPress, plus I’m a blogger and affiliate marketer. If you’d like to know more about how I can help you, please head over to my website.
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