The loading speed of a website is currently one of the main concerns of webmasters because loading speed is one of the key factors to get the best ranking in the SERP. To achieve that, various ways can be done, one of which is using a CDN service or content delivery network.
CDN itself is generally used by websites that already have a lot of visitors, although it is possible that any website can use it. In simple terms, a CDN can be referred to as a distribution network. One example of a CDN is Cloudflare.
But if you want to know more about what a CDN is, how it works, and its benefits, we'll explain it in more detail below. Let's see!
What is a CDN (Content Delivery Network)?
CDN or Content Delivery Network is a network or collection of servers placed in various separate locations that serve to deliver content from the server to a website.
Location is an important factor that can affect how quickly a website loads. The explanation is this, hosting servers are generally located in one specific location or geography, for example, servers located in India.
Websites made with servers located in India can certainly be well accessed by visitors from the same location, but not if the visitors are abroad.
The distance from the server location to the remote location of visitors makes website data transfer more slowly. Visitors or users will certainly get a bad experience.
At that time, CDN can be used to make the process of sending website data faster. For more details, we will explain how the CDN works below.
How a CDN (Content Delivery Network) Works
Based on what was explained earlier, it seems that you already understand how a CDN works at a glance, right?
A CDN is built with a network of servers located in different locations. When using a CDN, the CDN server requests ( requests ) static files such as Javascript, CSS, and images from your website server to be stored on the CDN server with cache technology.
When a user visits your website, the nearest CDN server will request static files from the server and send the files to the visitor's browser. When a user visits your website for the second time or so, the CDN will send the stored data so that the loading process will be faster.
The existence of a CDN will also reduce the server load because of the many visits at the same time. Because the website data is sent from the CDN server closest to the user's location, not from the website server directly.
Benefits of Using a CDN (Content Delivery Network)
Based on the previous explanations, of course, you already know what a CDN is and how it works. As for the benefits, it's actually quite illustrated. But to be clear, here are some of the benefits of CDN for websites.
Allow Access Globally
The geographical location of a server is often an obstacle when a website is accessed from another country. It might be worse if the type of server is shared hosting and the like. The existence of a CDN can make it easier for visitors from other countries to access a website even though they are hosting in one particular country.
Lighten Server Work
Every time a visitor comes, the website server sends files so that they can be loaded in the visitor's browser. At that time, hosting resources are used up and can be drained if traffic is high. The existence of a CDN can ease the work of the server because the server does not send data directly to visitors but on the CDN server. The CDN server then passes it on to the user.
Reduce Bandwidth
The benefits of CDN for websites can also reduce the bandwidth used because the server does not have to repeat sending files every time a visitor arrives. The reduced bandwidth can also reduce the costs that webmasters have to incur on hosting with a limited amount of bandwidth.
Speed up Website Loading
A CDN can also help speed up the loading of a website because static files are already stored on the CDN server as cache. Every time a visitor accesses the website with a CDN, the CDN will send the saved file so there is no need to re-request the server.
Increase Security
In addition to the benefits mentioned above, a CDN can also increase the security of a website. Precisely it helps protect websites from DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. This is because CDN service providers have added high-end protection or security on their servers to ward off these DDoS attacks.
Conclusion
Content Delivery Network (CDN) is one of the important technologies that can be used by webmasters to improve the performance of their websites. Apart from allowing cross-geographical internet users to visit your website, a CDN will also help make your website lighter or load faster.
The loading speed of a website is one of the ranking factors in SEO. Google itself also makes loading speed as part of web core vitals which is very influential on the position of a website in the SERP.
So are you interested in using a CDN service? if yes, also make sure your website hosting server is the best hosting so that website performance can be maximized and provide the best user experience for your website visitors.