This post has been migrated and imported into different systems over the years, I have not had a chance to format this post manually so it may be hard to read but I have left it here as a reference.

Every day we are getting more and more connected allowing users from all over the world to visit your website. However your website is located on a server which is most likely close to your location. This means that while your site loads fast for you it may be a different story for users in other parts of the world. With a CDN you can solve the speed issue by basically having your website in many places at the same time. A CDN will also solve a bunch of other potential problems that your site may be facing such as preventing crashes, improving the user experience and improve SEO for your website!

What is a CDN?

CDN stands for Content Delivery Network which basically keeps static copies of your website pages which it will present to users visiting your site. This means that if you are using a shared hosting environment, like Hostgator(image removed) for example, and you use a CDN then the CDN will regularly make copies of your websites pages. These static copies will be presented directly to users from your CDN’s distributed network of servers. This may be a confusing concept to grasp but as you read on you I will explain how this will greatly improve your website.

How will it improve website performance?

As a CDN will have a distributed network of servers in many different locations which keep copies of your static files thus allowing users to access your site from a server located much closer to where they are in the world thus speeding up performance. The copies are made automatically and can be configured so that it does not store certain pages and sections which may be sensitive. In addition to the speed you will also have the extra security of knowing that if your server crashes the CDN will be able to present a static copy of your site to all users which means that you can keep running your business.

Another thing which has become a greater and greater problem on the web is DDoS attacks. A DDoS attack is short for Distributed Denial of Service which means that someone is able to control many computers which all send requests to your website basically overloading your web hosts internet connection for your website. With a CDN you are better protected from DDoS attacks as a CDN will specialize in preventing these attacks from being effective. Thus keeping your site up and alive even in the worst of situations.

This will lead to two great benefits which will help your site. As your site loads faster the user experience will improve, users are more likely to stay on a website that loads quickly. This will reduce your bounce rates and give your pages more hits. Google has also stated that site speed is a major factor in how your site ranks in search results. With a CDN your site will load quicker and perform better overall which will improve SEO!

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed my article! I would love to hear your comments and feedback in the comments section below. If you are looking for a great CDN I would highly recommend MaxCDN which I have used on both my own websites and clients websites with great results! View MaxCDN’s pricing and plans(image removed) .