What is CDN?
A content delivery network (CDN) means a geographically distributed group of servers that can work together to provide fast delivery of Internet content. CDN services is a highly distributed platform of servers that helps to reduce delays in loading web page content by reducing the physical distance between the server and the user.
Why is CDN helpful to WordPress?
While WordPress is the most used content management system and a favorite amongst most SEO professionals, it’s never my fault. It is used to enhance your website’s technology stack. Many WordPress themes are overly distended and come with both load speed and security issues.
If you have put the work into improving your performance of the WordPress site, here are three reasons why CDN services are an excellent choice for you.
Improved Security
- CDN provides great Security features for WordPress sites, such as
- CDNs like Cloudflare offer advanced firewall rules that could be configured to protect your login page.
- The most modern CDN services offer free SSL certificates, which an important for any WordPress website.
- Many CDNs focusing on security offer specific firewall rules for WordPress, but it’s essential to find the right balance of WordPress automation without sacrificing customization.
Improved site speed
Improved site speed is one of the main reasons WordPress users will choose CDN.
Cache and deliver your content closer to your website visitors is difficult for anyone looking to improve their Core Web Vitals scores.
Almost all CDNs are taking advantage of Brotli. It is a file compression technology developed by Google.
Downtime Reducer
Many content delivery networks offer website uptime support if your primary server goes down.
This works by serving the latest cache version of your WordPress site visitors till your central web server comes back online.
What to Look for in a WordPress CDN Services
Here are the top functions to look for in a CDN for your WordPress site;
Integrations through your current host
Before you begin to look for a CDN, check with your current WordPress host. Many modern WordPress hosts offer a built-in CDN.
Check out whom they use and compare capabilities and features. Make sure you have those security features in addition to the edge cache.
How many Edge Servers they have
Find your website’s analytics and where the majority of your is coming from.
Compare your traffic locations with the CDNs edge server locations to see if they are close.
Pre-set WordPress configurations
As WordPress is the most used CMS globally, many content delivery networks have pre-set configurations for WordPress. Find what they optimize for and compare them to other CDNs.
Do They Offer a Plugin?
When I try to reduce plugins on a WordPress site in general, having a plugin for a CDN can be beneficial.
CDN plugins can help your WordPress settings to cope with automatic platform optimizations and even let you clear your CDN cache directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Any Past Vulnerabilities?
Why would you go relaxed with your CDN? Research what you choose to make sure they do not have a history of your vulnerabilities.
How to Set Up a CDN Services for WordPress
Before we get into the optimization steps, we need to make sure that your CDN is appropriately set up for WordPress.
We can do this in a few steps:
- Sign up for your CDN.
- Once you have signed up for a CDN, they will provide you with either new name servers or a CNAME that you must add to your current registrar. Most CDNs act as a DNS and will ask you to use their name servers; however, some allow you to use a CNAME.
- Once your DNS is finished generating your new CDN, you can start getting your CDN set up.
If your CDN offers a WordPress plugin, I suggest checking the reviews and installing it if it looks safe.
Your CDN is all set up, and you are ready to start clearing it for your WordPress site.
How to Optimize a CDN for WordPress
- Enable Automatic WordPress Optimization: If your CDN offers WordPress-specific enhancements, able to them first.
- Secure WordPress Login Page: On the firewall rules page, do the field “URI,” value “/wp-login.php,” and the action “JS Challenge.”
- Enable Brotli: Make sure Brotli is accessed on your website.
- Enable Image Optimization: Many CDNs are starting to offer image optimization services to help reduce images and convert them to WebP.
- Be Careful with Rocket Loader: If you are using Cloudflare, be assure with Rocket Loader. It can make some vast improvements with site speed.
Final Thoughts on Optimizing WordPress with a CDN
While setting up a CDN for your WordPress site, make sure you;
- Test site speed before and then to compare results.
- Test the functionality of the website.
- Find a performance in your CDN platform to see what you have been missing.
https://aartisto.com/essential-questions-to-ask-every-new-digital-marketing-client/
https://aartisto.com/the-six-most-significant-seo-tools-that-every-small-business-owner-should-know/
