Cloud Hosting offers a wide array of benefits to websites like high performance, faster loading times, server redundancy, instant scalability of resources, etc. Hence it is no surprise that over the last decade, Cloud Server Hosting has evolved into a preferred hosting type for many websites. Hence, if you have migrated to Cloud Hosting, chances are, that the performance of your website is at par with that of your competitors. Therefore, it is crucial to look for other methods to improve the speed and performance of your site. In this article, we will talk about a Content Delivery Network (CDN) and how it can enhance your site’s performance.
CDN or Content Delivery Network
A CDN is a network of servers that are interconnected, allowing you to offer a fast-loading website regardless of the geographical location of the visitor. A content delivery network duplicates your site’s databases, content, media, etc. across multiple servers on the network. When a visitor lands on your website, the request is fulfilled by the server which is geographically closest to the visitor. This ensures that there is a minimum time lag between your server and the user, leading to a better site-experience.
While Cloud Hosting offers better site performance as compared to other traditional hosting types, a CDN takes it a step further. Here are some benefits that a CDN can offer to your cloud-hosted website:
1. Lesser Load on the Server
With search engines and social media platforms being major contributors to website traffic, it is difficult to predict the traffic expected on your site. When multiple users try to access your web server, it can lead to a slow-loading site or you’re your website might even crash. With a CDN, since your site’s content is duplicated across multiple servers, a single server is never overloaded. Therefore, you can achieve optimum site performance.
2. Reduces the load time
One of the significant aspects of a great site experience is the loading time of the website. While there are many aspects to a fast loading site, a CDN can be a huge contributor in reducing the load time as it cuts down the time lag between the user and your web server.
3. Helps in segmenting your target audience
Most websites tend to enhance their visibility by targeting users according to certain parameters. A CDN can help you segment your target audience based on their location, as well as the device used by them to access your site. This allows you to customize your content and connect with your target audience better.
A CDN also allows you to analyze the various metrics of your site like which assets which are being accessed more from which locations, which audience is your site appealing to the most, etc. This helps you in creating a better content strategy to reach out to maximum people.
Summing Up
While Cloud Server Hosting helps improve the overall performance of your website, when you use a CDN with your Cloud hosting plan, you can benefit from a plethora of features offered by a Content Delivery Network. Hence, a simple answer to the question is YES – you need a CDN with your Cloud Hosting Plan. After all, you wouldn’t want to offer anything less than the best to your users, right?
