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Content Delivery Networks – Do’s & Don’ts

by | Jul 15, 2013 | Articles, Web Design, Web Development | 2 comments

Content Delivery Networks

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are increasingly important to successful websites as users become more and more frustrated by delays of even milliseconds in surfing the internet. Research has shown that most people will make a decision to view a website, or buy from it, within a second. In addition, areas such as Search Engine Optimization are increasingly using website speed as a factor whether your site or application is visited at all. CDNs aid site speed by deploying distributed servers across multiple data centers to offer higher performance and availability. Tips for using them can range from simply selecting the right provider to customizing your 404 pages.

content delivery network

Evaluate your needs:

The decision to implement a CDN has become easier due to wider availability and lower costs. Whether you wish to invest really depends on the traffic figures you currently receive, the current speed of your website (which can be monitored via free tools such as Google Analytics, Yahoo’s YSlow etc), and the nature of your website. If you’re a business looking to secure transactions online, then speed is definitely a priority.

If you’re attracting more than 500-1000 visitors per day across geographic locations, and experiencing long page load times, then it’s definitely worth looking for solutions.  Are you updating frequently, or is your website largely static?

Also consider the type of content you generally serve – are the content or files suitable? Large files regularly downloaded, streaming audio and video, or smaller files such as CSS, graphics and Javascript can potentially be offloaded. Check that a CDN can assist with the slowest loading assets first, as those will define your page load times.

Evaluate CDN providers:

A typical Content Delivery Network provider will have hundreds of servers across various geographic locations. The first questions should be where your users are located, and look at the front-end capabilities and optimisation in addition to delivery features.  See what is offered in terms of site speed, and cost. Many CDNs will offer their own customized software to maximise performance, alongside monitoring solutions to ensure reliability.

The other point to cover in your evaluation is security for your content and software. For example, using CDN-hosted versions of software which is then pulled into your site could give malicious users access if the Content Delivery Network is hacked and the code altered. Given that most established networks have a high level of security for this very reason, it’s a point more valid for those in sensitive industries (e.g. financial services, healthcare etc). On the plus side, a CDN inherently provides an external back-up and archive for files stored there.

Check what you need to maintain:

In addition to your website, you’ll also need to ensure you’re managing the cached files, and mirrored versions of your site and content. Otherwise some visitors to your site will receive outdated content.

It also has implications for development if you don’t have the ability to maintain a local copy of your software to work on without a required internet connection. The lack of direct control can be frustrating, so make sure you understand any limitations up front, along with the commitments your provider is making.

Check your SEO:

Although CDNs do carry some benefits for Search Engine Optimization due to the improvements in load times, they do require some set-up to avoid stumbling into potential penalties. Check with your provider for best practice, including specifying the CDN for an additional DNS lookup.

Include safeguards in your code:

Content Delivery Networks generally offer a very high level of reliability, but it’s worth coding in some safeguards just in case. Develop your site to serve fonts, images etc from your CDN, but to revert to local storage if they become unavailable for any reason – that way you’ll minimize issues and keep your business online in any event.

Don’t use a CDN as an excuse:

Whilst using a CDN can give you good performance increases, it’s not wise to ignore best practices for image optimization, coding, or other standards. By initially optimizing the performance of your website or application, you may delay the need for a CDN or minimize the resource required – and the performance boosts when it’s applied will be far better than if it’s used to paper over the cracks of something which is sub-optimal.

About the author:
This is a guest post by Dan Thornton. Dan is an experienced writer, blogger and digital marketer. He’s worked with the UK’s largest magazine publisher, national radio stations, and consults everyone from small start-ups to global businesses, as well as running his own small network of videogames sites.
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