WordPress is fast and secure by default if well maintained, but delivering the content it generates using a CDN is quicker and more secure.
Faster delivery of content
Depending on your geographical location, the content generated by WordPress would take some extra milliseconds to reach your device.
A CDN will detect where you are and serve you a copy of the website’s files and data from a server closer to you.
CDNs specialized in image or video, like Jetpack, will respond even better than your origin server, balance the distributed load consistently, and even convert the files to modern compressed formats like WebP on the fly.
Some CDNs like this can be activated by installing a WordPress plugin and enabling the feature in the plugin’s options.
More secure websites
Using a CDN through a global network adds an extra layer of security. If you point your website to a DNS provider like Cloudflare, all the traffic will be routed and processed before the origin server. This can help control attacks and improve downtimes.
Also, if your site suddenly receives a lot of traffic, CDNs will help you avoid overflowing your server’s capacity. If your WordPress is not generating a cached version, this copy can help alleviate the database requests.
Be patient if you change configurations to your domain, like DNS records. These can take a lot of time to propagate.
Many basic services with CDN providers are free or cost too little. So it’s always worth trying.
If you need help with CDNs and ways to optimize WordPress, please get in touch with me.
Jos Velasco.
CC0 licensed photo by meagan hanes from the WordPress Photo Directory.
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