Server response time is the amount of time the server needs to respond to your browser.
It doesn’t matter how optimized your website pages are in terms of speed, if your server’s response time is slow, the pages will be displayed slowly and this is not good for your site and also for your SEO. According to Google, the time to open and load pages should be less than 0.2 seconds. In this article, I am going to talk to you about safe ways to increase site speed and reduce server response time, so you can continue reading this. I invite articles.
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How to increase server response time?
There are four main factors to determine the response time of the server, which together can affect increasing or decreasing the speed of the server.
In the following, we will mention each item and review it.
1) Website traffic
The higher the site traffic, the slower your site will be. Increased traffic is a blessing provided we take advantage of it with good support and the use of a strong server.
The more traffic your website has, the more resources it uses on the server. When traffic is high, your website will slow down.
How does traffic negatively affect server response time?
Suppose you have bought from a store and you are standing in the payment queue. The more buyers there are, the longer the payment queue will be, and the operator will not be able to handle everyone.
Exactly this happens to the server as well; as more resources are used to serve people, fewer resources are left to support things like PHP for serving.
2) Website use of resources
If your website pages use fewer resources, server response time is improved and there is no need to spend more money on server improvements. Everything your site pages do to display elements adds to server usage.
A typical WordPress theme loads several stylesheets, scripts, and other resources from the server such as images or videos. This means that you use the web server several times for each display of your website pages, and this adds to the server load.
What is the importance of using fewer resources in displaying pages?
Here, we state a simple example; suppose, a web server can handle exactly 100 requests per second, you can in that one second
– Serve four visitors to a page that uses 25 resources.
– Serve 10 visitors to a page using 10 resources.
– Serve twenty-five visitors to a page using four sources.
– Serve hundreds of visitors from a page that uses no additional resources.
In this simple example, if your webmaster uses page resources intelligently, he can greatly increase the server capacity. In this case, not only the server can serve more visitors, but its response time is faster and pages load faster.
3) Web server software
If you change your web server software or settings, the server response time may improve.
The less the pages and design of your website use resources such as CSS, the faster they will be loaded and the less pressure will be placed on the web server. You can use the following methods for this:
1) Combine external CSS files
Many themes and designs have separated all the CSS they use into different files, but you can put these files in one file so that the page calls fewer resources when it loads.
2) Combine external JavaScript files
Just like CSS, the JavaScript used by your website page can be contained in an HTML file. Often this method is not used and will cause unnecessary calls.
3) Using Lazy Load delay in uploading images
The delay in uploading photos to website pages allows elements to be displayed faster and there is no need to call and download images before displaying the page. By following the essential tips to increase page speed, the number of people your server can serve effectively increases their slow service.
Reducing the number of files that each page has to call also reduces the amount of work that the server has to do.
You can greatly reduce your server response time by changing your web server software or fine-tuning it. If it’s not a financial issue, ask someone to change the settings of the web server you currently have.
If you don’t want to pay for this then you should read about your web server and decide for yourself. Choosing a suitable web server software can solve many problems related to website speed and increase the speed of your site. Improving and reviewing these points is often the responsibility of your website designer.
4) Web hosting
If you improve the quality and scope of your hosting activities, you can reduce the server response time, but you will have to pay more for this. In the following, we will review common hosts.
1) WordPress hosting
The fact is that if you use the WordPress platform, the logical way is to use WordPress hosting for your website. These types of hosts are optimized for specific WordPress problems and dynamic content.
2) Shared hosting
Shared hosting is an economical and affordable option to get started. Shared hosting will cost a small amount per month. For years, various shared hosting for businesses has been introduced to the market.
3) VPS hosting
A virtual private server or VPS will be your next option after using a shared server.
Using these hosts requires more knowledge or paying a higher fee. If you request more features, the fee will be higher. One of these hosts is Knownhost, you may be shocked by their website design, but the services provided by them are really good.
4) Dedicated server
A dedicated server is a device that only you use, and like a VPS host, it has managed and unmanaged accounts, which is the second option for people who know using a server.
5) Cloud server
If you don’t need a panel and you have the knowledge to use and set up the server yourself, you can use this option. Some programmers use cloud servers for some of their projects. Good examples of these servers include Digital Ocean.
5) Content delivery networks
A CDN or content delivery network stores your files around the world. This option allows users around the world to see your website pages faster because they get the files from the closest location to them. Content delivery networks are a good solution when your users are in different parts of the world or a very large country.
6) Using PHP on WordPress websites
All WordPress websites use PHP and server response time is low in most of them because instead of uploading a file, the server has to go through other steps, collect additional resources, and complete tasks before responding to the browser.
The more work your server has to do to respond, the slower it will respond.
So if you use PHP code in your web pages, you need to make sure that what php is doing should be an important task that can be ignored to slow down the server’s response time.
The way PHP works is that it must complete a series of other tasks before displaying the requested page. Many sites use php without even needing it and making their website slow.
7) Website Caching
WordPress users should make sure they have a caching solution. This step is the most effective step for a WordPress user, using which he can increase the speed of his website and save the web server from doing unnecessary work.
You can use W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache to increase the performance of your website.
The above methods are only an important part of the factors that can improve your site, increasing the speed of the site and reducing the response time of the server is a factor that will follow both Google and the audience.
So, to have a professional website, take the above seriously.