Quick Summary
eCommerce is supposed to be a quick shopping approach. But if the website doesn’t load well and quickly, a potential customer may choose to quit the site and go to your competitor. In fact, surveys have shown that even a one-second delay in page load times can result in 7% loss in conversions.
That’s why it’s important to have a CDN for your eCommerce website. It delivers the site content to the users from the closest server, ensuring faster load times and a seamless experience.
So, through this blog, I’ll explain a little about CDNs and how the eCommerce experts implement them. But first, what is CDN?
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a geographically distributed network of servers that stores copies of your website’s content across the globe. When a user accesses your website, the CDN delivers the content from the server closest to them, significantly reducing load times and improving website performance.
This results in a faster and more reliable user experience, especially for users located far from your primary server.
A CDN operates on a simple yet powerful principle: caching. Here’s a breakdown of the process:
This approach helps improve the website performance, enhance the security, and ensure better customer experience. Plus, the site, its content, and the products can be taken to users worldwide with minimal latency.
That’s why, if you want to ensure a better site experience, get our eCommerce consulting services and understand how you will proceed further with CDN.
Although CDN may feel like an advanced (and complex), highly-significant performance concept (which it is), the implementation is quite straightforward. Here’s how the process goes:
First off, you need to select the right CDN provider for optimizing your eCommerce website’s performance. Let’s look at a few key factors to consider when making the decision.
Make sure you go for the free trial first and see how the CDN works for you. Based on this, you can select the suitable one.
Once you’ve chosen a CDN provider, the next step is to set up an account and configure it to work with your website. Create an account on the CDN provider’s website. This usually involves providing basic information like your name, email address, and payment details.
Then, add your domain name to the CDN’s system. This step involves providing the domain name and potentially some DNS information.
To direct traffic to the CDN, you’ll need to update your DNS settings. This usually involves adding CNAME records for your domain or subdomains. This step will depend on your DNS provider, hosting service, and the eCommerce platform.
Configure the CDN settings to optimize content delivery. Some common settings include:
To maximize the benefits of a CDN, consider these optimization techniques:
Image Optimization
Minification
Browser Caching
Efficient HTTP Requests
Use tools like PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, and WebPageTest to monitor website performance. See what you can do to ensure the best possible user experience.
If you need help with this process, get our professional eCommerce development services. We’ll ensure your eStore is set for the best performance, scalability, security, and user experience.
The best CDN for an eCommerce website depends on various factors, including your specific needs, budget, and the size and complexity of your online store. Here are some of the top-rated CDNs that are well-suited for eCommerce:
Price: Free plan available. Paid plans start from $20 per month.
Cloudflare is more than just a CDN. It’s a powerful web performance and security platform that can significantly boost your eCommerce website’s speed and security. With a global network of data centers, Cloudflare can deliver your content lightning-fast, no matter where your visitors are located.
Plus, its robust security features, such as DDoS protection and WAF, safeguard your online store from cyber threats.
Pricing: Contact their experts for the quote.
Akamai is a global leader in content delivery networks, offering unparalleled performance and security for eCommerce websites. Its extensive network of edge servers ensures lightning-fast content delivery, even during peak traffic periods.
Akamai’s advanced security features, including DDoS protection and bot management, protect your online store from malicious attacks.
Pricing: Free plan includes 1TB of data transfer out per month. Paid plans start from $0.085 per GB per month (for the 5PB plan).
As part of the AWS ecosystem, Amazon CloudFront seamlessly integrates with other AWS services, making it a popular choice for eCommerce businesses using AWS. It offers a highly scalable and reliable CDN, capable of delivering content to users worldwide with low latency.
CloudFront’s integration with AWS services like S3 and EC2 makes it easy to deploy and manage.
Pricing: Starts from $0.01 per GB per month (for the 100 TB plan).
KeyCDN is a user-friendly and cost-effective CDN solution that prioritizes performance and reliability. Its global network of servers ensures fast content delivery to users around the world.
KeyCDN’s simple interface and straightforward pricing plans make it an attractive option for small and medium-sized eCommerce businesses.
Pricing: Start from $0.028 per GB per month (for 500-1000 TB plan)
Powered by Microsoft’s global network of data centers, Azure CDN offers high-performance content delivery and robust security features. Its integration with other Azure services, such as Azure Storage and Azure App Service, makes it a seamless choice for businesses using the Microsoft cloud platform.
Azure CDN provides features like real-time analytics and custom rules to optimize content delivery.
So, want help with implementing these CDN services to your eCommerce website? Then get expert help.
Yes, a CDN can indirectly improve your SEO by improving website performance. Google considers page load speed as a ranking factor. By reducing load times, a CDN can help your website rank higher in search engine results.
While CDNs offer numerous benefits, there are a few potential drawbacks, including increased complexity, cost, and dependency on the CDN provider.
Even if you have a small eCommerce store, a CDN can still benefit you. It can improve performance, enhance security, and prepare your website for future growth.
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a powerful tool to overcome this challenge. By strategically distributing your website’s content across multiple servers worldwide, a CDN can significantly reduce load times, improve user experience, and boost sales.
When selecting a CDN provider, consider factors like global network, performance features, pricing, ease of use, and security. Once you’ve chosen a provider, configure your CDN to optimize content delivery, including image optimization, minification, and browser caching.
If you need help with the CDN and other advanced implementations on your eStore, let’s have a consultation today!
John Niles, a dedicated Technical Consultant at BrainSpate since 2023, specializes in eCommerce. With a global perspective, he crafts insightful content on cutting-edge web development technologies, enriching the digital commerce landscape.
