Starting a website or a blog is a great way to promote your business. Considering that close to 90% of adults in the U.S. use the internet, having an online presence is an important way to reach potential customers.
Of course, the goal of every marketer is to develop a website with heavy traffic. While more traffic does bring more prospects, it also brings additional challenges. If your website is not properly maintained, visitors may start experiencing crashes or slow loading times.
Let’s look at five ways you can prepare your website for heavy traffic, and keep your visitors happy.
1. Have a Mobile-Friendly Version
Many people now use mobile devices like smartphones and tablets to surf the web. While these devices are convenient, they don’t have the hardware to quickly load the full version of most websites.
For this reason, it’s important to make a “lite” or mobile-friendly version of your site. This will make it easier for mobile users to navigate.
2. Limit Your Dynamic Content
Dynamic content can create an experience tailored to each visitor. Since it’s is so engaging, many web designers like to include it on their web pages. Unfortunately, the dynamic coding is also likely to be the first to fail under high-traffic situations.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to use as much static content as possible. It’s especially important to limit dynamic content on your home page, which will likely receive the most traffic.
3. Upgrade Your Server
By default, most websites operate on a shared server with other sites. For smaller sites that don’t generate a lot of traffic, this can be a good way to save money.
If you have a site that gets a lot of traffic, however, sharing a server can be a gamble. For instance, if you and another site both get a lot of traffic at the same time, you could experience a crash.
The best way to avoid this problem is to get a dedicated server. This will allow you to handle high traffic and will also give you the stability of a static IP address.
In addition to getting your own server, you could host your own site. This will give you more control over your site, and you won’t have to rely on a third party.
4. Compress Your Files
Big files slow down many websites. A good workaround for sites that host large files is to compress them. Zipping files into a package can effectively reduce their size during delivery and retrieval.
Another approach is to use different file formats. For instance, Text and Word documents take up less space than PDF files.
5. Test Your Site in Heavy Traffic
Once you’ve taken steps to help your site perform better with high traffic, put your site to the test. Using Google’s Page Speed tool, you can see how your site will perform in a heavy traffic situation.
Track Your Progress
For more help developing and running your heavy traffic website, check out our free web tools. This will help you track your progress and find room for improvement.