How to reduce server response

In most cases, the first thing, after receiving such a notification from the search engine, the webmaster writes a request to the hoster. And the logic is understandable, because Google or Bing write about the server’s response, which means the problem is with him and the question needs to be addressed to the hoster. But not everything is so simple and we will talk about this below.

First you need to figure out what is meant by the "big server response." In this case, search engines mean a long loading of the site. That is, in their opinion, your site has been loading for a long time.

Your site can show both good and bad results. If the result is bad, then you need to proceed to diagnose the problem. If the result at the time of verification is good, then we can assume that the search bot encountered problems independent of you and the server on which the site is located when checking the site. For example, problems on the highways between the site and the data center from which the search bot checked.

Reasons for a long response from the server (slow loading of sites)

1. Server problems

Indeed, this may be. We highlight the following problems that are most often encountered in our practice:

- server services are not optimally configured for your sites;

- the server does not have enough resources for your sites to work (ram, cpu or ssd);

To find out if there are any problems on the server side, just ask our technical support to check this. After a while, you will receive a detailed answer from our specialists. If necessary, our experts will make changes to the server settings or recommend switching to a more powerful tariff plan.

2. Problems with the site

In our practice, long site loading is more likely to occur just because of problems associated with the site itself. The main problems due to which sites load slowly:

- not optimized site code. The problem can be in the main code of the site, as well as in the subject, plug-in, or any extension;

- not optimized database or queries to it. A similar problem is encountered no less rarely than not optimized site code;

- the site uses third-party resources or services that the site owner may not even know about.

How to reduce server response time?

Recommendations will be given in the same order as the problems above, due to which the site loading time can be long.

1. If the server settings are not optimal, then in order to reduce the server response time, you need to make adjustments. In some cases, our technical support can determine the optimal server settings and make adjustments. But in certain cases, you may need to consult developers or specialized specialists on the used cms.

2. In the event of a lack of server resources and provided that there is no way to optimize the server and / or your site, or if this does not bring the desired result, it is necessary to increase the server resources.

3. Optimize your site. Turn on page caching first. Recommended cache lifetime is one day or more. This is one of the main tools to reduce server load and reduce its response time. The next important step is to disable all plugins and add-ons that you can do without. The more plugins a site has, the slower it loads. Then optimize your site’s database. As a rule, many popular cms have, if not built-in optimization mechanisms, then plugins that can be installed for free. For example, for WordPress there is a WP-Optimize plugin.