While developing our latest new WordPress Theme, adding images to the online demo caused decreased performance in the site loading . Obliviously that images have caused this website slowdown. So I tested the website with Google Page Speed and the result was catastrophic only 24 point to 100. The major problem was with images that are so large. After installing WP Super Cache Plugin and WPSMUSH.IT the performance improved but not enough so I thought to serve my images through a CDN image server.
There are lot of premium CDN services, and after some investigation, I found very good free CDN for WordPress. I will list you some of the best choices to speed up your WordPress website using a CDN.
1. Jetpack
Photon CDN offered by WordPress Creators (Automatic). The service is offered with Jetpack plugin and it is totally free. Yes Jetpack offer a free CDN for WordPress. This is a great news for me as theme developer. Launching themes constantly which every installation need a new CDN to be purchased can be expensive.
Now let me explain how to use JetPack free CDN service.
Install Jetpack from within WordPress itself. Log in to your site and head to your dashboard, click on the Plugins > click “Add New.” Search for “Jetpack,” and you’ll find the latest version and be able to install it by clicking the “Install Now” link.
After installation it was finished click on the Jetpack > Settings > Go on Media and Check On Speed up images and photos option.
If you want to maintain other features activated you are free to use them. I recommend to use some of them because are free and very useful.
After clicking on Save Settings, your CDN is active. Try to check your website speed with Google Page Speed and you will see a lot of improvements.
To check if your CDN is activated go on your website with Google Chrome and click on a image with right button of your mouse select Inspect Element check the link of your image. If you will see a code like this below with wp.com domain means your CDN is activated.
It's totally free and easy.
2. Cloudflare
Cloudflare offers a free CDN that is easily usable with the WordPress website and other free CMS platforms. Its feature, automatic platform optimization (APO), makes your website available for the end-user by speeding up the loading time. The global server network makes it possible.
Cloudflare now has servers in over 90+ countries and 200 cities. This aspect makes it the best and the most extensive CDN network worldwide. Moreover, it serves almost all the site's static content through the CDN service, including file attachment, CSS/JavaScript, and other non-image content files.
You do not have to worry about the cache of your website because Cloudflare automatically does that. Moreover, Cloudflare is a WordPress plugin that is easy to use from the WordPress dashboard. If you want to activate it, you can easily set the default settings only and without any further customizations. The plugins will control everything else.
The analytics can help you determine the performance metrics that give you the visitor's information and the bandwidth you used. Also, you will get information about the number of threats that the service blocked.
If you are a website owner and plan to run a website for a long time, then CDN service is a perfect fit for you. If you have an already established blog or online store, a paid plan for Cloudflare can help you.
CDN by Cloudflare focuses on minimizing security attacks, so it is a reasonable consideration if you accept users' private information.
Besides, it also helps filter the malevolent actors and bad bots to direct traffic towards your website. It also offers you the coveted green bolt with an SSL certificate.
3. W3 Total Cache
W3 Total Cache offers a CDN service as a cache plugin. It integrated with your theme files and media library while allowing these features to load from the worldwide servers.
You can support your secure socket layer (SSL) and accelerated mobile pages (AMPs) encrypted websites. Moreover, you get several caching ways such as WinCache, XCache, eAccelerator, APCu, APC, Memcached, Redis, and local Disk.
The support team provides quick and active service, so if there are specific issues or features that you need to resolve or look at, you can get a response in a couple of days.
This service is best suited for website owners who have a fully established website and are looking for a single solution. It also keeps your customizations intact. However, W3 Total Cache does not focus on its CDN service. But it speeds up your website in several ways as it offers extensive caching and options of code minification.
Comments
Wow, I didn’t know that Jetpack actually offers free CDN feature. I am really grateful I found this information. I will quickly set ip up. Thanks for sharing.