What Is a CDN and Does Your Website Need One?
How a content delivery network speeds up a site, protects it and which sites benefit most.
A CDN, or content delivery network, is a group of servers spread around the world. They store copies of your site’s files and deliver each visitor’s request from the closest location.
How it helps
- Speed: shorter distance means less waiting.
- Load: your own server does less work because the CDN answers repeated requests.
- Resilience: traffic spikes are absorbed at the edge.
- Security: hostile traffic can be filtered before it reaches you.
Who benefits most
Sites with visitors in several countries, image-heavy pages, shops with seasonal peaks and media or download sites see the biggest gains. A local site with a nearby server benefits less, though the protection still helps.
What to watch for
Dynamic pages, such as carts and account areas, must never be cached for everyone. Good CDN rules skip them. After a site update, the cache should be refreshed so visitors see the new version.
Is it worth it?
For most business sites, yes. It is one of the least effort improvements to speed, especially combined with good hosting and fast DNS.
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