Latency is the time it takes for data to travel from one point on a network to another. It can never be eliminated completely due to distance and delays caused by Internet infrastructure equipment, but it can be minimized. High latency can cause poor website performance, negatively affect SEO, and make users leave the site or application altogether.
Distance is one of the main causes of network latency, as requests from client devices far away from host servers take longer to arrive. The amount of time it takes for a response to reach a client device after a client request is known as round trip time (RTT), which is equal to double the amount of latency. If the HTTP response needs to pass through multiple networks, it can also add delays to RTT.
To reduce latency, using a content delivery network (CDN) is a major step. CDN servers are distributed in multiple locations to store content closer to end users, meaning that loading a webpage will take less time, improving website speed and performance. Other factors that can slow down performance can also be minimized, such as minimizing the number of render-blocking resources, optimizing images, reducing file sizes, and strategically loading certain assets first.
Users can fix latency on their end by purchasing more bandwidth if slow network performance is a consistent issue, switching to Ethernet instead of WiFi, and/or making sure their Internet equipment is up to date by applying firmware updates regularly and replacing equipment altogether as necessary.
Looking to learn more? We suggest heading over to Cloudflare’s Learning Center for an in-depth look at the importance of site speed and SEO.
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