How to Prepare Your Website for an Influx of Traffic

We hope we are at the end of the Corona Virus, COVID-19, but we don’t know. Have you noticed an increase in your web traffic? It is difficult to see increased traffic as an actual problem, and it might not be. You do not want to wait until your website crashes to recognize that with more people at home and not working you may need to take some precautions.

Have Your Own Host

If you are sharing a host for your website, it is safe to assume that as your traffic is increasing, so is everyone else’s. You may need to investigate moving your site to an individual server. This will ensure that your bandwidth will be adequate to provide for a large increase in visitors to your website. While you have a heavy stream of potential customers browsing your website, you do not want to risk a crash.

Compress Downloads and Images

You want everything on your website to be pleasing to your visitors. Anything that may irritate them should not be tolerated. Large images could cost your website view time by your visitors. When there is an increase in traffic, this is even more likely to happen. You can help avoid this problem by being sure that all of your pictures are smaller than you may usually keep them. Know what to compress to conserve server capacity because compression can cause problems if it is not properly configured.

Use the Right Server

A VPS is a Virtual Private Server. It is a good option for having the security of your data solely on the server and the convenience of storing it virtually, so you do not have to have it onsite. With a secure server, you can have the confidence that your website will support the increase in online browsing and cardholder and protected data of your users is safe.

Another benefit of a VPS is the customer service your provider can offer. For example, if you are expecting a spike in traffic, you can request that your server provide you with more capacity or load balancing of your website during this increase in traffic to prevent systems from becoming overwhelmed by increased traffic. A virtual server works very well for a small to medium-sized business and it is an easy and cost-conscious way to host your website.

Keep the Type of Computer Your Customers Are Probably Using in Mind

You may have noticed that it seems like everyone in the country owns a cell phone. They keep them in their hands most of the day. When they want to browse the internet, they are not going to a computer in their house, they are using their phones and tablets. Be sure that your web design will provide for the smaller screens that most people are now using. You do not want potential customers to have to minimize and scroll over and over again to be able to see what is on your site. This may sound trivial, but an irritated viewer on your website will leave quickly if it is too much trouble to find what they are looking for.

Learn from Your Visitors

While things are busier than normal on your website, take the time to learn how visitors are coming to your site. How many visitors are coming in and what do they seem to be the most interested in? You will notice patterns that can help you to identify any changes that you may need to make to protect your website from having problems in the future.

Whatever causes an increase in traffic flow through your website, you can always take a few cautionary steps to be prepared for it and able to benefit from it.

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