How to Prepare Your Website For an Influx of Traffic

Whether you’ve got a major sale happening or are unleashing a new, in-demand product, it’s important to be properly prepared in the event that you suddenly see an influx of web traffic. It’s a good problem to have, of course, but ultimately a sudden burst of traffic can cause your site to shut down, leaving a bunch of angry customers after the crash. Here’s how to keep everyone happy and prevent this from happening:

Know your host

Normally, it’s fine to have a shared host for your website. However, if you’re expecting major traffic in the near future, you’ll want to consider moving your site to its own dedicated server so that you’ve got enough bandwidth available to accommodate the new visitors. When your host becomes overwhelmed, that’s when your site becomes at risk and is more likely to crash.

Be aware of the images that are displayed on your site

If your site is filled with large images, it can significantly slow down load times. This is especially true if the site experiences a burst of traffic. Save your visitors some serious aggravation and keep images small and compressed whenever possible. When images take too long to load, you’ll lose potential clients before they’ve even had a chance to take a look at the products you’ve got available.

Make sure your site is mobile friendly

While some visitors will check out your site on their laptops or desktops, a majority will be browsing on their cellphones or tablets. Make sure that they have an easy user experience when they do so. If your site lacks a responsive design and requires visitors to pinch and scroll to view content, you’ll quickly find that they lose interest. Before your next product launch or other traffic-driving moment, make sure you’ve got a responsive design ready to greet them.

Pay close attention

When you anticipate heavy traffic to your site, keep a close watch on visitor numbers. Analyze how users are coming to your site and what they’re browsing when they arrive. When you become aware of these patterns, you’re more able to anticipate potential problems before they happen.

If you’re anticipating a heavy burst of traffic coming to your site soon and want to make sure you’re prepared, let’s chat! Contact me today!