Why is my site loading slow and how to fix it?

Is your site loading slow?

The speed of a page is determined by both Front-end and Server-side factors. These components take a specific time to perform their processes. As their processes are quite continuous, their collective time can be estimated as the total page load time.

As we have already discussed most of the front end issues and solutions if the site does not work as planned. Today we shall jump to the server side problems. But before going to that I would like to brief a little about the basic network problem that we all face on an everyday basis.

Network problems and solutions

1. A site loading slow might be because of your network connection to the server has gone slow or alternate as one of the network bounces within your location and the server. The problem need not be with your local Internet Service Provider, instead, there are around five to twenty different Internet Service Providers between your local computer and the server.
2. One of the safest methods to test for network problems is to run a Traceroute from your computer to the server. A Traceroute will show all of the network leaps between you and the server, and also the time took to go through each one.
3. Another quick and easy method to test network problem is using a proxy server to load your web page. A proxy server loads your website from a third-party location so it should probably avoid local network problems.
4. Finally, you can ask your contacts who live in a different place to try loading the same website. If both of you are getting different speeds, you are most likely to have a network problem.

A reliable indicator of your Server-side performance is the time it takes to generate the HTML page. This is known as “time to first byte”. Usually, this time should be under one second. Now let’s move on to the major issues that come under the server side group, listed as slow web hosting and Database issue.

Common web hosting problems and solutions (hosting choices and issues)

Web-site loading slow can be because of the server in which it is hosted. If there is a concern with the server, this will take a whole lot of time. It is mostly due to the webhost itself. Low-quality hosts invite customers with economical prices, but they always hide the fact from consumers that they have old servers which work slow. Be wise and avoid this by examining on web hosts that have proved their worth and performance. So the solution for slow web hosting is to choose a reliable faster web host.

Database Issue

You might have noticed an older site loading slow compared to a new one. The basis for this is connected to the database, as the more information collected to your database and the more complex your site is, then there is more chance that the database will not run as efficiently as when the site was first started. Having a website that runs slow can impact your success as a business owner or blogger, so you should aim to deal with whatever is causing the problem as quickly as possible.

Principle causes of database issues

Bad use of indexes, inadequate database configuration, scalability problems owing to access patterns, Easy application of database triggers, database deadlocks because of transaction ends that overlap, Improper data models, etc. are the major elements that make problems in the database.

Solutions for Database Problems

1. Database clustering – Database Clustering is the process of linking more than one servers connecting a single database. Sometimes one server may not be adequate to manage the amount of data or the number of requests, that is when a Data Cluster is needed.
2. Database Master/Slave system – This is another way to tackle database problems. The logic is that you write to the Master but can read from all Slaves. These work by log shipping, which indicates that the Slave databases will lack following the Master.

In combination with a speedy front-end, optimizing your Server-side performance can generate marvelous results in your website loading (still, If you notice that your website speed is low, try rebooting your server).