A CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a system of servers spread across different regions of the world that stores cached copies of your site’s static files (product images, CSS, JavaScript, fonts and videos). When a visitor accesses the store, the CDN serves those files from the server nearest to them, instead of always fetching them from the origin server.
In eCommerce, page speed has a direct impact on conversion rate, SEO and user experience. A CDN helps to:
- Reduce latency for customers in different countries or regions
- Improve Core Web Vitals metrics (LCP, CLS and INP)
- Absorb traffic spikes (campaigns, Black Friday, product launches) without overloading the main server
- Protect the store against certain types of DDoS attacks and reduce load on the hosting
- Serve optimised images and, in many cases, modern formats (WebP/AVIF) automatically
The most commonly used CDNs for WooCommerce and eCommerce stores include Cloudflare, BunnyCDN, KeyCDN, Amazon CloudFront and solutions integrated by specialised hosts. Typical setup involves pointing DNS or using a plugin that integrates the CDN with the store, defining which files should be served through the network.
A well-configured CDN does not replace good hosting or image and code optimisation. It is a performance layer that amplifies the rest of the technical work. If origin files are poorly optimised or if the cache is not correctly invalidated after product updates, the benefits diminish. invalidada após atualizações de produtos, os benefícios serão reduzidos.