Is your web app slower than a tortoise? A poorly performing web app results in a miserable, painstaking experience for users, which is certainly not good news for both user acquisition and retention. If your web app is not performing optimally, then chances are it will also struggle to generate any revenue or traffic. So how can I improve my web app performance? Our web development agency suggests you take these tips out for a spin:
1. Implement web caching
Part of the reason your web app is slow could be that you’ve not implemented caching. This entails retaining web resources and HTTP responses so the app is off the mark quickly upon user request.
In other words, certain resources will be ready to go so that a returning user, for example, doesn’t have to keep reloading the same bulk resources every time. Instead, the assets are stored in the user’s device, which offers faster file retrieval compared to connecting to a remote server.
2. Consider switching your host
Different web hosts offer different capabilities and scalability. As your app grows and experiences more queries and traffic, you may need to bump up your web hosting plan or switch to a different host altogether.
That leads us to the question: which hosting is best for web applications? Our web development agency can vouch for quite a number, namely:
- Flywheel
- InMotion
- Kinsta
- WP Engine
- SiteGroudn
- BlueHost, and others
As your traffic grows and you acquire more recurring users, you may also want to look into getting a dedicated server to ensure the utmost app performance.
3. Try out HTTP/2
HTTP/2 was introduced to help combat conventional latency issues. It works to accommodate response multiplexing. In other words, this helps to get around the lags that web apps usually experience when sending/receiving several requests at the same time.
In addition, this protocol provides data transmission via a binary medium over traditional plaintext, which lowers server-to-client byte transfer durations. So if your web app is still reliant upon HTTP/1/1, we recommend transitioning now. It’s worth noting that HTTP/2 can be tedious to set up which is why it is not widely used today, but we assure you that it’s worth going the extra mile.
4. Optimize your database
Your database may be the reason your web application is yet to hit its stride. As a web development agency, we’ve seen many clients turn to us for help to solve underperforming apps and we find that, most of the time, non-optimal queries are usually the Achilles heel.
Sure, this is a solution many web & mobile app developers want to avoid as it involves going back to the drawing board with your code, and hence can be time and effort-intensive. But it is necessary. We’ll suggest a few more SQL optimization tips that you may want to consider:
- Incorporate indexes into searched columns
- At every opportunity, implement identity fields
- Opt for NOT Null over NULL (In my MySQL RDBMS, for instance, these take up more space and hence can slow your web app) It’s worth noting that NULL values are usually set by default
- https://www.dotcominfoway.com/mobile-application-development/Use statistic tables (no variable lengths)
Finally, we also find it handy to source more tips by way of “PROCEDURE ANALYSES ()”. As a web development agency, we use this functionality to get more optimal data length/type recommendations across SQL statements we’ve written.
5. Optimize your images
Stunning visuals understandably make for a compelling app design. But going overboard can mean having to sacrifice loading speeds for aesthetics. All of your images don’t need to be high-resolution, more so if your targeting lower screen sizes.
To optimize the images for your web application, you may want to compress or resize images. This can be a lot of work if you have incorporated several graphics into your design, so we recommend automating the process by way of a plugin.
Write Bio
CR Venkatesh, better known as CRV, is a jack and master of multiple trades, doubling up as an Indian-based entrepreneur, writer, and technology expert. He is one of the early pioneers of the IT industry in India and has been at the helm of tremendous success as CEO of Dot Com Infoway for over 2 decades. The company is today an industry leader in digital marketing and also sets the pace in web and mobile development globally.
Mr. Venkatesh’s track record encompasses numerous IT and entrepreneurial awards. Beyond his qualifications, he is an enthusiastic person with unwavering confidence, steeped in the belief that everything is possible.
