Site Speed slower w/ http to https redirect.

xWGx

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So I realize how important it is to have a SUPER fast website these days for SEO - for having a low bounce rate and for getting more conversions online.

I have been working on my sites to optimize them for speed and I've come to a point where everything is 90+ on GTMetrix, Pingdom and PageSpeed Insights.

BUT - my site speed is STILL at 3.3 seconds. Literally everything possible is OPTIMIZED to extreme extents - hosting is on VPS too at a great provider.

I just realized that there is 1 SECOND delay with the redirect from http to https. And this optimization I don't know how to make.

Here is by TTFB - so the server / VPS is not at fault (I guess) -

prnt.sc/iom8t3

As you can see the REDIRECT from HTTP to HTTPS itself is taking about 1 second and that is TOO much!

If anyone can shed some light on this, I'd appreciate.

(Site is WP)
 
So I realize how important it is to have a SUPER fast website these days for SEO - for having a low bounce rate and for getting more conversions online.

I have been working on my sites to optimize them for speed and I've come to a point where everything is 90+ on GTMetrix, Pingdom and PageSpeed Insights.

BUT - my site speed is STILL at 3.3 seconds. Literally everything possible is OPTIMIZED to extreme extents - hosting is on VPS too at a great provider.

I just realized that there is 1 SECOND delay with the redirect from http to https. And this optimization I don't know how to make.

Here is by TTFB - so the server / VPS is not at fault (I guess) -

prnt.sc/iom8t3

As you can see the REDIRECT from HTTP to HTTPS itself is taking about 1 second and that is TOO much!

If anyone can shed some light on this, I'd appreciate.

(Site is WP)
Are you doing the redirect at the server level or are you using a WordPress plugin? That could be the issue. Besides... It will not have to redirect if the https version is indexed by Google so it shouldn't hurt your seo.
 
I'm actually already using most premium cache and speed optimization plugins on the market.
As I said - I have optimized everything to a point that all site scores are 90+ across all metrics - GT, Pingdom, PageSpeed ...
It is the redirect that is taking up one full second that is what I think is where the problem lies but I cannot find a way to solve it.
 
@Jinyus I'm actually doing it via a plug-in at the moment.
Let me test doing it via .htaccess - hope it helps.
 
Without more information it’s hard to give you more as a few general tips.

How do you do the redirect to HTTPS, Wordpress, Apache or Nginx? If you do it via Wordpress, change it.
Check the response time of DNS servers.
Use a CDN.
You can try nginx (reserve proxy) and mod_pagespeed if you have your own server.
 
@Jinyus You made my day. I am down to 2.6s from 3.3s. :D :D :D
Doing the redirect from .htaccess now using -
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

THANK YOU for the quick fix.

Is there anything you can suggest to improve the speed further!

@RipperEssen Changed to redirect by .htaccess and got some decent improvement.
I'm on Apache.
DNS response
TLD
Min. Time: 2 ms Max. Time: 63 ms Avg. Time: 22 ms
Root

Min. Time: 2 ms Max. Time: 162 ms Avg. Time: 24 ms
(Edit - No I do not have root access)

@Amoxicillin I had no clue about this one. On it. Thanks. :D
 
@Jinyus You made my day. I am down to 2.6s from 3.3s. :D :D :D
Doing the redirect from .htaccess now using -
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

THANK YOU for the quick fix.

Is there anything you can suggest to improve the speed further!

@RipperEssen Changed to redirect by .htaccess and got some decent improvement.
I'm on Apache.
DNS response
TLD
Min. Time: 2 ms Max. Time: 63 ms Avg. Time: 22 ms
Root

Min. Time: 2 ms Max. Time: 162 ms Avg. Time: 24 ms
(Edit - No I do not have root access)

@Amoxicillin I had no clue about this one. On it. Thanks. :D
On all my websites I'm using nginx with fastCGI caching. I have configured vps for others also, and I always get load speed under 1s, on WP and Woocommerce. It's worth considering, but to transfer everything it's quite a lot of work.
 
On all my websites I'm using nginx with fastCGI caching. I have configured vps for others also, and I always get load speed under 1s, on WP and Woocommerce. It's worth considering, but to transfer everything it's quite a lot of work.
Is there any equivalent of that that can be realized on Apache?
Moving sites + subdomains is not going to be easy. :(
 
Good job. I had the same problem and the solution was to do it from htaccess file.

Also, check with nibbler site checkup and check your grade for "server problems", to make sure you don't have any issues with the bar at the end of the URL. This has nothing to do with speed but it's something that I've found out while implementing https
 
There is solutions for apache caching, but I never tried any of them. One thing to consider as well, you could try to use mod_pagespeed from google, you can add it to apache pretty easily, your visitors get faster load speed, but it's resource hungry.
 
More info into the metrics from Pingdom (92 A)

https: //prnt.sc/iomzmf

https: //prnt.sc/iomzjt

@EasternEuropean

Checked on nibbler. There is a section 'Server Behavior' - no issues in that section - 10/10.

@rimvy Thanks! Looking into it immediately.


My dream is to get it to 1 second or lower. 2.6 s at the moment. Lets see. :D
 
If nothing helps, try to clone your wp website for testing purpose, and run it on nginx server, with fastcgi caching. If you decide to do this, let me know, I'll give you my nginx config.
 
Glad to hear that you fixed it. Can't really recommend much without inspection. The best caching plugin in my experience is wp rocket. You can try using a cdn and spreading the static assets across multiple domains
 
Glad to hear that you fixed it. Can't really recommend much without inspection. The best caching plugin in my experience is wp rocket. You can try using a cdn and spreading the static assets across multiple domains
WP Rocket is exactly what I'm using. And I' using CloudFlare for CDN.
Working on HSTS + Server Site Caching a bit - hopefully all will go well. :D
 
Does your host support HTT P /2 ? If it does support it, your website will actually be a little faster overall, despite the bigger TTFB. If it doesn't support it, then change your host. Also, it should support php 7.

As for testing, google page speed is trash and that score does not reflect reality. For in depth testing, use Wep Page Test along with GTMetrix and Pingdom that you are already using.
 
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