Why do my files load using the speakcdn.com domain?

SiteWrench has an integrated CDN to make your website perform better. A CDN or Content Delivery Network is a system that uses a network of super-fast file caching servers that are geographically dispersed to deliver files very quickly.

Delivering your website's files over a CDN has a lot of benefits. The most significant benefit is speed. The CDN delivers files much faster than a traditional hosting platform, and even optimizes images based on the device's screen size, meaning that the CDN has a very significant effect on mobile! A faster loading website means a better visitor experience and better search engine results.

Two of the more important benefits to the CDN are stability and security. If your site suddenly receives a very large amount of traffic, whether it is traffic you want or a malicious attack, the CDN provides a significant layer of protection against downtime due to your website being overloaded. The security benefit of proxying the direct path to file storage cannot be overstated.

Do I have to do anything to use the CDN?

Nope, the CDN is automatically in place. For it to work, all of your site’s assets have to be served over the CDN’s domain (speakcdn.com). The URL is mostly invisible except for visible URLs targeting a file for download. Other than enjoying fast-loading pages, your users will be almost completely unaware.

Are there SEO concerns using a CDN?

There are no negative SEO side effects. Google encourages the use of CDNs because they improve the end user’s experience and they are currently used extensively by many websites. Faster loading pages has a positive impact on your site’s rankings.

What if I want to publicize a link to a file using my domain name?

If you want to publicize links to files, you can always use your domain in the URL which will automatically redirect to the CDN to deliver the file.

As an example, these two URLs load the same file:

https://www.speakcdn.com/assets/2304/speak-logo.png

https://www.madebyspeak.com/assets/2304/speak-logo.png

Most professional grade websites use a CDN to serve files. These days it is very common for a file to be served from a different domain (ex: s3.amazonaws.com or cdnjs.cloudflare.com). The benefits of a CDN are significant and the differing URL is not noticed by most people, and those who do notice, typically understand why.