SEO is a big deal when you’re making stuff for the internet. How high up your website shows on search results really matters because that’s how people find you.
A big factor in SEO rankings is how fast your website loads. If it’s slow, people might leave before they even see your page thoroughly. That’s where Gzip compression helps out. It’s like a secret weapon for making your pages load faster.
Keep reading, as this article is all about Gzip compression. Here, we’ll discuss what it means, what it does, why it’s so important, and how you can use it on your website.
What is Gzip Compression?
Gzip compression is a technology widely used for swiftly transferring data across the internet. The term “Gzip” includes the compression method itself, the software employed for compression, and the resulting file format typically denoted by the .gz extension.
It was originally introduced in 1992 by GNU as a free and open-source alternative to proprietary compression methods. Since then, Gzip has become the standard for file compression on the web. Most importantly, over 99% of websites that implement compression utilize Gzip, as revealed by research from W3Techs.
Gzip works like a magic tool for making files smaller without losing any information. It uses a smart algorithm called DEFLATE to find and remove repeated parts in text files. This makes the files much smaller (you’ll notice they end with .gz) but keeps everything intact.
So, when you send or download files, Gzip helps them zip through the internet faster. It saves time and uses less data.
How Does Gzip Compression Work?
Just imagine a website, which is like a big collection of files stored on a special computer called a web server. When you type a website’s address into your browser, it asks the web server for those files.
The server sends back all the files needed to show the website in your browser. The more files and bigger they are, the longer it takes.
Now, inside these files, especially the text ones like HTML, there are unusually repeated bits. For example, in HTML, you always have matching pairs like <table> and </table>.
Here, Gzip comes in and finds these repeating bits. It swaps them with shorter codes, which makes the files smaller without losing any information. These smaller, zipped files have names ending in .gz format.
When your browser gets these zipped files, it unzips them to show the website properly. This whole process saves time and makes things faster.
Please keep in mind that, Gzip works best for text files, not already compressed stuff like images or videos. Also, it’s a different ZIP, which is used for storing files, not sending them over the internet.
Why Go for Gzip Compression?
Gzip is just one among various data compression methods and algorithms, alongside ZIP, TAR, and 7Z. Now, you might question the preference for Gzip compression over other methods, especially considering claims of superior performance by alternatives.
For instance, research from Expedited Security reveals that Google’s Brotli compression algorithm can often achieve smaller sizes for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files compared to Gzip. Despite these comparisons, there are compelling reasons to favour Gzip over other methods or algorithms:
1. Free and Open-Source: Gzip software is freely available for use. It originated as a no-cost alternative to compress, a patented Unix shell compression program.
2. Wide Adoption: As of June 2022, approximately 60% of websites employ Gzip compression, indicating its widespread acceptance.
3. Low Resource Utilization: Gzip consumes relatively modest computing power and temporary data storage compared to similar compression methods.
4. Effective Compression: Gzip achieves significant reductions in file size, typically around 70% for small text-based data files and up to 90% for larger files.
5. Speed: Gzip has fast compression and decompression speeds, which outperform competitors like Brotli and BZIP2.
By enabling Gzip, you benefit from its quick and efficient compression capabilities. It leads to reduced page load times, which in turn can boost your site’s SEO ranking.
When you have improved load times, it has a positive impact on search engine rankings, as faster-loading sites tend to rank higher. This increased visibility attracts more traffic to the website, ultimately enhancing revenue potential.
How to Check Gzip Compression?
Checking if Gzip compression is working on a website is easy, and you can do it in a couple of ways. It can make a big difference in how fast your site loads. Here’s a guide on how to check if Gzip compression is on:
1. Using Website Speed Test Tools
- These tools measure how fast a website loads and give you a report on what’s affecting its performance.
- Some tools also show if Gzip compression is active and how much it’s reducing file sizes.
- You can find these tools for free on sites like Pingdom, Google’s PageSpeed Insights, and GTmetrix.
2. Using Browser Developer Toos:
- If you prefer not to use external tools, you can check Gzip compression right in your browser.
- Just type the website URL into your browser, open the developer tools (usually by right-clicking and selecting “Inspect”), go to the Network tab, and reload the page.
- Look for the content encoding under Response Headers. It’ll tell you if Gzip is being used.
If Gzip isn’t enabled, you can enable it by editing the .htaccess file or using a WordPress plugin, depending on your website setup. Let’s see how you do this through Plugin way:
How to Enable Gzip Compression On My Website?
Enabling Gzip compression for a website is pretty simple with the plugin. Here are three great plugins you can use:
1. WP-Opmize Cache: This does a lot more than just Gzip. It boosts performance, handles web caching, cleans up unnecessary files, and can even optimize images.
2. Hummingbird: With this plugin, you get more control over what you optimize. It covers Gzip, minification, and lazy loading images offscreen, among other things.
3. WP Rocket: Packed with features like caching, Gzip, preload caching and eCommerce optimization works great with other WordPress tools.
Conclusion
Let’s conclude this article by saying that, Gzip compression is super important for making websites work better. It makes files smaller and helps them move faster on the internet. Lots of developers love it because it does this job really well without needing a lot of computer power. When you use Gzip, it can make websites more enjoyable for users and even boost their search engine rankings.
