Can ht access file affect page load times
-
We have a large and old site. As we've transition from one CMS to another, there's been a need for create 301 redirects using our ht access file.
I'm not a technical SEO person, but concerned that the size of our ht access file might be contributing source for long page download times.
Can large ht access files cause slow page load times? Or is the coding of the 301 redirect a cause for slow page downloads?
Thanks
-
It definitely can, I saw once a site that had hundreds of redirects and it was definitely slowing the site down as they had to run through all the redirects first on the server side to see where the user should be forwarded to.
-
I also have my issues dealing with the too many hats you need in the digital business
-
Yes. My brain has been in local SEO mode this week, and my first question should have been to ask about site size. If the file is huge, then it's a huge file. Huge and fast seldom go hand in hand.
-
Hi Austin,
The server needs to process the .htacess file to resolve those redirects so if there are a lot of them it would take more time, and latency will be increased. Don't you agree?
-
How many pages are you redirecting?
-
Yes, huge .htaccess files will delay your page load.
A couple of tips:
- File size: keep the number of rules to a minimum by using regular expressions.
- Execution: if it is applicable make .htaccess smarter by using the L tag to stop the process once a rule is matched.
Hope it helps!
-
The ultimate source for testing what affects page load in terms of assets is here: http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/
The size of the htaccess file shouldn't really affect a page's load speed. With a 301 redirect, if someone goes to the new page, I don't see why it would load more slowly. If you went to the old page, you're adding on the time of the redirect. Since hopefully the old page shouldn't be rendering anything, it should be near instant.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Pages not indexed
Hey everyone Despite doing the necessary checks, we have this problem that only a part of the sitemap is indexed.
Technical SEO | | conversal
We don't understand why this indexation doesn't want to take place. The major problem is that only a part of the sitemap is indexed. For a client we have several projects on the website with several subpages, but only a few of these subpages are indexed. Each project has 5 to 6 subpages. They all should be indexed. Project: https://www.brody.be/nl/nieuwbouwprojecten/nieuwbouw-eeklo/te-koop-eeklo/ Mainly subelements of the page are indexed: https://www.google.be/search?source=hp&ei=gZT1Wv2ANouX6ASC5K-4Bw&q=site%3Abrody.be%2Fnl%2Fnieuwbouwprojecten%2Fnieuwbouw-eeklo%2F&oq=site%3Abrody.be%2Fnl%2Fnieuwbouwprojecten%2Fnieuwbouw-eeklo%2F&gs_l=psy-ab.3...30.11088.0.11726.16.13.1.0.0.0.170.1112.8j3.11.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..4.6.693.0..0j0i131k1.0.p6DjqM3iJY0 Do you have any idea what is going wrong here?
Thanks for your advice! Frederik
Digital marketeer at Conversal0 -
Where can I ... ?
[Spammy content removed by moderator.] Abdullah-Al-Asif-1.jpg?fit=177%2C177&ssl=1 tEjk20Fs_400x400.jpg
Technical SEO | | Abdullah-Al-Asif0 -
How can I Improve Loading Speed? - Parker Dubrule Lawyers
Parker Dubrule Lawyers' website at parkerdubrulelawyers.com seemed to be loading quite slow this morning (>5 Seconds). I added a lazyload plugin, minified JS and CSS, and ensured that the images were optimized---all of this seemed to help and brough it down to under 2 seconds. We are looking at more reliable hosting options for our clients---ones that are inherently faster possibly without these plugins being added to the mix. Does anyone have insight on a safe, secure, and fast hosting/server option to enhance the experience from the get go? All of the websites that we build are in Worpress. Your help is much appreciated! Thanks!
Technical SEO | | Web3Marketing870 -
Check my website loading time
Kindly check my website loading time for the home page and deep pages. Do I need to make it fast or it is Okey? Website - brandstenmedia.com.au
Technical SEO | | Green.landon0 -
How to handle pages I can't delete?
Hello Mozzers, I am using wordpress and I have a small problem. I have two sites, I don't want but the dev of the theme told me I can't delete them. /portfolio-items/ /faq-items/ The dev said he can't find a way to delete it because these pages just list faqs/portfolio posts. I don't have any of these posts so basically what I have are two sites with just the title "Portfolio items" and "FAQ Items". Furthermore the dev said these sites are auto-generated so he can't find a way to remove them. I mean I don't believe that it's impossible, but if it is how should I handle them? They are indexed by search engines, should I remove them from the index and block them from robots.txt? Thanks in advance.
Technical SEO | | grobro0 -
Can you redirect from a 410 server error? I see many 410s that should be directed to an existing page.
We have 150,000 410 server errors. Many of them should be redirected to an existing url. This is a result of a complete website redesign, including new navigation and new web platform. I believe IT may have inadvertently marked many 404s as 410s. Can I fix this or is a 410 error permanent? Thank you for your help.
Technical SEO | | sxsoule0 -
Error: Missing Meta Description Tag on pages I can't find in order to correct
This seems silly, but I have errors on blog URLs in our WordPress site that I don't know how to access because they are not in our Dashboard. We are using All in One SEO. The errors are for blog archive dates, authors and just simply 'blog'. Here are samples: http://www.fateyes.com/2012/10/
Technical SEO | | gfiedel
http://www.fateyes.com/author/gina-fiedel/
http://www.fateyes.com/blog/ Does anyone know how to input descriptions for pages like these?
Thanks!!0 -
I am trying to correct error report of duplicate page content. However I am unable to find in over 100 blogs the page which contains similar content to the page SEOmoz reported as having similar content is my only option to just dlete the blog page?
I am trying to correct duplicate content. However SEOmoz only reports and shows the page of duplicate content. I have 5 years worth of blogs and cannot find the duplicate page. Is my only option to just delete the page to improve my rankings. Brooke
Technical SEO | | wianno1680