Speed up your website using HTTP/2

What is HTTP/2?

HTTP stands for "hypertext transfer protocol". When you go online and type in a web address, an HTTP request is sent to the server, which then sends a request to the browser to display the requested web address.

But what is HTTP/2? Like everything else, it needs to be renewed. That's why HTTP/2 is an updated and improved version that makes websites load faster as the "communication" between server and browser is improved. In addition, HTTP/2 also ensures that multiple requests can be sent at the same time.

What are the benefits of HTTP/2?

There are many advantages to using HTTP/2, and at the same time, it doesn't require a lot of work in terms of SEO to upgrade to HTTP/2. SEO to upgrade to HTTP/2. Even though Google confirms that HTTP/2 is not a ranking factor, it has an indirect impact on your visibility as it contributes positively to one of the Core Web Vitals parameters, which is how fast your website loads. Below are some of the key benefits of HTTP/2: 

• Increased loading speed for websites
• Increased load speed for mobile users
• Improved user experience
• Improved security

Increased loading speed for websites

The reason HTTP/2 was introduced was so that websites could load even faster. It has also helped to reduce the amount of resources needed to crawl websites.

With HTTP/2, it is now possible to send and receive more data between browser and server, resulting in faster load speed, which improves website performance.

Increased load speed for mobile users

In addition to websites performing better with HTTP/2, mobile performance is also improved with HTTP/2. This means that mobile devices load websites faster as more requests can be sent and received at the same time with HTTP/2. 

It's no coincidence that load speed has also improved for mobile users, as HTTP/2 has been designed with today's trends in mind, of which mobile users are an important part.

Improved user experience

Since websites load faster with HTTP/2, the user experience is automatically improved as well. It goes without saying; a faster loading website results in more satisfied users.

According to Google, you can bounce rates (the percentage of users who leave a website after viewing only one page on the site) increase by up to 32 % if a page suddenly takes three seconds to load. It is therefore important to set up HTTP/2 - but it's also important to remember that HTTP/2 is just a way to improve the loading speed of a website.

Improved security

The last important benefit of HTTP/2 is that the security of websites using HTTP/2 has increased security, as all data sent back and forth between server and browser is encrypted and securely stored.

The disadvantages of HTTP/2

While there are many advantages to HTTP/2, there are also some disadvantages. One of them is that not all browsers support HTTP/2. However, only older browser versions don't support it - and very few people use these older browsers. On caniuse.com you can see which browsers support HTTP/2.

How do you implement HTTP/2?

If your server supports HTTP/2, it may have already automatically switched to HTTP/2. If in doubt, you can ensure that your server supports HTTP/2 by making sure you use a Content Delivery Network (makes websites load faster by reducing the physical distance between the server and the user. This helps users around the world see the same high-quality content without slow loading times), that also supports HTTP/2 and that you have an updated HTTPS certificate.

If you want to check if your site supports HTTP/2, you can check it here.

Frequently asked questions