{"id":1067243,"date":"2022-04-26T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-rocket.me\/?p=1067243"},"modified":"2022-09-20T12:12:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T10:12:00","slug":"how-to-reduce-dns-lookups-to-speed-up-your-wordpress-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-rocket.me\/blog\/how-to-reduce-dns-lookups-to-speed-up-your-wordpress-site\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Reduce DNS Lookups to Speed Up Your WordPress Site"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ll most likely hit the back button faster than it takes for a website to load, wouldn\u2019t you agree? Waiting for a site to finish loading is not something we do today. I myself don\u2019t. <\/p>

As a consumer myself, I don\u2019t enjoy waiting. And as a site owner, I know the pains of high bounce rate and my traffic diminishing as my site takes longer to load. I spent a great deal trying to perfect my site performance so that people would stay on my site and read my content.<\/p>

So let\u2019s tackle a specific problem regarding web performance.<\/p>

The problem is how too many DNS lookups can slow down the loading of your pages.<\/p>

DNS lookup load times are an issue on websites of all sizes. So this concerns everyone who owns a site! <\/p>

I own several sites of my own and today, I want to share my process for optimizing my site, specifically for DNS lookup. Without being too technical.<\/p>

This article explains the problem, how to reduce DNS lookups for a WordPress site, and some practical tips to optimize your site\u2019s DNS.<\/p>

You can follow our guide to getting your WordPress site optimized. <\/p>

Hint:<\/strong> We used our WP Rocket plugin! And a few bonus tips and tricks at the end.<\/p>

But first\u2026<\/p>

What Is a DNS Lookup?<\/h2>

Domain Name Servers (DNSs) are the foundation of the world wide web. They work like phone books for websites, linking them to their IP addresses. In turn, a DNS lookup is the process of finding the correct IP address for a given website URL. <\/p>

If you are using PageSpeed Insight, DNS lookup is associated with \u201cReduce initial server response time\u201d:<\/p>

\"Reduce<\/figure>

Time spent waiting for the initial response, also known as the Time To First Byte (TTFB)<\/a> starts with the HTTP request<\/a>. <\/p>

The time it takes for a server to receive the request depends on the time it takes to perform a DNS lookup, the speed of the user\u2019s network, the distance to the server, and any interruptions in the connection. <\/p>

Since PageSpeed Insight does not help us identify what is causing DNS Lookup, we will need to use other tools, to help us isolate and fix this problem. And for us to know how to fix it, let\u2019s see how DNS lookup works.<\/p>

\"DNS

A DNS lookup lets you use a human-readable domain to fetch a website.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

How Does DNS Lookup Work?<\/h3>

When you visit a website, your browser discovers all resources that necessitate a DNS query. After that, it waits for the lookup to complete before downloading any resources. <\/p>

The greater the number of lookups a website requires, the longer it takes the browser to produce its pages.<\/p>

Here\u2019s a simple explanation.<\/p>

DNS Lookup Example<\/h3>

If we take a phone book as \u201coptimization\u201d of DNS lookup, you can look at car repairs and find a name and phone number, and call them.<\/p>

Once you call them, they will answer \u201cACME car repair\u201d and you found what you were looking for. The same goes with a DNS lookup.<\/p>

Another example is calling your cell phone provider. Maybe you want to talk to customer service about billing discrepancies. You call, and an automated assistant will tell you to press 1 English 2 for Spanish. For your account information, press 2, and the thing goes on and on. <\/p>

You just want to talk to customer service, and the automated assistant is trying to figure out what you need and guide you to the right department. While we are most likely to stay on for an hour to talk to customer service about our cellphone bill, your consumer won\u2019t wait for your site to load if there is a long DNS lookup!<\/p>

If you want the technical answer:<\/p>

The computer initially checks to see if the website entered is already in its cache or in its hosts’ file. If this is not the case, it approaches the server in charge. This was allocated to it via DHCP or is permanently configured.<\/p>

\u200b\u200bWhen a client or DNS server asks a DNS server to resolve a domain name, the query might be recursive or non-recursive.<\/p>

Clients, such as PCs, often perform recursive queries, which instruct the DNS server to return solely with a response and not a referral.<\/p>

A referral is simply a response. If it does not know the answer, it will point to another server.<\/p>

DNS servers perform non-recursive or iterative queries, which effectively directs the other DNS server to deliver an answer or the address of another DNS server that may have the answer.<\/p>

If the server can answer the request, it sends the response to the requester. If not, it contacts another server that is in charge of the domain. The browser may connect with the webserver through the IP network using the IP address provided.<\/p>

I hope that helps you understand the multiple routes DNS lookup can take for it to work and why fast DNS response time is essential.<\/p>

What Is a Good DNS Response Time?<\/h3>

A good DNS lookup response time is roughly 40 ms, so aim for that or better.<\/p>

It’s worth noting that every website is unique, so this isn’t a one-size-fits-all timetable.<\/p>

Higher DNS lookup times, for example, maybe acceptable for a website with a completely local and low traffic website. However, if you have a global audience and want your site to receive a lot of traffic, your DNS response time should be less than 40 ms.<\/p>

How to Check for DNS Lookup Response Time<\/h2>

The critical part is identifying what is causing the problem. Let\u2019s look at three tools (Pingdom, GTmetrix, and WebPageTest, each with different features and benefits<\/a>) you can use to identify your DNS lookup response time and how each tool provides that data. <\/p>