Our platform uses state-of-the-art technology to ensure fast loading times. Most customized Uscreen sites load within two seconds, while vanilla sites load in approximately one second.
How Uscreen Delivers Content
The platform employs a global Content Delivery Network (CDN) that stores portions of your site on servers strategically located worldwide. This reduces pressure on central servers, resulting in better loading times and faster delivery to remote locations.
When a viewer requests content:
If the content is already cached in the server closest to their geographic area, it's delivered immediately
If not, the CDN retrieves it from the host server
Subsequent requests for the same content in that geographic area are served quickly from the local cache
🔗 Learn more about Uscreen's CDN Caching Layer
Factors Affecting Loading Speed
Custom Code Impact
The loading speed decreases as you add customizations and third-party integrations. We recommend keeping a good balance between customization and performance.
📝 NOTE: Custom code implementation is beyond the scope of our support. For specific implementation help, consider consulting with a developer familiar with the platform.
Server-Side Optimizations
Our platform automatically implements several server-side optimizations.
Compression: Our CDN has gzip compression enabled by default for all Uscreen websites
Image Optimization: Images are rendered in WebP format based on screen resolution, with 2x and 3x options for retina displays
Caching: The CDN stores optimized content for faster delivery
Optimizing Your Website
Home Pages
Most customized Uscreen sites load within the two-second mark, and vanilla Uscreen sites load roughly within 1 second based on GTMetrix (server located in Vancouver, CA), which is an exceptional speed for web pages with extensive dynamic media content.
For instance, using GTMetrix's Waterfall, we can observe that all internal components from Uscreen loaded in 1.1 seconds. However, third-party services like payment processors may finish loading around the 3-second mark.
Sample Result (GTMetrix)
Sample Result (Pingdom)
When testing with Pingdom, results may vary based on the test server location.
📝 NOTE: Testing on servers outside North America may produce slower results in the speed test. This behavior is expected because the test does not consider the CDN (Content Delivery Network), which has POPs (points-of-presence) worldwide.
Keep these best practices in mind
Minimize customizations and third-party integrations when possible
Balance visual appeal with performance
Be aware that some speed tests may include background processes in the total loading time
Catalog Pages
Our Catalog page includes additional loading optimization features:
Images are rendered in WebP format based on screen resolution, with 2x and 3x options for retina displays
The CDN stores a copy of the optimized images in the nearest point-of-presence for your end-users
Lazy loading for catalogs with more than four categories
Once cached, the Catalog page will load even faster, potentially under the two-second mark
Custom Code Recommendations
If you're using custom code:
Keep JavaScript usage minimal where not needed
Implement proper asset caching
Optimize any custom images
Remove unnecessary third-party scripts
When we analyze the scripts on a Uscreen website, our internal code typically operates around 30% of the website. The rest includes third-party integrations like payment providers and analytics tools.
ℹ️ INFO: You can often ignore some recommendations that these test results provide. They are helpful when you build your site from scratch, but not relevant when using a SaaS service like Uscreen.
Common Scenarios with CDN Caching
First-Time Viewers in New Locations
If you have a low number of viewers in specific geolocations, they may experience slight playback issues the first time they view a video, as the CDN has to find the video on the original host server.
When the second viewer in that geolocation views that video, the CDN will now have the video readily available, resulting in a smoother playback experience.
Design Changes
When you make changes to your site design, these changes may not appear immediately due to CDN caching. This is normal and helps maintain fast performance across your site.
FAQs
Why are my recent website changes not showing up?
Why are my recent website changes not showing up?
When you update your website, the CDN cache needs time to refresh (from seconds to a few minutes). Try clearing your browser cache or waiting a few minutes for the changes to propagate across all CDN servers.
Can the CDN be disabled for development purposes?
Can the CDN be disabled for development purposes?
No, the CDN cannot be manually disabled as it's an integral part of how Uscreen delivers content efficiently. For development work, you can use techniques like changing resource names to force cache refreshes.
Why might users in certain countries experience slower loading?
Why might users in certain countries experience slower loading?
Users in remote locations might experience slightly slower initial loading if they're the first to access content in that region. Once the content is cached in their local CDN server, subsequent loads will be much faster.
Is there a way to preload content to the CDN?
Is there a way to preload content to the CDN?
The CDN automatically caches content as it's accessed. There's no manual preloading option, but you can visit pages yourself to initiate caching for important content.
Will adding more custom code slow down my site?
Will adding more custom code slow down my site?
Potentially. Each script adds load time to your pages. Monitor performance and only add necessary customizations.
Can I safely ignore recommendations from speed test tools?
Can I safely ignore recommendations from speed test tools?
You can ignore some recommendations that speed test results provide. They are helpful when building a site from scratch, but not always relevant when using a SaaS service like Uscreen. For example, some speed tests may recommend implementing gzip compression, image optimization, and caching, which our platform has already enabled via our CDN.