What is Brotli?
Brotli is a cutting-edge compression algorithm brought to you by Google, and it’s miles ahead of the traditional GZIP methodology that we’ve relied on in the past. In simple terms, Brotli compresses files far more effectively, producing smaller file sizes, which means reduced bandwidth usage. The result? Your website loads faster, and your visitors enjoy a seamless, smooth experience—whether they’re browsing on their mobile device or from a slower internet connection. But what’s more impressive is that Brotli is universally supported by all modern browsers, enhancing the experience for the vast majority of your users. And for those still using older browsers or ones that don’t yet support Brotli? No worries. Your site will simply fall back to GZIP, ensuring that everything still works smoothly.
What Do I Need to Do?
Absolutely nothing! That’s right—Brotli has been enabled on your site by default, so you’re already benefiting from that speed boost. Maybe you’ve already noticed a little extra pep in your site’s step? Yep, that’s Brotli doing its magic. This upgrade also means that if you’ve been relying on a CDN provider (like, say, Cloudflare) to utilize Brotli, you might not need it anymore. That’s right—potential savings right there!How Much Faster is Brotli?
At Aqaba Digital, we believe in delivering results that speak for themselves, so we rigorously tested Brotli to ensure it lives up to the hype. We put Brotli head-to-head with GZIP across various WordPress files, including the default “Hello World” post and home pages. And the results? Brotli outperformed GZIP in every single test, compressing files more effectively and saving precious bytes across the board. In some cases, Brotli achieved up to a 17.02% reduction in file size for the modern business site—proving that when it comes to speed, Brotli is the way to go.
