The solution to too many cookies is a simple analogy. To improve performance, eat (read as send) fewer biscuits.

What cookies should we give up? It's generally best to remove all cookies from static elements of your website.

You can use static elements to reduce network load and improve performance. Examples include static images, static files like CSS, or static files. They don't require cookies to be attached, so removing them is one of the best methods to reduce network traffic and improve performance.

It's not as easy as unchecking the "cookies".

Web servers instead use cookie-free domains to separate static content from content that contains cookies. A cookie-free site is usually an independent domain.

How about registering a domain name? If you want to make sure a name is available, you can use a namechecker or username availability checker.

Structure of a URL Displaying a Subdomain

It's easy to set up cookie-free domains with the right tools. Setting up a subdomain, however, is not the only way.

Before we start digging in, let's take a look at some of the benefits of cookie-free domains.

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Why Use Cookie-Free Domains?

It may seem like a minor thing to do, and it is.

This small action has some big benefits. You can lighten the network traffic by only sending cookies that you need. This will also provide you with many other benefits, some of which are not related to performance.

Reduces Unnecessary Network Traffic

The main benefit of cookie-free domains is that they reduce network traffic from cookie traffic.

We have already discussed that sending page elements to visitors will require a certain amount of network resources. Each element, or even multiple parts of a single element, is sent along with response headers that contain routing information and other elements, such as cookies.

Cookies are small files but sending a lot with each page request can add up quickly. The result is that users will have to wait longer to see the page load because your web host becomes overwhelmed.

You can reduce the amount of cookies sent by using cookie-free domains.

Enhance Website Performance

As you can imagine, reducing the network load through cookies will have a major impact on website loading times.

Every page click sends a new request to the server. Users may have to wait for a long time to do basic navigation (Home page About Us Store, etc.). Although page elements and cookies are cached and reused once the initial load, it can still be a problem when the pages change or if the user digs deeper into your site.

SEO and User Experience: Benefits

Your website can also benefit from a reduction in unnecessary traffic, which will improve its performance. This may have a positive impact on your search engine optimization, and the user and customer experience.

The customer experience is the obvious benefit. With a faster load time, users are able to access the content that they desire more quickly. They're more likely to explore the website and your products/services, rather than clicking away from it in frustration.

SEO also benefits from the same approach. Although page loading speeds don't directly impact SEO, your bounce rates -- the percentages of visitors who leave your page -- do.

Page Load Speeds

Unbounce's report shows that three-quarters of shippers abandon a web page if it takes more than four seconds to load.

Even if you improve your loading times by just a second with the removal of unnecessary cookies, your bounce rate will still be reduced and your search ranking will increase.

Reduced Hosting Costs

Web hosting fees are ultimately a result of network traffic.

If you send more cookies than necessary, you will also pay more for web hosting. If cookies impact page performance, then the damage is multiplied. In addition to paying more for traffic, you will need to pay even more for the same result due to an increased bounce rate.

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Cookieless Future Ready

Final benefit: delivering cookie-free material will prepare you for the cookieless future.

Many major search engines and technology companies are searching for ways to remove cookies completely. This is due to the growing cookie controversy in light of privacy regulations, such as GDPR. Cookies aren't going to disappear overnight, but they may do so eventually.

Use Cookie-free Domains

The general idea behind a cookie-free site is to deliver static pages without cookies. Although creating a static domain or subdomain would be the easiest way to achieve this, you can also do it with CDNs and WordPress tricks.

Create a Separate, Cookie-free Domain

This method allows you to create a new domain that will host your website's components such as images, CSS, and other static elements.

It's easier and cheaper to create a new subdomain for your domain than it is to register a separate domain. Domains that do not require cookies typically use a static subdomain (e.g., static.yourdomain.com).

Note that this will only work if the "www" version of your domain (e.g., "www.yourdomain.com") is the root domain in your website's root file.

You would normally need to edit the.htaccess directly with a special code in order to make the subdomain cookies-free. As we will see, it is much easier to just reconfigure WordPress or use a plugin.

You can use static components such as images, JavaScript, CSS, and text to configure your cookie-free domain.

Use a Content Delivery Network

A content delivery network (CDN) is a very convenient way to access cookie-free domains.

Instead of creating separate subdomains or editing configuration files, tell your CDN that it should ignore and remove cookies from the headers in your response for static components. It may seem complicated, but many CDNs offer this feature.

Not all CDNs offer this feature. It's better to change the configuration of your website unless you already use a CDN which allows you to disable cookie.

Reconfigure Your Wordpress Site

You're in luck if you use WordPress: all it takes is a few lines to be updated in the wpconfig.php file to set up a cookie free domain. For complete instructions, skip ahead to the section below (Configuring WordPress To Use Cookie-Free Domains).

Use a WordPress Plugin

A plugin that creates static versions of WordPress sites is another easy option.

In this regard, WP2Static is a popular plugin (lit. "WordPress to Static"). Open the plugin in the WordPress dashboard, and then configure the settings for exporting your website into a static version.

Configuring WordPress for Cookie-free Domains

WordPress, as mentioned above offers a simple way to implement cookie free domains. It's a simple process that involves a few steps.

• Add an Alternate Subdomain With Associated DNS
• Telling the domain that will serve static assets
• Update existing WordPress database entries to reflect the new address