Can ht access file affect page load times

[ahw]

We have a large and old site. As we've transition from one CMS to another, there's been a need for create 301 redirects using our ht access file.

I'm not a technical SEO person, but concerned that the size of our ht access file might be contributing source for long page download times.

Can large ht access files cause slow page load times?  Or is the coding of the 301 redirect a cause for slow page downloads?

Thanks

[Martijn_Scheijbeler]

It definitely can, I saw once a site that had hundreds of redirects and it was definitely slowing the site down as they had to run through all the redirects first on the server side to see where the user should be forwarded to.

[tretanto]

I also have my issues dealing with the too many hats you need in the digital business

[HorizonsWM]

Yes.  My brain has been in local SEO mode this week, and my first question should have been to ask about site size.  If the file is huge, then it's a huge file.  Huge and fast seldom go hand in hand.

[tretanto]

Hi Austin,

The server needs to process the .htacess file to resolve those redirects so if there are a lot of them it would take more time, and latency will be increased. Don't you agree?

[HorizonsWM]

How many pages are you redirecting?

[tretanto]

Yes, huge .htaccess files will delay your page load.

A couple of tips:

1. File size: keep the number of rules to a minimum by using regular expressions.
2. Execution: if it is applicable make .htaccess smarter by using the L tag to stop the process once a rule is matched.

Hope it helps!

[HorizonsWM]

The ultimate source for testing what affects page load in terms of assets is here:  http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/

The size of the htaccess file shouldn't really affect a page's load speed.  With a 301 redirect, if someone goes to the new page, I don't see why it would load more slowly.  If you went to the old page, you're adding on the time of the redirect.  Since hopefully the old page shouldn't be rendering anything, it should be near instant.