708: How We Made Syntax.fm Faster

This podcast episode discusses the journey of optimizing a website's performance, focusing on the challenges of introducing a database, server-side fixes, and the importance of using tools and techniques to identify performance bottlenecks. The speaker highlights the use of Redis as a cache and the benefits of using server-side rendering to reduce the need for client-side performance optimizations. Takeaways • Optimizing website performance involves server-side fixes, using tools to identify bottlenecks, and prioritizing key pages. • The use of tools like Sentry, Lighthouse, and Web Vitals can help identify performance issues and measure website performance. • Slow database queries can be identified and addressed using tools like Sentry and Prisma. • Implementing caching using Redis or other cache services can significantly improve website performance and reduce database load times. • Adding indexes, implementing caching, and using UpStash, a serverless Redis API, can help optimize cache utilization and improve performance. • Custom cache headers for server-side rendered routes can help control how long content is stored in the cache. • Using Redis cache for OpenGraph images can significantly improve loading speed and reduce client-side performance optimizations. • Server-side rendering can reduce the need for client-side performance optimizations.