How to Prepare Your Website for Its Big Days

Traffic spikes are exciting.

  • A TV advert goes live.
  • A product launches.
  • A large email campaign lands.
  • A course opens for booking.
  • You get high-profile media coverage.

And suddenly, thousands of users arrive at once.

Over 18 years, we have seen almost every type of spike imaginable. Some planned. Some not. Radio ads. TV coverage. Major events we were not told about. Thankfully, because of how we structure hosting and monitoring, we were able to respond quickly.

But the real work should start before the spike happens.

Know What Your Site Can Cope With

Before you plan for growth, you need to understand your current limits.

Start with the basics:

  • What is your highest recorded concurrent user count?
  • What were your peak sessions during your biggest campaign?
  • What do your analytics tell you about traffic patterns?

Google Analytics gives a useful starting point. But that only tells you what has happened, not what your server can withstand.

That is where load testing comes in.

We simulate real users moving through key journeys:

  • Homepage
  • Category or listing pages
  • Product or content detail pages
  • Basket
  • Checkout
  • Confirmation

We gradually increase the number of simulated users until performance degrades. This helps us understand how many requests per second the system can handle and where bottlenecks appear.

Knowing your ceiling removes guesswork.

Infrastructure: Scaling Smartly, Not Expensively

Many organisations assume that more CPU, more RAM, and more disk space automatically solve scaling.

It does not.

For most core software, especially databases, configuration matters as much as raw resources. Database caching levels, memory allocation, connection limits, and indexing strategies. These all have a major impact.

Simply adding hardware without tuning is rarely efficient.

There are structural improvements that help:

  • Separating web servers and database servers
  • Separating file storage from the application server
  • Using a load balancer to distribute traffic
  • Moving static assets to a CDN
  • Introducing queueing systems to manage demand

All of these improve resilience.

All of them cost.

The right solution depends on your audience size, your risk level, and your budget.

Not every organisation needs enterprise infrastructure year-round. But every organisation needs a plan for scaling when it matters.

Caching: One of the Most Powerful Tools You Have

Caching is often the biggest performance win.

At different levels, this can include:

  • Full page caching for non-user-specific content
  • Fragment caching (header, footer, navigation)
  • Element query caching
  • Database-level caching
  • Caching API responses

Dynamic user data can often be loaded via API or JavaScript after the main page renders. This allows aggressive caching of the core page while still supporting personalised experiences.

Done well, caching dramatically reduces server load and improves speed.

Done badly, it causes confusion.

Done properly, users never notice.

Queue Jobs & Background Tasks

Many modern CMS platforms rely on background jobs.

This might include:

  • Image transforms
  • Email sending
  • Search indexing
  • Data imports
  • Commerce recalculations

During a spike, these background jobs can compete with live traffic for resources.

Before major events, it can be wise to:

  • Pre-generate image transforms
  • Clear backlogs
  • Pause non-critical background jobs
  • Separate queue workers from web processes

Sometimes stability matters more than convenience during peak traffic.

Rate Limiting & Bot Protection

Not all traffic spikes are good.

Bots, scrapers, and malicious scans can create load just as easily as genuine users.

Rate limiting, WAF rules, and bot filtering can protect your infrastructure from unnecessary strain.

Particularly for public sector and charity sites, this layer is important.

You want your resources serving real users.

Deployment Freeze Windows

If you know a big moment is coming, consider a deployment freeze window.

No big code changes.

No major updates.

No last-minute feature releases.

A stable platform is often more important than a new enhancement during a high-profile event.

Planning a short freeze window significantly reduces risk.

Monitoring and Response

Preparation is only half the story.

We run monitoring that checks uptime and response time every minute. If something slows or fails, our team is alerted immediately.

We monitor page speed and performance metrics using tools like Google Lighthouse alongside cloud-based monitoring platforms.

You should not find out about performance issues from social media.

Planned vs Unplanned Spikes

If you know something big is coming:

  • Inform your agency early
  • Schedule support
  • Increase capacity in advance
  • Run a pre-event load test
  • Confirm your SLA allows rapid response

Having an agreement in place that allows your web partner to act quickly without waiting for formal approval can make all the difference.

We have seen radio ads and TV spots launch without prior warning. Because scalable infrastructure and monitoring were in place, we were able to respond quickly.

But planning is always better than reacting.

The Core Principle

  • Plan for your biggest day.
  • Pay for your average day.
  • Choose infrastructure that can scale easily.
  • Use caching intelligently.
  • Monitor continuously.
  • Protect against bots.
  • Stabilise before big events.

This is by no means exhaustive, but it covers many of the biggest hitters we see in real-world traffic spikes.

Traffic spikes are opportunities. With the right preparation, they stay that way.

If you have something big coming up, a launch, campaign, event or media moment, it is worth stress-testing your setup before the spotlight hits.

We are always happy to sense-check infrastructure, run load tests, or help you put the right safeguards in place.

Better to prepare calmly than scramble under pressure.