GZIP compression is a crucial technology that makes websites load faster by reducing file sizes. When you visit a website, your browser downloads various files like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. GZIP compresses these files on the server before sending them to your browser, which then decompresses them for display.

This process offers significant benefits:

• Faster loading times: Smaller files transfer quicker over the internet
• Reduced bandwidth usage: Both hosting providers and visitors save data
• Improved SEO: Search engines favor faster-loading websites

GZIP works best with text-based files, achieving compression rates of 70-90%. For example, a 100KB CSS file might shrink to just 30KB. However, it's less effective with already compressed files like images (JPEG, PNG) or videos.

Most modern web servers support GZIP compression automatically. You can enable it through:

• Server configuration files (like .htaccess for Apache)
• Content Management System plugins
• Hosting control panel settings

To check if a website uses GZIP, you can use browser developer tools or online tools like GTmetrix. The "Content-Encoding: gzip" header in server responses confirms active compression.

Implementing GZIP compression is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to optimize website performance, requiring minimal technical knowledge while delivering substantial speed improvements for all visitors.