What is Caching? #
Caching is a temporary storage where frequently accessed data is stored for faster access. It speeds up a site’s performance by reducing the need to repeatedly fetch or generate the same content.
Caching basically creates a copy of the site’s content and stores it locally. So, when a user visits the site, it doesn’t load all the queries again, making the site loading process fast.
While Caching improves the site’s performance, it is important to clear the cache once in a while. When troubleshooting, it’s important to see the latest changes, and cached data can interfere with this process.
There are two types of caches that we need to know about page cache and browser cache.
Page Caching: It basically stores the site’s HTML content. By keeping a copy of the page in cache memory, the load times for visitors are reduced, thus optimizing the performance of a website.
Browser Caching: In Browser caching, the Web browser stores copies of web page resources locally to improve loading times for frequently visited sites. It minimizes bandwidth usage and enhances performance by allowing the browser to retrieve cached content quickly instead of re-downloading the site from the server.
Why Clear the Cache? #
While caching offers a performance advantage and loads the site, it is necessary to clear it essentially if you have made any updates or changes to the site. So, the latest site contents are stored. Clearing the cache ensures that visitors are viewing the latest content on the site.
We use plugins to clear the site’s cache. The most popular plugins you can use are WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache
