In today's fast digital world, one of the concepts everyone encounters to improve user experience and site speed is cache. In this article, we will thoroughly cover the answer to the question ""what is cache?"", how it works, why it is important, and its relationship with web hosting. This cache guide is prepared for both technical experts and beginners.
Cache is known as ""cache"" in English as well. It is a technology where frequently used data is temporarily stored to provide faster access for users. Thanks to cache on websites, pages can be served quickly without being recreated repeatedly. This both improves user experience and allows efficient use of server resources.
To explain with a simple example: Images, style files, and some content of a website you visited before are saved in your browser cache. Thus, on your next visit, these elements are displayed locally instead of being loaded again from the server, providing a significant speed boost.
Cache does not work in only one place. There are various types of caching in different systems and layers. Here are the most commonly used cache types:
Browser cache saves some files (CSS, JavaScript, images, etc.) of the sites you visit on your device. Thus, these contents are loaded directly from your device without requesting the server again.
Server-side caching is vital, especially for high-traffic websites. In this method, dynamic content is converted to static, preventing repeated processing. For example, plugins like WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache perform this task on WordPress sites.
Content Delivery Network (CDN) caches content across servers worldwide and serves it from the nearest location to users. CDN services like Cloudflare or Akamai perform such cache operations.
By caching database queries, the same data is not queried repeatedly on every request. This significantly improves site performance, especially on large e-commerce websites.
Cache usage is important not only for visitors but also for hosting servers. Especially sites using shared hosting benefit from cache systems to share resources more efficiently with other sites.
CPU Usage Decreases: Cache reduces requests to the server, lowering CPU usage.
RAM Savings: Processing the same data repeatedly is avoided, reducing RAM usage.
Response Time Improves: Page load times shorten, which is a big advantage for SEO.
Resilience During Traffic Surges: Especially during campaign periods, high visitor traffic can be managed more easily with cache-supported hosting infrastructure.
Search engines rank websites that improve user experience higher. Cache plays an important role at this point. Thanks to cache, fast-loading sites both satisfy users and meet SEO criteria.
Site Speed Increases: Speed is one of Google's ranking factors.
Bounce Rate Decreases: Users quickly leave slow-loading pages. Cache increases page load speed, reducing bounce rates.
Mobile Compatibility Improves: Fast page loading is crucial for mobile users.
Crawl Budget is Used Efficiently: Google bots crawl and index your site more efficiently thanks to cache.
Cache is the temporary storage of frequently used data. It is used to provide fast access and save resources.
No. When cache is cleared, the site reloads and new cache files are created. Periodic clearing is beneficial for reflecting updates.
For WordPress users, WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, and LiteSpeed Cache are popular and effective options.
This depends on how often the content is updated. For rarely changing content, long-term cache (weeks/months) is preferred; for frequently updated content, shorter durations (hourly/daily) are appropriate.
In this guide, we have covered the question ""what is cache"" in detail. If you want to increase your website’s performance, rank higher in SEO, and improve user experience, you must effectively use cache systems. Having hosting infrastructure that supports cache is a great advantage for your site’s success.
Remember, a fast website is important not only for users but also for search engines. Now, you can take your digital presence a step further by applying suitable cache solutions to your site.
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