Know-how Of WordPress Caching And Its Several Aspects

WordPress caching is the easiest approach to improve overall site performance. It simply speeds up the internal processing by reusing the previously generated data and database queries.

As you are reading this post, you are probably a genuine business professional. Hence, for you, the first priority will always be to feed your brand with best-in-class tactics. The core source that can help your business boom in this digital world is your website. This is because it is the mirror of your personality and showcases you across the internet with a unique web presence.

So, is it enough to hold an active site URL? Certainly not. If your website is not up to the mark to withstand the changes, there is no benefit of keeping it. Here arises the need to optimize the web pages and improve the site loading speed.

Besides WordPress caching, a content delivery network can be yet another good method to speed up WordPress sites, but it costs more. Also, it might not work well if the number of visitors will be more.

Let’s learn in detail what WordPress caching is all about.

What is WordPress Caching!

Caching simply refers to a basic process where static versions of your content are created to serve to your customers. These static pages are rendered quickly in browsers and thus result in quick loading speed. Technically, caching allows the temporary storage of data.

When certain information is accessed frequently over the internet, its cached version is stored in the memory that can be fetched when the page is loaded again in the future. WordPress caching employs an easy process where one needs to understand the flow of data from a website to the user.

In general, a visitor needs to request a bunch of data from the WordPress host in order to browse a WordPress based page. When the visitor makes a request, the WordPress core calls the required PHP script. Moving forward, it queries the database and retrieves the data accordingly.

This fetched data is then compiled by WordPress core along with the execution of PHP code. This results in a dynamically generated HTML page that is returned to the user’s browser. These dynamic pages demand WordPress to process a fresh request for every updated information. The cached version works optimally in the major cases because the pages on the blogs are not altered until admin makes a manual edit.

Types of Caching

Browser caching

While visiting any page, you not only need to retrieve its content but also require few resources including several stylesheets, fonts and JavaScript files. These are those data that your browser downloads apart from the content of the webpage. Here browser caching comes into action as it allows the browser to store these files. The result is, you are not supposed to retrieve them every time when you visit a website.

Server caching

The server caching relates to the several caching protocols that are executed by the WordPress server. There are multiple names that come under this list. These are:

• Object caching – This inbuilt caching system in WordPress contains so many secondary systems like object cache, transient API and caching API. It enables caching few programmatic objects that are subsequently used by memory. Object caching can be controlled by a few WordPress plugins which in turn reduces the number of requests. This is because this caching remains alive only for a single request.
• Page caching – It is the easiest kind of protocol that highlights the storage of every HTML page that is dynamically generated in the local storage of the server. It then serves the corresponding HTML file from the cache for every instance when a request is made. This makes it illogical to execute PHP code and MySQL queries in order to create a complete HTML page for every occasion when a visitor comes on your site.
• PHP opcode caching – It is necessary that the PHP files must have born from the PHP pages by compiling them into code, which can be executed further in the process. Opcode caching is made with the motto to store the compiled PHP code between the requests. This leads to less server processing and response time.
• MySQL database caching – For WordPress, it is not feasible to make the same query again and again to the database when the same posts are accessed for every visitor. With database caching, the result of a single query is stored in local storage and renders the exact results from the cache until the database is modified with the updated values. It happens when you update an existing post or page or configuration options in WordPress, add an article or even when someone comments.

Purging the Cache – Yet Another Milestone

Purging the cache means to re-cache the previously cached data with an intent to update it. It is required when you want to update an existing post, create a new one or anyone who made a comment on a post. It is the sole responsibility of caching plugins and WordPress core to do work when the purge is required. In this context, a cache can verify if there is redundant data rendered to the user.

So, as you have read the different aspects of WordPress caching, it is not an exaggeration to say that there are plentiful benefits you can get from this process. The only consideration is, you need to hire WordPress experts from a reliable web development company like Webby Central who can efficiently implement the essential technical elements within your website design.

It’s time to crack them all.

Thanks to Caching

• Caching enhances the speed and performance of a website. The reason is, static cached files load faster than dynamic queries.
• It results in less load to the hosting server as it saves server memory and I/O operations.
• Cached websites lead to better user experience because the user’s bandwidth is saved. In a technical perspective, the caching mechanism uses a unique mix of CSS and JavaScript.
• The ultimate advantage is favorable rankings with fast websites. Google has stated that page speed is an integral consideration for ranking other than SEO settings and quality content.

Wrapping Up

The prime necessity of most of the websites is speed. No visitor wants to spend time on a website that takes 5 seconds or more in loading. Moreover, it also contributes to the low value of search engine rankings. WordPress caching is an important optimization technique to boost your search engine rankings. There is no rocket science behind. One needs to put the focus on multiple elements such as hosting plan, content type on the page, WordPress caching plugin configuration and many more similar aspects. This post is a small effort to help people implement the WordPress caching process in the most suitable way.