According to research done by Google, 53% of mobile users end up leaving a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load.
If you want to make sure that your page loads quickly so that your audience stays on your page, you should learn about WordPress caching and how to utilize it.
If you’re not sure if caching is essential to your page, make sure you read this article before you make up your mind!
Some of the Benefits
Some people might think that caching is bad for WordPress. But there are actually many benefits to it that will really help your audience.
Faster
One of the best benefits is that it will help to speed up your website and help it perform better.
This works because static cached files will actually load faster than a dynamic database query. With this, it will help for the pages to load better when someone visits your site.
When your website is faster, it will also help you rank higher with search engines. However, this depends on other SEO factors, but if you just look at a slow page versus a faster one, the faster one will always rank higher.
Google has even confirmed that the page loading time factors into how high they rank your website.
Better for Your Hosting
Having a good caching system can also help to alleviate some of the work that your hosting server has to do.
Since the caching is there, your server won’t have to worry as much about I/O operations and the memory, which can save you space.
This works great if you’re on a hosting plan that only has a limited amount of space, or if you don’t have money to buy more space.
Good Experience
Lastly, caching will also just provide a better experience on your website. Aside from loading faster, it also helps to browse faster as well.
The user will also save bandwidth or data while on your site because the file sizes will be smaller if they’re already cached. They might not be saving a lot of space, but every little bit helps to add up.
How it Works
But how does caching work? Well, when someone first visits your website, they’ll be able to view the page normally. When they first go on your page, the request to look at it will be sent to your server, and then the server turns the page into an HTML file.
This file gets sent to their web browser the first time they log on to your website.
However, the next time they log onto your website, your server will just automatically be able to send them the HTML file without having to convert it, making it faster and a smaller file.
In some cases, you’ll need to clear your WordPress cache, which is when you can check out AliveBetter’s guide on clearing cache!
How to Use the Caching
In order to enjoy all of these benefits, you might have to run some plugins on your website to make the caching more effective. There are some out there that were designed to work specifically for WordPress and with whatever host server you’re using.
However, if you’re using a WordPress host, you could get away with not using a plugin at all. Some hosts don’t allow plugins to be used because it might mess up the caching system that is already there.
How Plugins Work
If you don’t want to use your host server’s caching system, it’s important to know how the different plugins work.
Unless you’re changing a lot of content on your page daily, your cache for your pages and websites won’t change a whole lot. Instead, the plugin will create a version that doesn’t change and then send that file to people who visit your site.
If you’re still in the process of updating your website or publishing new posts, this could also affect how the caching works. Just because it’s a new post and not in the cache yet doesn’t mean that your visitors won’t be able to see it.
A plugin will detect that there is something new to be cached, and it will regenerate the stored cache, which it will then send out to new visitors.
Different Plugins to Try
There are a few different plugins out there that you could try to help you with caching.
Some of the more popular ones include WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, and WP Rocket. All three of these work great with WordPress, and they all have their own unique features and options.
However, you might want to look into them while also keeping in mind of what hosting plan you’re using. That will affect what plugin (if any) you can use for your website.
However, the best way to figure out which plugin will work for you is to use online tools that will help you figure out how fast your website is now. Install each plugin one by one, checking your website speed each time.
Once you have that data to analyze, it should be easier to figure out which plugin makes your site load the fastest.
Learn More About WordPress Caching and Why It’s Important
These are only a few of the most important things about WordPress caching, but if you want to run a successful website, you should make sure you know everything about it!
Running your own website can be difficult, regardless of whether you’re new to it or not. However, you don’t have to do it alone. We’re here to help you!
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Amanda Byers is a graduate of Columbia, where she played volleyball and annoyed a lot of professors. Now as Zobuz’s entertainment and Lifestyle Editor, she enjoys writing about delicious BBQ, outrageous style trends and all things Buzz worthy.
