What Is a Cache and What It Is Used For
What is the cache?
The cache (pronounced: Kesch) is a buffer memory that temporarily stores data and thus makes it faster to retrieve. There are different types of cache, the cache used in the hardware structure or the software side, which creates temporary files. The term cache is said to derive from the French word “la cachette”, which means "the hiding place".
Cache in browser
When surfing the Internet, your browser saves content and data from the website you visit as a temporary file on your computer. When accessing this again, the browser can now call up the temporary versions and thus display the homepage faster for you as a user.
Due to the amount of data, you should clear the browser cache at regular intervals. The cache can also cause errors when accessing the page, so that you may not be able to view the most recent version. This phenomenon often occurs in the cooperation between customer ↔ service provider in the redesign of their homepage. The web designer makes changes, but the customer still sees the outdated version from the cache. A "refresh" in the browser can also fix this problem.
Cache on search engines
When you visit the Google Crawler , an image of your website is stored in the search engine cache. Changes on the website are only visible as soon as the crawler visits and indexes the page again. To check which version is in the Google cache, do a site query and click the triangle next to your URL:
When you call up "In the cache", the saved page is displayed with the date and time:
Cache related to search engine optimization
Especially in SEO it is important that your optimized pages are also included in the Google index . Especially with larger pages or changes to sub-pages at a lower level, it can take days or even weeks for the crawler to index this page again. The crawl budget plays a big role here, since every website has a limited budget and Google's data storage is finite. If you want the page to be included in the index as quickly as possible for SEO or legal reasons, a link is recommended on it (also through social media like Twitter) because the bot follows these links or the Google Search Console! You can use this to ask for the site to be crawled again. Please note, however, that there is a limited contingent here as well.