What is a Cached Page?
A cached page is a copy of a web page that is stored in a temporary informational storage called “cached.”
The purpose of caching a page is to store files to improve data retrieval performance. Essentially, caching ensure that future requests for the same resource will be served to a user faster.
But…It is important to note that there is more than one type of cache:
- Server Cache and;
- Browser Cache
From a user’s perspective, the browser will cache a page to ensure it can show a user the desired webpage faster, without having to reload the content from the server when the user returns to that page or resource.
Server cache involves CDNs (Content Delivery Networks), which will cache web content (think images, videos and webpages) in what’s called “proxy-servers” which are located to the end user than then website servers.
Additionally, search engines – such as Google, can also cache pages:
Google’s website crawlers regularly scour the internet and index new websites. Throughout the process of crawling the web, the search engine will also create backups of webpages so that is can show them to a user upon request.
Why Are Cached Pages Important?
In Web Browsers
When a user loads a specific web page, their browser has to download data to be able to display the page or resource accurately. However, when caching is enabled the server will store the HTML files, JavaScript, and images – basically a copy of that web page’s content.
This is beneficial when the user loads the same page, so there is no need for the server to redownload the website documentation. Ultimately, caching allows the browser to display the pages faster.
In CDNs
A CDN (Content Delivery Network) – stores copies of a webpage on multiple servers. This way, the CDN can deliver the requested content to the user from the nearest proxy server, which again helps with speed and load time.
In Search Engines
When Google processes the webpage it has just recently crawled, it takes a “screenshot” to act as a backup copy of that specific page. This way, the user can still access the cached page in the case that the page the user is trying to access is slow or unavailable.
