If you are into blogging or more precisely, WordPress then chances are that you might have heard about caching. What is caching? Why do we need it? How to implement it in WordPress? We will take a look at all of these in this post.
What is Caching
In simple words, a website cache stores static data in a server for simultaneous visitors. How does this work? Well, taking the example of WordPress, we have the following data flow:
Visitor -> Server -> PHP -> Database (This is without caching)
Visitor -> Server (With caching)
As you can see above, caching eliminates 2 steps and hence reduces the load on the server.
In addition to server level cache, we also have client level cache. That works in a similar way but the only difference is that it doesn’t request the resources that it has already cached.
Caching in WordPress
WordPress has many plugins to enable caching. In addition to that, we can also use server-level caching and database caching.
Here are some of the best caching plugins that is available for WordPress:
1. WP Rocket
WP Rocket is arguably the best caching plugin available for WordPress. Their plugin is not free but what you get for the price, those features cannot be found in other free plugins. Also, their settings won’t break your site (unlike other plugins).
ALSO READ: WP Rocket Review
2. W3 Total Cache
It is one of the most popular free caching plugin for WordPress. It offers many features like full page cache to fragment caching. Also, memcached and redis support is included.
3. WP Super Cache
WP Super Cache is a simple, easy to use caching plugin. It has three modes. Although it’s not as powerful as the other plugins mentioned above, it’s more than enough for a personal blog or for beginners.
Conclusion
Website caching is really important as it ensures that the web server can handle a lot of users and the web page is served faster to users. If you have any queries or suggestions, then please let me know in the comments down below.
ALSO READ: Swift Performance Plugin Review
