If you’ve ever published a new blog post, updated a headline, or swapped an image on your website—only to find that visitors still see the “old” version—you’ve experienced caching in action.
Caching is one of the key technologies that makes websites fast, reliable, and scalable. But while it’s great for performance, it can sometimes be frustrating if you don’t understand how it works. In this post, we’ll break down the different types of caching, and why they matter not just for developers, but also for anyone who manages a website.
What is Website Caching?
In simple terms, caching is the process of storing a “copy” of something so it can be delivered faster the next time. This can happen at multiple levels and in multiple ways.
When visitors access your site without caching, they are getting things in the slowest way possible.
With caching in place, visitors receive a significantly-optimized version of your website. Only the necessary components are generated, downloaded, and served from the closest servers.
The Main Types of Website Caching
Browser Caching
With browser caching, when someone visits your website, their browser saves the code (think HTML and CSS) and files (think images and videos) locally on their device. On the next visit, the browser doesn’t need to re-download these files, because it already has them!
Keep in mind: If you replace an image or update design elements, some visitors may not see the change right away due to—you guessed it—browser caching. Though visitors can get around this by performing a hard refresh, you can also configure your site to “break” their cache when you need to.
Page Caching
Page caching saves a full version of a page on the server, so it doesn’t need to be rebuilt from scratch every time someone loads it. This is important for websites built on content management systems (CMSs, like WordPress) that rely on databases and dynamic code.
If you’re a content manager, you should know that if you publish new content on a site with page caching, visitors may continue to see the older cached page until the cache refreshes or is manually cleared.
Object Caching
On sites with a CMS, content is stored in a server database, and accessing this content means lots of repetitive database queries. Object caching stores the results of these queries so they don’t need to be recalculated constantly.
If your site has complex features—like product catalogs, search tools, or membership dashboards—changes to this data might not appear instantly if the object cache is serving an older result.
CDN (Content Delivery Network) Caching
A CDN is a network of servers around the world that stores cached versions of your website’s files. Visitors automatically load content from the server nearest to them, which makes everything faster!
Just remember that if your site has an audience that is spread out geographically, updates may appear at different times depending on where users are located. A new article might show up in Europe before it does in the US, depending on how the CDN refreshes its cache.
How to Manage Content with Caching in Mind
We all know that caching can cause frustration when it’s not configured correctly. But it is meant to be a feature, not a bug!
Now that you understand the different types of caching, here are four quick tips for making it play nice with your workflow:
- Use your CMS or hosting platform’s “clear cache” feature after publishing major updates.
- If possible, set caching rules so that frequently updated sections (like news feeds or product pages) refresh more often than static sections (like your About page).
- Coordinate with developers or your hosting provider if caching issues persist, especially with CDN or server-level caches.
- If you’re not seeing what you expect after an update, test your changes using a private browser window or “hard refresh” to bypass the browser cache.
Caching: Not just for nerds
Caching isn’t just for developers. It’s something every content manager should have on their radar. While it may seem like a technical detail, it directly affects how your content appears to the world. By understanding the different types of caching, you’ll be better equipped to manage updates, troubleshoot “stale” content issues, and keep your website both fast and fresh. 😎
Need help understanding or setting up your website cache?