Google revised its crawler documentation to emphasize the need for better caching

Have you ever wondered how Google’s crawling process affects your website’s performance and the broader web ecosystem? A recent update from Google highlights the critical importance of HTTP caching, and it’s a game-changer for web professionals.

Google has revised its crawler documentation to emphasize the need for better caching practices. Here’s why it matters:

Efficiency: Allowing caching reduces the number of times Googlebot needs to re-fetch unchanged content, making the crawling process faster and more resource-efficient.

Statistics: Only 0.017% of Google’s fetches are currently cacheable, down from 0.026% ten years ago. This decline increases the workload for both Google’s bots and website servers.

Best Practices: Google recommends using ETag headers over Last-Modified headers to ensure compatibility with its crawlers. ETag headers avoid issues associated with date formatting and help Googlebot determine if content has changed.

The implications are significant:

Server Strain: Proper caching lowers server strain and improves crawler efficiency, benefiting both website owners and the broader web ecosystem.- User Experience: It results in a smoother, faster user experience and a more sustainable system overall.

So, what can you do?

Audit Your Cache Headers: Check if caching directives like ETag are properly implemented on your website.

Understand HTTP Protocols: Ensure your server supports HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2, which can reduce computational costs.

Don’t Block Caching: Allow caching unless you have specific concerns.

Read more about Google’s updated guidance on caching and how it can impact your website’s performance: Google's Crawler Documentation

How do you handle caching on your website? Have you seen any improvements since implementing these best practices? Share your experiences in the comments