What exactly is Google Cache? Everything Webmasters Should Know
Google's web crawlers are constantly scanning the web to find new and up-to-date websites.
If these crawlers are able to index a site's content but don't only utilize the information for search results. They also create backups of each page and upload the backups to a database known as Google Cache.
This article introduces Google Cache and how to check it. In addition, we'll discuss how Google Cache is helpful -- and when you shouldn't depend on it for too long.
Find Our Video Guide to Google Cache
What is Google Cache?
A Google cached website is an uncooked HTML backup of the content of a webpage that was taken as part of the Google's search. Google Cache as a whole includes these backup pages.
Two main reasons are:
At the top of a cached webpage, you'll find the banner that displays three options:
- The URL of the page that is cached -- This will usually be the URL you were supposed to go to. Sometimes, as with a redirected URL, the URL will differ.
- The date on which this version was saved It is possible to check if the page you're looking at was created yesterday or last week. It's not the only date your site was crawled; we'll look into that in a bit.
The reason Google Cache Is Important
As a website owner, there are other reasons to consider why Google Cache is crucial. You hope your site will never be down or suffer problems, but this happens. Having a cache makes the content accessible to visitors regardless of whether something isn't functioning properly.
How do I View Google Cache
How you go about getting to the cached Google page from the Google results of a search depends on the kind of gadget you're using. If you're using a web browser on your desktop There are two ways to get there:
- You can follow a link that will take you to the cached version some page that appears in Google results for searches.
- It is possible to directly go to the webpage.
In mobile browsers, users only have the option to utilize the direct URL.
Viewing a Cached Page From Google Search Results
Even if you have been able to view cached sites on the search results page, you may want to learn about this article because Google has changed how you find a cached link in early 2021.
To start, search for the webpage you wish to see using Google. In the middle of the URL in the search results, you should see three vertical dots. When you click them, you will see a pop-up that reads "About this result":
This feature is currently in the process of being tested. This feature is designed to help you learn more about a site (like the safety of it) prior to clicking.
At the lower right of the pop-up, there's the button that says"Cached" to the right of the pop-up. Click it to see the cached webpage.
There are times when you might not see an cachedbutton. That could mean the page hasn't been cached; we'll discuss what this signifies in a moment.
If you're using a mobile device, you won't see the button on every webpage. If that's the case, continue reading to learn the other method to access the cached pages.
Modifying the URL in order to view the Cached Page
For this method, you have to be aware of the URL of the webpage you wish to see. Just enter cache:website.xyz into the search bar.
For instance, cache:.com will take you right to the cached homepage.
Other Viewing Tools to view Google Cache
It is not necessary to use any additional software to browse cached websites; Google makes it extremely effortless for you to access them natively. However, there are some tools out there with options you could like.
And the Google Cache Checker of Small SEO Tools lets you look up the URLs and dates cached for as many as five webpages at once:
Viewing Older Versions of a Page With Google Cache
It says your page has been cached since yesterday, but you'd like to view the version from earlier this week. Is it possible with Google Cache?
Unfortunately, no.
Google cannot show a single version of a page that has been cached. To see previous website versions, you can use a tool such as the Wayback Machine, which is an archive of previous versions of webpages.
Find out what we chose to appear!
Benefits of Using Google Cache as a Website Owner
But Google Cache is hard to beat for being quick and easy to check. This makes it an excellent way to monitor certain aspects of your web pages.
There are five ways that you can make use of Google Cache as a website owner.
1. Check for Duplicate Content
There are times when you click on the cached link only to arrive on a different web page than you expected.
Take the time to look over the two pages to find out how to differentiate the two pages.
2. Check if Google respects your Canonical Tags
Perhaps the duplicate content on your website is intentional However, you've put in canonical rel=rel=canonical tags to notify Google what version of your site to visit.
Take a look at the Google Cache version of one or more pages you don't would like to be crawled. It should lead you to a cache for the official page.
3. Make Sure Your Marketing Efforts Are Getting Crawled
It's time to ramp up your SEO or efforts to produce content, and you'd like to be certain that Google is indexing the changes.
A quick look at the cached version the page will show that it's been visited.
4. Keep an Eye on Changes on Competitor Websites
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5. Find a New Version of Your Website
Although the Google Cache version of your site won't be able to replace your full backup, it does sometimes let you see how your website looked prior to disaster striking. The cache can also be used to recover old information or codes that have been deleted.
Google Cache's Limits Google Cache
Google's cache may provide useful details, and could be helpful if you notice something looks strange. However, Google Cache is not without its restrictions.
Google Cache Won't Tell You the Date Your Page was Last Crawled
Let's get started with one of the largest misconceptions.
A lot of people believe that the cache gets constantly updated each whenever Googlebot is crawling a webpage. Many other posts on this subject will tell users to check the cache to check how frequently your page is crawled.
This isn't true.
We can confirm this because John Mueller of Google told us that in an online Help thread that reads:
"In the majority of cases, we do not always refresh the cached pages whenever we browse a page. In particular, if the page doesn't change significantly, we may opt to keep the old date on it."
This is a great tip for you For those looking for information on how often it is, the reasons behind, and the which robots Google is crawling your site, forget about the cache. The information is available accessible on Google Search Console. The crawl report in Settingsin the left-hand sidebar.
But, you'll only see this information on the level of domain. Google Search Console will not tell you how often each page is crawled.
The Page May Not be Rendered Correctly
Fortunately, some progress has been made on this issue. Google's Web Rendering Service, which renders live web pages web, used to be built on an old version of Chrome. Consequently, up-to-date browsers sometimes rendered cached pages in a different way from how Google rendered the actual page.
From 2019 Google Web Rendering Service uses the latest version of Chrome.
The wrong page is displayed
The previous article discussed how duplicate content or improper canonical tags may cause Google Cache to display the incorrect webpage. As you might imagine, this can limit the value of using the cache to find particular web pages.
A Few Pages Cannot Be Cached
This may be a shock, but the truth is that many pages aren't cached even once.
There is a common belief that websites that aren't cached mean that Google doesn't consider it necessary however this isn't true. Let's look at the reasons a page might not be cached next.
How do I find my cached web page?
Some pages that are visited are cached. If you're not seeing the cached version, don't panic! It's not a sign that your site hasn't been index.
If you're worried that the URL really isn't being indexed or indexed, Google Search Console's URL Inspector to confirm.
To prove that pages indexed don't necessarily cache, look on Google's John Mueller. In Twitter, he responded to a question from a user about an uncached page:
"We don't cache all pages that we index. So it could happen. Sometimes, it can take a long time or we don't store it in any way."
And when the user wanted to know if sites that were not cached were always low-quality He replied:
"That + it can be all kinds of pages for weird technical quirks. The cache's a bit of a different thing and isn't representative of how we're able to rank."
However, a page that isn't cached could be something worth checking out. There are several possibilities you can explore.
Your Page Is JavaScript-Based
Google has an easier time indexing pages that use JavaScript in comparison to other pages. But most JavaScript pages end up uncached or unindexed.
Caching is prevented by Meta Tags. Meta Tag
Maybe that's precisely your goal. But if you didn't realize you had the Noindex or noarchive tag on the page, removing it can solve your cache issue.
The Page is Duplicate (or Google Thinks It Is)
If Google has determined that your two pages are duplicates, try to figure out ways to make them unique. Think about the various search intentions on each page.
Troubleshooting Issues With Your Website's Cached Pages
Your page doesn't have to be cached, however should you wish to see it happen, there are certain things you can do.
Send Your Page's URL to Google
If you're concerned that Google hasn't yet indexed your website in any way, check Google Search Console.
Input the URL of the page's URL within the URL inspector search bar located at the top in Search Console. If you receive the response "URL appears on Google," the page has been indexed. If the page has been updated recently, and you aren't sure if Google has been able to index the latest version, then click "Request Indexing"to solicit Google to re-index it.
Check for Common Site Problems
We've covered a few possible reasons that your site may not be cached like large JavaScript and duplicate content.
How to Remove Pages From Google Cache
We feel that Google Cache is quite useful however, you may not be interested in having an old version of your site that is stored by Google's servers for various reasons. Perhaps, for instance, you don't want your pages for outdated products to be made available.
One way to prevent the cached pages of your site is by using the noindex or the noarchive tags mentioned above. They are the best long-term solution for those who want to maintain your page but never want them to be cached.
You can also ask Google directly to eliminate URLs that are not in Google Cache. For this, head into Google Search Console and click Removalsin the sidebar. Click on "New Request". In this moment there are two choices: Temporarily Remove URLand Clear Cached URL.
Temporary removal implies that the site won't be displayed in Google search results for about six months. It will also disappear from the cache too. The site will be indexed and re-cached when it's live again (if you don't want that happening, you'll need include a meta tag).
Cleaning the cached URL does exactly the same as clearing the cached URL. The cache will be cleared however the site will be refreshed after the website is crawled.
If you want an old version of your updated website to disappear, this is an excellent option to achieve it. It is also possible to force Google to change your website's cache by sending the page to be indexed after having changed it.
Summary
Google Cache may not be all that the rumors suggest it to be. You can't use it to find out when your site was crawled last -- using it won't help the rankings of search engines. Sometimes, the stored version of your site is strange, unfinished or simply wrong.
Do you have any questions left about Google Cache? Tell us about it in the comments and we'd like to hear from you!
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