Tech persistent object cache...

[NatalieK]

I've been advised to create a persistent object cache is best, like, I don't and my partner has no idea what this is...

A persistent object cache makes your site’s database more efficient, resulting in faster load times because WordPress can retrieve your site’s content and settings much more quickly.

is this advisable or better, does it make any difference or is this just google and other advisor wanting more work for more money?

any help, advise or information will be appreciated! x

[myneid]

So, more than likely it will make things load faster. But also yes, it is them wanting more work for more money. So worth it or not is based on your site, setup and speed.
Its all relative, but asking claude or chatgpt to do an analasys of your site and ask if that is worth it for you may be worth it if you dont want to hire a programmer to consult on it

[Spicy Wraith]

What it actually is, in plain words: WordPress asks its database lots of little questions on every single visit (what is the site called, what goes in the sidebar, which posts go on this page). Normally it forgets the answers the moment the page is served and asks them all again for the next visitor. A persistent object cache is a small memory tool (usually named Redis or Memcached) that remembers those answers between visits, so the repeat questions get answered instantly instead of going to the database each time.

Whether it makes a difference depends on the site. If you run a shop, a membership site, a forum, or anything where lots of visitors are logged in, it genuinely helps. If it is a normal website or blog where people just read pages, it makes very little difference AS LONG AS page caching is on. Page caching saves the whole finished page and hands it out without asking the database anything, and that is where the real speed win lives. Most hosts and caching plugins do this already.

Where the "more money" suspicion is fair: the recommendation itself comes from WordPress's own health checker, so whoever advised you is probably just reading that screen back to you. But if someone quotes a meaningful fee to "implement object caching," that is overselling a ten-minute toggle.

Easy way to settle it for your own site: run it through a free speed test before and after. If you cannot measure the difference, it did not matter for your site.

[Sly]

For WordPress I use and recommend Redis and the free plug-in Redis Object Cache. Your host should install Redis for free. You can download and install the free plug-in from within WordPress. I haven't bumped into an install yet that hasn't shown a visible improvement.

[blackmonsters]

I quit wordpress and made NoSQL sites.

See sig.

[Zen-]

I think the answer is, it depends. I typically use easyengine or wordops to deploy Wordpress sites, that do most of this stuff for you. I'd start with analytics, see what sort of response times your users are getting. Check your hosting, is it up to spec, turn on logging (and log rotation) if needed so you can see what your users do and how long it takes to load. Then take a Google Pagespeed insights snapshot. Now that you have the data, you can start digging in to what is causing the slowness, is it during peak, is it just first load, is it css, js, or is the site just fine and you want to improve the score, for scores sake?

[Peace]

Object cache can help, but I would measure first: TTFB, database queries, cache hit rate, and whether logged-in/admin pages are the real slowdown. Adult sites with lots of media need simple proof before adding more moving parts. Contact us if you want to compare notes.