Difference between cached and indexed?

by junilerick

Posted: 13 years ago 8 replies

I was reading a thread a little while back and someone mentioned that having a website cached isn't the same as being indexed and a cached webpage's links still won't be recognized and therefore no link juice.

Anyone familiar with this and care to explain the difference?

#cached #difference #indexed

g36 13 years ago

Indexed means that the page is listed in search engine.

Cached is different. Google make a copy of page they indexed. So cached page is a copy page Google made.
- [ 1 ] Thanks
- 1 reply
Signature

:)
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3878106].message }}
- seasoned 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by g36
  
  Indexed means that the page is listed in search engine.
  
  Cached is different. Google make a copy of page they indexed. So cached page is a copy page Google made.
  
  In GENERAL terms.....
  
  Cached means stored. In the computer, it generally means stored in a faster or more local area. A disk cache, for example, is generally memory that stores a portion of the disk, so access is quicker. In GOOGLE, it is a copy of the page stored on Google's site so you can see the page that was indexed. It may have changed since!
  
  Indexed means there is a quick reference for it. In a book, you may have an index in back to quickly find a page. In computers, it generally means there is a b-tree, or something similar that does the same sort of thing. In Google, there is some sort of index. The specifics are a trade secret. Obviously, any page in that index is considered INDEXED.
  
  A btree is basically a binary tree so trying to find an item in a million narrows it down so it only has to look at like 20 items worst case instead of a million. Obviously, Google splits this up and runs things in parallel and has predigested searches so it runs even faster, but that is where the trade secrets come in.
  
  Steve
  
  [ 1 ] Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3878272].message }}
  
  entry 13 years ago
  
  Cached and indexed are similar, but by far not the same.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
  Signature
  I Have to say a Massive...THANK YOU to every Warrior who has helped me, and thanks to every warrior who helps me in the future...
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3878283].message }}
  
  yukon Banned 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by entry
  
  Cached and indexed are similar, but by far not the same.
  
  With double talk like that, you could run for a government position!
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3878591].message }}
  
  paulgl 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by yukon
  
  With double talk like that, you could run for a government position!
  
  LOL!!! The whole thread is double talk.
  
  The cache should be what google has stored last time it was crawled.
  
  If your page is indexed, but not cached, you may have a problem.
  
  Google "should" use this stored page to make determinations as to where it
  should appear for the search in hand. I mean, you don't think they actually
  query a billion live sites, looking for ones, do you? They store these cache
  pages and query that in their database. Which takes less than the blink of an eye.
  
  You want your site crawled often. If not, then google uses an old version which
  may not be up to the search at hand. When they crawl it, they should cache
  it.
  
  That's the main purpose of the cached version. Secondary, and I can't
  believe anyone actually does it, but if the site is down you can view
  a cached version. But who the heck does that?
  
  Just for fun I did a search for a site that I had recently overhauled. Sure
  enough, google cache shows it like a champ.
  
  Paul
  
  [ 1 ] Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3878681].message }}
mavmav 13 years ago

Google records each page & examines then and caches that version as a back-up in the Database. The cached version is what Google makes use of to judge if a page is a good match for a searched query. Google index is about getting website listed in the database index for SERPs.
- [ 1 ] Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3878693].message }}
junilerick 13 years ago

Thanks for all the replys. So does that mean a page can be cached but not yet indexed? Is this something to be aware of when indexling links?
- Thanks
Signature
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3881211].message }}
SEOEnlightenment 13 years ago

First thing to consider is why Google would cache a web page in the first place?

Caching takes up space and G only caches pages it finds "interesting" enough to do so.

If your page isn't cached then you should worry!

Second thing of importance is how often it is cached - the more often the better!

Check the last cache date is recent...

Lastly if you look at the text version of the cache you can see your page as the Gspide sees it and this will allow you to make sure it looks as it should and doesn't just show a load of old javascript where your keyphrases should be!
- Thanks
Signature

Then again...there's always PPC ;)
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3881398].message }}