C
Chris K
We regularly invest in design and development updates that modify the main CSS. However, returning visitors can sometimes see a broken or malformed layout due to cached CSS files in their browser.
This is a long-standing issue across the web and one many experienced developers will recognise. From customer feedback and internal staff comments, this has already caused confusion, with users assuming the website is broken.
Critically, we cannot rely on customers to hard refresh their browser, clear cache, or open the site in incognito mode. Most users will not do this and may simply leave the site without reporting the issue.
As a business paying for design and development time, we expect visual updates to be visible immediately to both new and returning visitors.
Problem
  • Browsers cache CSS aggressively.
  • When core styles change, returning visitors may still load old CSS against updated HTML.
  • This can result in broken layouts, spacing issues, missing styles, or incorrect formatting.
  • Customers may lose trust and abandon the site without contacting us.
Proposal
  • Implement automatic CSS cache busting, using one of the following standard approaches:
  • Append a version number to CSS files (for example: style.css?v=1.2.3).
  • Automatically increment the CSS version whenever changes are deployed.
  • Alternatively, generate new stylesheet filenames for updated CSS bundles.
  • Ensure this applies to both custom client CSS and platform level styles.
This ensures browsers always fetch the latest stylesheet without requiring any action from the customer.
Why this matters
  • Prevents customers seeing a broken or outdated layout.
  • Protects conversion rates and brand trust.
  • Ensures paid design updates are visible immediately.
  • Aligns with long-established web development best practice.
Reference
Explanation of CSS versioning and cache busting:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Guides/Caching#cache_busting
This should be a relatively small technical change but would have a disproportionately positive impact on user experience and reliability across all browsers and devices.