AWS CloudFront Support

Improve your CloudFront cache hit ratio.

Every cache miss sends a request to your origin, which costs time and money. A low hit ratio usually comes from cache keys that include too much, TTLs that are too short or headers that tell CloudFront not to cache.

Cache policyDefines the cache key
TTLControls freshness
Origin ShieldExtra cache layer
CompressionGzip and Brotli

When You Need This

The situations where this work pays for itself.

Signs it is time

  • Origin load or latency is higher than expected
  • CloudFront reports many Miss or RefreshHit results
  • Your origin sends Cache-Control headers like private or no-store
  • Query strings, cookies or headers vary per user
  • Data transfer from your origin is expensive

What you get

  • A cache analysis by path and behavior
  • Cache policy and origin header changes
  • A before and after report on hit ratio and origin load
  • A cache invalidation strategy

How we do it

A clear, safe process you can follow along with.

1. Measure the current ratio

We enable additional CloudFront metrics and use cache statistics and logs to see which paths miss and why.

2. Trim the cache key

We forward only the headers, cookies and query strings the origin truly needs, and normalize the rest.

3. Fix origin caching headers

We set sensible Cache-Control and Expires values, and remove headers like Vary that fragment the cache.

4. Set TTLs by content type

Static assets get long TTLs with versioned filenames. Dynamic content gets short or conditional caching.

5. Enable compression and consider Origin Shield

Compression cuts bytes. Origin Shield reduces origin requests for multi-region audiences.

6. Validate

We compare hit ratio, origin requests and latency before and after, and watch for stale content.

Mistakes we help you avoid

Common ways this goes wrong, and what we do instead.

Forwarding all cookies and query strings

Every unique combination becomes a separate cache entry. We forward only what is needed.

Caching personalized content

We separate public and private content so users never see each other's data.

Invalidating instead of versioning

Versioned filenames avoid constant invalidations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good CloudFront cache hit ratio?

It depends on the site. Static asset distributions often exceed 90 percent. Dynamic APIs are naturally lower.

Why is CloudFront not caching my content?

Common causes are Cache-Control private or no-store headers, cookies or headers in the cache key, or behaviors configured with caching disabled.

Does a higher hit ratio reduce cost?

Usually yes, because fewer requests reach the origin, which lowers origin load and transfer.

Want Help With Improve your CloudFront cache hit ratio?

Schedule an appointment. Tell us about your environment and we will outline the safest, highest-value approach.

Schedule Appointment › No commitment required