What are the best practices for implementing Ajax requests in PHP to update content dynamically?

When implementing Ajax requests in PHP to update content dynamically, it is important to follow best practices to ensure efficient and secure communication between the client and server. One common approach is to create a separate PHP file that handles the Ajax request and returns the updated content in JSON format. This helps to keep the code organized and maintainable.

```php
<?php
// ajax_update_content.php

// Check if the request is an AJAX request
if(isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_REQUESTED_WITH']) && strtolower($_SERVER['HTTP_X_REQUESTED_WITH']) == 'xmlhttprequest') {
    
    // Process the request and update the content
    $newContent = "New content to update dynamically";

    // Return the updated content in JSON format
    echo json_encode(array('content' => $newContent));
} else {
    // Handle non-AJAX requests
    header('HTTP/1.0 403 Forbidden');
    exit('Access denied');
}
?>