With almost every site that goes through my hands as a web developer, I have your domain proxy through a CDN called Cloudflare.
CDN, Proxy, Cloudflare? What do these words mean?
CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a group of servers located around the world that hold information on your site. They are scattered around so they can quickly deliver your site data to nearby visitors. So instead of loading and sending all Internet content like HTML pages, Javascript files, stylesheets, images, videos, etc. from the one server, it can use one closer which will load the page faster for that visitor. If you’re still confused, read this article and watch their cool video that explains really well!
Cloudflare is not only a CDN, but it also provides other benefits like protecting your site from malicious bots or intrusions. It will create caches so your site speed can improve even more! And so on. The best thing about Cloudflare is that it is completely free! You can read more about what Cloudflare is here.
My Cloudflare Account
Currently, I have more than 30 Cloudflare sites on my business account. Having them in one account has made it easier for me to quickly access my client’s sites for a quick cache purge and other DNS settings I may tweak while maintaining their sites for them.
How to Add Cloudflare to Your Domain
Let’s make sure that your site is actually using Cloudflare. To do so, go to whois.net and type in your url (with no https://, just your domain ____.com). If you find the two ‘Name Server:’ lines and they say ____.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM then you are set up!
If your nameservers say something else and you are using WordPress as your platform, you should sign up for Cloudflare and have your domain go through it to add their benefits.
After you have signed up, click on the ‘Add Site’ button, follow the instructions, and add the two nameservers they provide you to your DNS settings in your domain. Not sure how to do this or would rather hire a developer who knows what they’re doing to help out? Feel free to contact me and I can do it for you!
There are many ways you can improve your site speed and health and adding a CDN, preferably Cloudflare, will get you one step closer to a fast and secure site!
