As we all know, web page loading speed is one of the most important factors in search engine ranking today.
Isn’t it?
and…
…Apart from well-known techniques like using caching plugins , serving optimized images , etc., using a content delivery network is one of the highly recommended ways to speed up your website’s loading time.
Little known facts:
Google has officially announced that faster loading times will improve your search engine rankings.
In SidelinePlay, we have already covered what a content delivery network is and its usefulness. There are many paid and free CDNs on the market. Today, I will discuss another popular (and free) CDN network, Cloudflare.
What is Cloudflare CDN and why it's free
first:
Cloudflare CDN (Content Delivery Network) caches your website's most popular content on its servers in strategic locations around the world. Each web page request is served by the server closest to the requesting machine.
and,
In addition to caching content, it also serves optimized versions of your web pages by minifying JavaScript and provides an extra layer of security by challenging attackers and spam bots , filtering unwanted traffic before requests reach your server.
Isn’t that great?
I like it very much too.
With these features, your server load will gradually decrease and performance will improve . It will also serve cached versions of web pages when your web server is offline for maintenance.
Now comes the best part:
The basic usage of Cloudflare CDN is, wait for it...
Free .
Yes, it's free.
How to set up Cloudflare free CDN:
Just follow these steps to install manually:
- Go to http://www.cloudflare.com/ and sign up for a new account. You will need to fill out a registration form.
- The next step is to add your website by entering the URL as shown below:
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Cloudflare will scan your existing domain records.
This process may take several seconds. Once the scan is complete, you will be directed to another DNS zone file where you can verify that all records were successfully transferred.
Here you can choose to have a specific subdomain remain on the Cloudflare network or off the Cloudflare network. An orange cloud means that the specific subdomain will be cached and served through Cloudflare, while a gray cloud means that the specific subdomain will bypass Cloudflare and all requests will be sent directly to the web server.
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- Next, you can choose a plan for your Cloudflare account. Remember, basic use of Cloudflare is free . If you want more features, you can choose a paid plan.
Now you need to select the cache performance level and security settings. For beginners, the Basic performance level is ideal because it is unlikely to interfere with any of your existing settings. However, you can choose the performance level that suits your needs.
The medium security setting is effective in preventing spam/bot attacks on your site. If your site is attacked, you can choose a higher security level. However, do not do this under normal circumstances as it may cause inconvenience to genuine visitors.
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Want to learn more about the various cache performance levels and security settings?
Visit the FAQ on the Cloudflare website .
- Finally, Cloudflare will provide you with two DNS name servers. For example, eva.cloudflare.com. You need to replace the DNS name servers on the domain management dashboard with the DNS name servers provided by Cloudflare and wait for them to resolve.
be patient.
This may take up to 24 hours.
Cloudflare WordPress plugin
If you already have Cloudflare installed on your WordPress site, you can also install its WordPress plugin .
How does this plugin help?
This plugin helps ensure that the correct IP addresses are displayed in comments posted on your site, while also making your site more secure from spammers who will report these spam messages to Cloudflare. This feature is only available to users who have manually installed Cloudflare (as described above), as you will need to enter your Cloudflare API key and your email address to enable this plugin. You can obtain your API key by visiting the My Account page on Cloudflare.
My review of Cloudflare Free CDN:
Let me tell you:
I have been using the Cloudflare CDN network for over five years, and I can confidently say that it has significantly improved web server performance.
You know what I like most about it?
If you’re running popular open source software like WordPress, threat control capabilities are extremely important!
In early 2013, Cloudflare protected thousands of WordPress sites hosted on its network from brute force attacks. I have been very impressed with Cloudflare's service, though I want to warn everyone that I once experienced an hour-long outage when one of their routing tables became corrupted. However, this has never happened again. If you are not using Cloudflare yet, I recommend you start using it as soon as possible.
Please let me know your comments and feedback about Cloudflare Free CDN? Are you using it or planning to integrate it with your website? Don't forget to share this tutorial with your blog readers and friends on Facebook and Google Plus.
Further reading:
- How to Speed Up WordPress (Performance Tuning Tutorial)
- HostArmada vs BlueHost: Which One is Better?
- WPEngine Review: Improving Every Day
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