How to Set Up Cloudflare for WordPress

Security and performance are significant for WordPress site owners who want to optimize their sites. Cloudflare is primarily a content delivery network (CDN) that secures your site while enhancing its performance. Cloudflare works by managing your domain’s nameservers to filter malicious parties by serving up cached content from its CDN.

Benefits of Using Cloudflare

Some benefits of using Cloudflare:

Quicker Page Loads: Cloudflare reserves your content across its network; you have access to the speed that content delivery networks afford their users. You will also enjoy a cut in your load times by about 50%.

Diminished Use Of Bandwidth: Since Cloudflare earmarks your content, you won’t need to use a lot of bandwidth for your website. It is believed to have the capacity to reduce bandwidth by at least 60%

Uncontaminated traffic: With Cloudflare, malicious traffic sources are filtered out once you start using it.

Improved security: Cloudflare provides a web application firewall, DDoS protection, and free SSL to secure your website. You will have to subscribe to its premium version to access these security features.

How To Configure Cloudflare For WordPress

Create your free Cloudflare account: Enter the domain name of the WordPress site you want to use with Cloudflare, click once. You will be prompted to add a website. To do this, paste the domain name of your choice, and click on “Scan DNS Records’. You will be prompted to choose a plan after the scanning process. You can start with the free version.

Verify DNS records: While scanning your DNS records, pay attention to an orange cloud next to your primary domain name. Then confirm and modify your DNS when/where necessary. Choose which of the DNS records that will be routed via Cloudflare. The verification process has been completed; click “Continue.”

Update Nameservers: The next step is to replace your nameservers with the new ones provided by Cloudflare. Nameservers are components that connect your domain name to your hosting web service. Switching to Cloudflare’s nameservers ensure that Cloudflare can direct traffic to your site. Malicious traffic is filtered while static content is delivered from the closest server in its global network. Nameservers may require about 24 hours to update. There is no cause for alarm in the first 24 hours.

Configure Basic Settings: Configure some basic settings that determine the operations of your Cloudflare service. Select the “Full” options if you want to use SSL/HTTPS. This way, you will be able to secure the traffic generated by your site. The Full option also enables your site to get the green padlock in visitors’ browsers.

Authenticate Your Connection: After clicking on ‘Done”, you might get a message asking you to complete your nameserver setup. This is a regular occurrence. Click on the “Re-check now” button to confirm if the nameservers have updated after about an hour.

Finally, setting up Cloudflare for your website is of great importance. Cloudflare does not only help to secure your site, but it also enhances its performance.